Book review : Salvation of a Saint

"Salvation of a saint" by Keigo Higashino (Translated by Alexander. O.Smith With Elye.J . Alexander) is a crime thriller fiction.

In 2011, “The Devotion of Suspect X”  by the same author was acclaimed as “stunning,” “brilliant,” and “ingenious.” Character  Manabu Yukawa–Detective Galileo–returns in this novel too.

The storyline of the novel goes like this~

Yoshitaka, a rich person and CEO of a company dies while his wife is away. The arsenic in his coffee seems to be the reason for his death. Ayane, his wife and Hiromi, his secret lover are the suspects. The lead detective, Tokyo Police Detective Kusanagi, seems to fall into the charm of Ayane. Utsumi, Kusanagi's assistant is sure that Ayane is the culprit although there is no concrete evidence. Physics professor Manabu Yukawa also joins the investigation team.

While Kusanagi  investigates in his own style, Utsumi relies on her intuition. Professor Manabu Yuakama swings from one side to another and never loses track. All finer aspects around the poison in the coffee cup is analysed thoroughly by the detectives.

The kettle in which the coffee was made, the mineral water bottles in the refrigerator and the water filter angle are all analysed thoroughly by the detectives. Readers with a scientific bent of mind would definitely find the unveiling of the mystery interesting.

Ex-lovers, the wife and the pregnant girl friend of Yoshitaka are all interrogated thoroughly too.

How the mystery unfolds forms the rest of the story.

The author specifically needs to be lauded for perfect characterization. Yoshitaka's " business like" character of treating women like a " Baby machine", Ayanes'  " Charming and emotionally composed" nature , Utsumi's intuitive nature are all well elaborated by  the author.

The story line is wafer thin and keeps the readers interest glued for some time. The plot is unraveled nicely. But as the novel moves forward, the question in the readers mind is not , " Who is the culprit?", but it is about " How did the person commit the crime?".

The "flower plant watering" tin is an obvious clue that is thrown open by the author at the early stage of the novel. Regular readers of crime fiction or people with good guesses can never miss such obvious clues about the murder. More details disclosed in this review would essentially kill the "only" surprise element in the novel.

Even in the end, when the plot is disclosed, most of the readers may be left unconvinced.

Since the plot is wafer thin, many impatient readers may jump the gun to last pages of the novel.

Japanese names also create a different feeling to the reader. If you are not used to such names, the reader may take some time to get used to character names like Hiromi Wakayama, Toshitaka Mashiba, Ayane Mashiba, Tatsuhiko, Manaby Yukawa , Kusanagi and so forth.

The book is overall a good read. This book would keep you glued , if you are  a person who is " keen to know the details".

This review is a part of the biggest Book Review Program for Indian Bloggers. Participate now to get free books!

The bubble graph

Source : Wikipedia


The aforesaid chart is  a very good representation of most of the bubbles.

I would really like to map the real estate trend in India to this chart. But unfortunately the data available  is not reliable!


Read this for a more elaborate understanding of bubble and behavioral finance.

Mutual Fund - Direct investing - Make use of it!

"Effective 1 January, all asset management companies (AMCs) launched direct plans of all their open-ended MF schemes, a move which was made mandatory by the capital markets regulator, Securities and Exchange Board of India (Sebi), through a circular issued in September."

So, are you still investing through your broker initiated portfolios?

Is there a need to switch to "direct" schemes?

Read the detailed article here. For those who don't have the time, here's the relevant portion which states the benefit in % for direct schemes. This amount may sound trivial but may add up to a huge saving over a period of time.  Please mind the impact of capital gains tax before you do the switch. ( Also note :-you will loose out on STT for switch out from regular plan as in case of normal sale)

According to figures provided to us by Outlook Asia Capital, equity funds have shown a difference of about 0.58% on an annualized basis between the net asset values (NAVs) of direct and normal plans, as on 11 January. We have taken the annualized figures here as the total expense ratio (TER) figures of MF schemes are also annualized. Liquid funds have shown a far lower difference of about 0.05%, so far.

Book review: FK Knows by Shailendra Singh

Shailendra Singh, the author has attempted to provide a self help book with an indigenous flavour( to be specific- I would say in "Punjabi" flavour. If you have had a few Punjabi friends, you would know what I mean).

If you have read books like " The Monk who sold his Ferrari", " 5- point someone" - you wouldn't find the concept of this book entirely new. The difference of the book lies in the way in which the concepts have been presented.

Shailendra Singh (the back cover of the book states that he is a uber successful entrepreneur although this is the first time I am hearing his name) in this book tries to help the readers on the following :

1. Finding yourself (because you are probably lost)

2. Following your heart a.k.a live for yourself and not for others

3. Achieving your goals

4. Living life every moment as it comes by

The book has around some 70 odd chapters and the author recommends that the readers take long breaks between chapters. He also states that the logic contained in his book might disrupt your pre-conditioned assumptions about the world.

Why I would probably agree to the author's first statement, I don't see anything that is " path-breaking" in this book which is told for the "first time". 

The way the book unfolds is a bit unique. The language, dialect used to get into the story line is also interesting. (You may call it the "theme" line if you want since this is not a story book).

The author talks about his own story of having had a "successful" life till his forties. The loss of his father coupled with degradation of his own health makes him realise the void in his life and he is not really happy. The author out of his experience states that one should be living his own life by following one's heart. 

The examples quoted would be quite relatable to most of Indian readers. This is because our lives are driven mostly by our parents decision than our own. The author wants the reader to take control of ones life, make a "to do" list and then go towards achieving the list. The author also provides a few examples from his own "to do" list. 

There are many books, movies, articles that tell you to " follow your heart". If you have already realised that and expect further more from this book, you may be a bit disappointed. The author talks about his experience of reliving his life by visiting all the places from his place of birth to figure out his happiest moments. This way to figure out passion may or may not necessarily work out for you. 

After talking about the main message of "finding yourself" and " follow your heart", the author jumps on to random topics of self help and provides you enough gyaan with smaller chapters till the end. I feel that the book loses its steam half way and becomes a bit monotonous after the first few chapters. The language used gets repetitive and there is an overdose of the word "FK" which may actually tire some readers.

Probably, young readers might find the language and style used very interesting till the very end. This book makes a good one time read. For young readers this book can be like a good bhangra song played on the dance floor by a DJ. This book might help you pep up your spirits. Definitely a good attempt by a first time author.

This review is a part of the biggest Book Review Program for Indian Bloggers. Participate now to get free books!

Punishing non-performers.

When you deposit your money with a bank, you presume it would be safely returned to you. How many times do you check whether your money is put to good use by the bank?.

You may ask " why is it important to do that?'. It is really important because, the bank may go bankrupt if it is doing some irresponsible lending. This can lead to loss of your deposit ( I am not in for arguments like government will back it up, deposit insurance,etc,etc as it is not good for the economy in the long run)

So, it is very important to punish the non-performing banks by withdrawing your deposits from them or at least making a conscious decision of making no further deposit with a non-performer.

Look at the NPAs ( Non Performing Assets- bad loans) of the banks, if they are continuously on the raise ( when compared to industry standards and other banks), you should start treating your bank as a non-performer.

If you do not do this, it helps the people of the following kind

"Those who take loan with political pressure and don't pay back, helps the real estate guys who can keep the prices high funded by bank loans and never bother to pay them soon, helps the industrialist who run a show business and do not care to pay even their employees."

So, you are helping these guys when you don't punish non-performers. Next time, when you see an article about you bank's NPA - " ACT ON IT". Punish the non-performers.