Writing a review of The Blue Bar book is not an easy one to write for me. Alert: this is a long review after a long time. 🙂

It has taken me time and making peace with the fact that there is always collateral damage in life to write this review.

As a die-hard romantic, The Blue Bar is a book I savored with characters I despised and the sweet, wholesome love I enjoyed.

After reading this book, I’ve had mixed emotions and the fact that this book was on my mind for a long time and it took me quite a few weeks before I could settle you down to write the review finally.

Why you ask?

The problem was all mine. If Damyanti had any role to play, it was that she wrote a remarkable book.

A book that told the story of disembowelled women, cut with surgical precision and ruthless, macabre accuracy. The Blue Bar is unputdownable; I wanted to read and find the killer.

I wanted to read it fast so I could find the killer and put an end to his killing spree so that I could stop him.

But I also wanted to read the book slowly so I could enjoy the nuances, the details, and the scenes as I was immersed in the book and Mumbai.

Damyanti’s writing has always been hard-hitting; she goes deep into the bone and lays it all bare forcing the reader to think, to analyze their values, their life, the environment, and the choices that they make.


This book, The Blue Bar is no different.

After reading her first book, You Beneath Your Skin I was eager to read the second book though they are not connected.

The books follow a similar vein of uncovering and saving the lives of underprivileged women.


Damyanti ensures that with The Blue Bar the readers are immediately immersed in the world of Tara and Arnav, the police inspector who is her lover. Though they have been apart for many years, the chemistry that they share was endearing.

Love doesn’t see the passage of time.

Add to that the mystery of what she had been doing and where she was and how the stage was set for the crimes to occur, makes this book a page turner.

The crimes and the gory details that the author shares of the crime scene. How the dead bodies pile up and in what conditions they were found; was brutal to read at times.

It was unnerving but at the same time I was so invested in the book wanting to read, wanting to find out would the girls get justice or would they be able to find any details of bodies that have been dumped over the years that I read incessantly, unceasingly and did not stop till I had finished the book.


Such is the power of Damayanti’s writing and the worlds that she creates in her books that it just does not let you keep the books down. I raced through the book while at the same time I tried to slow down and read at a pace so that the book doesn’t finish too fast.

However the evil man made me read fast, it is due to him as I wanted to know who is he, what happens to him and the women at The Blue Bar.

Will Tara be safe? Will they find the killer on time, will the collateral be safe? Will her friend survive? Oh…I hope she does! Who is the killer? I must know! Dammit, it’s not him! This guy, this wuss! This jerk! Are they all in it? She’s the one? No! WTF? That’s impossible! Can’t Arnav see this? Oh, I hope she is safe… and he is evil? Is she or is it her? This guy is trouble or is he? Can she be the one? The dance bar or the hotel or is it the railway station? Is it him or is it this guy… he checks all the boxes?

These were just my mind’s rambling as I read and raced against time along with Inspector Arnav. It was unnerving and a wild ride. I was transported to the lagoons of Mumbai. The underbelly and the glittering divas to be thoroughly entertained.

Damyanti has together with characters and situations that are so realistic that I felt as if it had happened in real life and I would have heard it on the news sometime and now a book has been written.

This is the strength and the plus point of her writing that she takes stories, she takes inspiration from incidents in real life and spins them into this beautiful heart wrenching but a little scary thrilling book for us to read.

By immersing us into a world that is both evil and kind at the same time to help us realize it is the kindness of strangers that helps the world.

It is also the evil within all of us, the evil around us and at times the level of wretchedness that drives even the simplest of individuals to commit the most heinous crimes.

Time and again, we believe no one is born a criminal, no one is inherently evil, and it is our situation and our environment, our childhood that drives a person to become what they are as they grow up.

The Blue Bar proves once again that the environment matters and how incidents of our past can trigger and turn a person into a monster.

Arnav and Tara’s relationship is the backbone of the story, adding depth and layers to the storyline. The motivation and angst of the characters are clear when we understand their past.

