Penumbra A Janardan Maity Mystery

In the middle of one of the worst storms to hit the city, a mysterious letter arrives for Prakash Ray, an out-of-luck journalist, inviting him to a quaint, suburban bungalow, to celebrate the 60th birthday of an uncle he has never heard of... As Prakash reaches the venue, he is introduced to a motley group of people, all gathered there for the old man’s big day: his son, his reticent brother, a dignified middle-aged lady who once owned the bungalow, a listless lawyer who manages his legal affairs, a mild-mannered young man who works as his secretary, his beautiful, young biographer, and his mysterious friend, who has never lost a game of chess to him. As the storm lashes on through the night, one of the people in the bungalow is murdered! In a game of cat and mouse that follows, Prakash soon finds out that under the surface of apparent warmth and friendliness, nothing is as it seems and that the bungalow holds one shocking secret after another! In a bid to save his own life, Prakash hunts for the truth, which lies in a mysterious penumbra of shadows and lights, covered in a sheath of deceit and guile, only to realize that the worst is yet to come!

Bhaskar Chattopadhyay is an author and screenwriter. He started his career translating Bengali and Hindi writers such as Rabindranath Tagore, Premchand and Bibhutibhushan Bandyopadhyay. He now writes mystery fiction and thrillers. He has also written several books on filmmaker Satyajit Ray. Bhaskar's first feature screenplay releases in October 2024. He lives in Toronto with his wife and two sons, and teaches screenwriting at York University.