Peeling back the layers of the story to see the past of the characters to what they have become today. The Blue Bar is unravelling murders from the past that threaten lives in the present.

Love keeps pushing Tara and Arnav while hate and abuse propel and motivate the killer.

The killer is right there, but I just couldn’t pin him. I guessed wrong—twice.

Damyanti writes with tricks and hides the killer in plain sight, as is obvious in the book.

The book ended with the romantic me feeling disgruntled but not hopeless. It is a stand-alone read but crime always has loose ends to tie up. Hope and love survive, but so does evil. It is as if they are thriving off each other.

The book has a sequel in the works and I’m hoping for severe, if not swift justice. But that’s just me.

Damyanti I’m sure has many elaborate, sly and morbid plans for the book which I know I will read as soon as I can lay my hands on it.

The Blue Bar book was unputdownable and Damyanti is the culprit 😀 Go read THE BLUE BAR now.

I received an ARC from NetGalley.

“Endings are overrated. There's only one true, certain end... Beginnings, though. Beginnings are everywhere.”

From the opening lines, The Blue Bar grabs your attention and doesn't let go. From the Mumbai setting to the characters that populate this book, the story is rich in detail and well-paced. We meet Arnav, the police constable, his assistant Naik, his girlfriend Nandini, and supervisor and close friend Shinde. And of course Tara, the girl in the sparkling blue saree. The one who got away - from Arnav and from life as an exotic dancer.

This was a fascinating police procedural and a taught thriller, where the lines between good and bad are sometimes blurred. The story is gritty with is close look at the bar dancers and the bar owners who manipulate them. But it's also full of friendship and soul and people trying to do what's right for themselves and those they love.

I don't read a lot of thriller/suspense stories, so the heinous crimes were particularly gruesome to me and parts were downright disturbing. Nonetheless, the story is well written with multiple points of view, including the killer’s, and extremely propulsive. I couldn't put it down for the last half of the book. If you love police procedurals and mystery/thrillers I highly recommend this atmospheric story and its unique setting.

Thank you author Damyanti Biswas and Amazon Publishing for sharing this ARC with me.

The Blue Bar opens with Tara Mondal engaged in a cat-and-mouse game with whoever is watching her trying to disappear from a train station in an allotted time frame of three minutes.

The reader also meets Inspector Arnav Singh Rajput, who is called to a crime scene that eventually clues the police in to the gruesome activities of a long-time serial killer.

Tara and Arnav were lovers, and her disappearance years ago has messed with his mind and brings thoughts of her to the fore as he tackles this case. They eventually meet again and she becomes integral to the mystery.

I found The Blue Bar an eye-opening read regarding some aspects of Indian culture—the food, the holidays, their significance, the ethnic groupings, and gang activities. Plus, the background of the dance bars, the economics around them, and the lives of those involved in that world.

Set in the no-man’s-land where property speculation and the criminal underworld intersect with seedy nightlife and Bollywood excesses, The Blue Bar follows the trials and peregrinations of its protagonists as they struggle to reconcile past with present.

This is Damyanti Biswas’s second novel, following the success of her 2019 debut You Beneath Your Skin, which is set to be translated onto screen in the near future. While the action in the latter takes place in Delhi, the latest from the Singapore-based Indian author brings the readers to the gritty streets of Mumbai.

Taut, nail-biting, tense, The Blue Bar is everything you might hope for in a crime thriller. There isn’t a wasted words in this lean fast-paced head-spinning read.

The Blue Bar kicks off a brand-new series and is the first Blue Mumbai Thriller. And there you have it: my first reason to pick up The Blue Bar: its setting. Regular visitors of my blog will know I like to diversify where I’m reading, and since I’ve read very few books set in India, the setting in Mumbai is what drew me to The Blue Bar. It did precisely what I’d hoped it would do: it transported me to Mumbai and, without overwhelming me, offered me loads of information about the city, the country and its people, religion, geography, culture, you name it, it’s there and I loved it. The bit that appealed to me most turned out to be what I enjoyed most about The Blue Bar.

Obviously, I had other reasons for wanting to read The Blue Bar, I mean have you read that blurb?! It sounded to me like a rather dark police procedural, and that’s actually what it is. Is India Noir a thing? If not, it should be and this book should be its poster child.

The Blue Bar is told from four different perspectives. One is police inspector Arnav, our protagonist / hero who swept me off my feet a little bit, I liked him immensely. Another remains unnamed for the most part of the story, it is a dark person with a dark past and an even darker present, they were terrifying.

The Blue Bar is an intricately woven slow-burning serial killer thriller that offers well-rounded characters with well-built backgrounds against a well-developed backdrop of the city of Mumbai. It didn’t grab me right away, I did need some time to get used to this world it transported me to and the people in it, but it did keep me interested from the start, and once everything and everyone started to feel a little more familiar, I flew through it. I would definitely recommend The Blue Bar to fans of crime thrillers and police procedurals, especially those looking for a unique setting.

The Blue Bar is out on 1 January 2023 in digital formats, audio and paperback.

Many thanks to the author for sending me a widget, to Thomas & Mercer and to NetGalley. All opinions are my own.

The Blue Bar, Damyanti Biswas

I have never had the pleasure of visiting Mumbai. In my mind, it has always been associated with very vibrant colors and smells, the colors and smells of spices, the vibrancy of traditional saris, the lights from huge skyscrapers, the salt air from the ocean. After reading The Blue Bar, I will now include the color blue in my imaginary Mumbai.

Tara was a dancer at the Blue Bar when that establishment featured provocative dancers in titillating clothes to appeal to men. During her dancing career she met a rising young police officer, Arnav. Their love affair ended abruptly when Tara disappeared. Perhaps Arnav could have found her if he had tried harder, perhaps not, but in his hurt and disappointment he did not apply all of his detective skills to the search.

Around the same time that Tara disappeared, the laws in India changed and bar dancing of the type featured at the Blue Bar was banned. Obviously people who still wanted that entertainment could find it, but it was now run solely by people who did not mind breaking the law. (That probably was not a significant change from before.)

Arnav has risen to a leading detective position. There, he is in charge of pursuing many serious crimes, but the ones that always capture his full attention are crimes against women. Arnav’s sister had been raped when he was a young teenager. The lack of interest on the part of the police and the social stigma faced by rape victims contributed to his sister taking her own life. Although he could not bring her back, he had vowed to champion the cause of other victims in her name.

When a partial body is discovered, a body missing the head, hands, and feet, Arnav is brought into the case. The coroner notes that the victim is female. He also discovers some blue sequins with the body. This reminds Arnav of another case from several years earlier, one he had not investigated but had heard of. A search turns up several other bodies; two more at the construction site where this one was found and more in the unsolved case files of the Mumbai police.

Arnav is convinced there is a serial killer. The condition of the bodies is identical, and several of them were also found with blue sequins. But there are multiple other factors at play. The construction site is owned by a wealthy businessman who is engaged to a prominent Bollywood figure. The businessman is close friends with the police chief and with the minister in charge of the police. Arnav is warned away from the investigation, is forced to close the crime scene and allow construction to continue, and told he was going to be “promoted” to another department on the other side of Mumbai.

Complicating things further, the laws have changed again and the Blue Bar can resume its previous brand of entertainment. The bar owner has offered Tara a large amount of money to return and train new dancers for one week, also leading their dances on the stage. But, there is another job he wants her to do. She is to go to a rail station and stand, holding a pose for a short time, then leave. The client has a specific set of instructions, instructions which require Tara to wear a blue sequined sari.

There is nothing about this book that I don’t love. The setting of modern Mumbai is so rich with opportunity for a writer. Bollywood actors, wealthy businessmen and women, slums and high rises, beaches and hills, the ultra rich and the homeless, dedicated cops and official corruption. Mumbai is among the top 10 largest cities in the world, and just like NYC or Mexico City or London or Shanghai or any other megalopolis, if you can make it there you’ll make it anywhere. When that many people are trying to make it in a city, a writer with the skill and hard work of Damyanti Biswas can create magic.

When I read a book set in a far off (to me) location, I want to get the feel of the location. Biswas’ novel has Indian characters living in an Indian city, eating Indian food and drinking Indian beverages, conducting their business in an Indian manner. If I were to travel to Mumbai, I would not spend my time trying to find a KFC or a McDonalds. I would soak up as much of the place as I could while I was there. I have always wanted to travel to Mumbai, to Delhi, to Chennai, to the many parts of this amazing country with more than a billion people. At this point such a trip seems improbable. Thanks to Damyanti Biswas’s evocative and wonderful book, I can at least capture some of it in my heart.

Our thanks to the author and NetGalley for our copy of an ARC of The Blue Bar, scheduled for publication in January, 2023.

started reading Damyanti Biswas’s The Blue Bar about a day and half ago. In this immersive, action-packed, and fast paced thriller, you will have a hard time putting the book down. As someone who reads a variety of genres, I am very picky about thrillers and what constitutes them as one. But, Biswas’s novel did not disappoint. I read through most of the book till 1am last night, and finished it this morning. I was engaged with the tension between the main characters Tara Monal, a Blue Bar dancer in the seedy part of Mumbai and her lover, Arnav Singh Rajput responsible for unraveling the mystery of cold cases that were turning up as bodies of young women were being discovered around Mumbai. Told through three primary perspectives - Tara, Arnav, and the serial killer - as a reader you are thrown into the chaotic world as you uncover the mysteries. Part of the action kept on reminding me of the noir genre as there were many interactions that Arnav has with the forensics coroner as he resolves to uncover the mystery of the dead women. He also keeps a diary keeping track of the suspects in each chapter.

Biswas’s novel, however, does not stop there. She explores the #MeToo movement and its impact of the Indian film industry through the men that Arnav has to work with through his job. Without giving away too much, Biswas artfully creates a visceral, intense, and a haunting painting of Mumbai that is often forgotten in its glossiness presented in countless travel shows.

Although there are countless web series such as Sacred Games, Talaash, and The Fame Game (all found on Netflix), Biswas’s novel is so much more! But, I would recommend watching and exploring these shows if you are unfamiliar with this side of Mumbai!

This was a bit of a slow read for me at first, but I did enjoy the police/crime/thriller elements once I got into the book. I recommend adding this one to your list and trying it. I'm newer to thrillers so that may have been the reason for my reading experience.

Thank you Amazon Publishing and LetsTalkBooksPromo for my gifted copy.

If you are someone who reads a lot, as I do, and are always on the look out for that book that is a little bit different, you’ll want to pick up The Blue Bar by Damyanti Biswas. Part detective story, part thriller, part journey through the life of Mumbai and part exploration of the culture of India in the modern day, this book has so much to offer the reader who is prepared to put in a bit of effort for a big payoff.

Because this book is not a light and easy read. It throws a lot of information at you very quickly and takes you straight into the heat of bustling Mumbai with an atmosphere and authenticity which can be a culture shock for someone sat in a cold and frosty Yorkshire at Christmas. There are a lot of characters and a complex storyline that takes some burrowing into but, once you are immersed, you will be lost in a new world, fully involved with characters that are complicated and fascinating and engaging and a story that will grip you from start to finish.

The book is uncomfortable at times because it takes you into the mind of a serial killer who has very disturbing and perverse desires that he can’t control. The plot takes many twists and turns, so it was as obscure to me as it is to Inspector Rajput who was the culprit until right at the end of the book, which is always a joy because it keeps you guessing right to the end. Along the way, we learn a lot about Tara and her life and her relationship with Inspector Rajput, which adds another dimension and layer of tension to the story, as his involvement becomes personal as well as professional.

I absolutely love to read books set in other countries and cultures, more often literary or romance, so it was fantastic to read one in the crime/thriller genre that took me somewhere completely different and looked at a different way of policing. I found the exploration of the investigative process and the way the police force is structured and operates completely absorbing. I have no idea how accurate this portrayal is but the book gave me something that I haven’t found in any other novel in this genre. I felt completely transported to another place and a different culture and society and it was an absolute delight to be so conveyed. After all, why do we read if not to be removed to a time, place, or experience different to our every day?

This is a dark, intricate, thought-provoking and rewarding novel that offered me something very different from most of the thrillers I read. It is clearly a work of love and devotion by the author, you can feel the desire to inform and entertain flowing from the page and it grabbed me and dragged me with it into the heart of the story. Despite the fact this took concentration and time to get through, it was worth every second I spent immersed in this world and I can highly recommend it to anyone who likes to read out of the ordinary and loves a book where the payoff more than exceeds the effort invested in the read.

The perfect book for when you need a mystery like Girl on The Train mixed with great Agatha Christie novels.

At a deserted location on Aksa beach in Mumbai, on a construction site that has been in litigation for many years, workers have just started excavation to find a decayed dead body; a woman’s body without head, hands or feet. As indicated by the forensics based on the shrubs growing around, more bodies are dug up within the next few days at the same site.

Soon another body is retrieved from a mangrove in Versova, a suitcase containing a woman’s body without head, hands or feet. As Inspector Arnav Singh Rajput decides to bring justice to the women who have been killed after evident torture and bodies dumped at random places in the city, his own trauma from the past comes back to haunt him.

Having lost his older sister due to police injustice and his girlfriend and bar dancer Tara missing from fourteen years, Arnav feels a personal responsibility to solve the mystery behind these bodies. As Arnav starts digging deeper into these cases, there are hurdles at every corner — his bosses, businessmen, politicians, the notorious Mumbai underworld gangs.

Will Arnav be able to traverse this maze and find the culprits forms the rest of the story.

When the story starts there are multiple characters and threads and it takes a while for the reader to grasp the significance of each of them and their role in the overall plot but as the story progresses to the second half, the author’s brilliance in story telling becomes evident as all these threads merge.

The police procedures are well researched and authentic, so are the action sequences which are real, thrilling, and impressive. Mumbai is not just a backdrop but the soul of the story, playing the most important character throughout.

Arnav carries the story for the major part and has become one of my favorite fictional characters. His character starts with an air of mystery slowly revealing his past and building up this character. While Tara is at the center of all happenings, her character could have been developed better. Also, some of her mannerisms like taking solace in a shower get repetitive at places.

The love story between Arnav and Tara is heartwarming and adds to the flow though it is revealed in the middle of some tense sequences. The blue sequins, the three-minute railway station assignment, the connection between the various parties involved – all add intrigue to the narration. The story narrated from the antagonist point of view is scary but also builds the basis for childhood abuse affecting a person’s behavior and lack of remorse for the crimes committed.

The sequences involving the dead bodies can feel graphic if the reader is sensitive to such descriptions. The fast pace makes sure the reader would want to read the book in one go, unable to put down until all suspense is cleared.

The reality and de-glamorous side of the famous Mumbai bar dancers, the nexus between the rich, the police force and the underworld, the underlying corruption that denies justice to common people – the author weaves a wide array of topics deftly into one story.

A racy thriller that explores the dark alleys of Mumbai along with the dark psyche of its residents, The Blue Bar is one hell of a thrilling ride that I would recommend everyone to take at least once.

From the first page, the Blue Bar is a dangerous world that lures the reader in and plummets them into deception, fear, and unnerving anxiety. As the characters evolve and the back story develops, the links and the motives begin to piece this magnificent and twisted tale together. The story unfolds in the city of Mumbai, the ruthless underworld and their activities revealed through the eyes of the characters. Good cop, bad cop, the threads that entangle the reader in doubt and contemplation, who's to be believed and who's to be condemned, this fast-paced story leaves the reader guessing till the end. And the bomb that drops is catastrophic. Even though the characters are a world apart, their lives nothing that most have personally witnessed, their humanness, fears, and weaknesses make them easily relatable. Who doesn't want to feel that personal connection? This was a book that kept me interested and nervous, the need to know more till the very end. I feel that one of the startling revelations at the end could have played out in a more shocking way, leading the reader on at some earlier point in the story. There's just enough technical detailing that it doesn't interfere with the storytelling allowing different minded readers to find that common ground of understanding. Endings are definitely new beginnings, and it was a bittersweet feeling to finish the book and know that there would be no Blue Bar to return to. The story will linger in my mind as will the characters. Now, that's what I call a brilliant write, an impactful read. Cheers to the author Damyanti Biswas and her sinister imagination.

THE BLUE BAR is a richly told, fast-moving mystery thriller set in current day Mumbai about a detective on the trail of a mysterious serial killer and the woman he loves and thought he lost years ago - who may just be the next victim.

To my work: I'm sorry, but I stayed up way too late reading this. It has everything: gorgeous prose, a strong current of suspense, a sweet romance, and all the little details that make a story feel real, from the autopsy discussions, the mouthwatering food descriptions, and the descriptions of the police station. You can tell it was meticulously researched. This is not a simple story about crime corruption; it's about the individual choices people make moment to moment to do the 'right' thing or do a thing to help the people they love.

I loved it.

It was truly a delight to read The Blue Bar, a unique Mumbai crime thriller by Damyanti Biswas. With intricate plotline, sympathetic characters and the lush descriptions of Mumbai, it kept the pages turning until the very end.

This book has a lot going on: a killer plotline, a unique setting in Mumbai, pervasive corruption, romance and mystery. I particularly enjoyed that each chapter was written in alternating POVs. My absolute favorite was that of the killer’s which was handled deftly and revealed so much of the chilling inner workings. Well done.

This book is very well researched, and Biswas’ capable and fluent writing provide a sure hand, guiding the reader through this wild ride. Overall, I loved the book. I can already picture an action filled movie/tv series a la Shantaram coming out of this book.

So happy I received an ARC in exchange for an honest review.

The Blue Bar is a stunning thriller set in gritty Mumbai, a perfect exotic location for this mystery involving investigator Arnav Singh Rajput, keen to find a serial killer who preys on vulnerable women, perhaps Arnav's long lost love Tara, who disappeared years ago. I dare you to put this one down. I sure couldn't, paging as fast as I could to an end I never guessed. Biswas is my new fav thriller writer, and The Blue Bar is a must-read for fans of multicultural noir and twisty gripping tales.

First let’s talk about the gorgeous cover; it immediately captured my attention.

Be ready to be transported to the streets of Mumbai with the smell of street food and the exotic dances. This was such an atmospheric read that really made you feel that you were in the setting and feeling immersed in the culture. I am a sucker to police procedural plots and this was a wild ride. This book is full of cover ups, corruption, and gruesome murders.

I loved the multiple POV and the complexity of the MCs relationship. However, at times it was overwhelming with the amount of characters as it was hard to keep track of who everyone was. Overall, this book was an incredibly enjoy ride. If you are a fan of police procedural plots, exotic settings, or lost love this is the book for you!

Thank you Damyanti Biswas, Thomas and Mercer, and Let’s Talk Book Promo for having me on this book tour!

A #gifted copy of the book was provided to me in turn for my honest opinion.

My review will be posted on Instagram (thriller_book_sisters) on 1/11/23.

I love a book set in a different place with a different culture and this one is on the streets of Mumbai leading up to Diwali. I usually fly through crime novels, but this one was a little slower of a read for me, for probably the same reason of digesting names and culture… The setting was authentic and I have a whole new list of Indian food to try.

From the start I had an idea that the old missing persons case might play a part and was eager to find out what was happening. The plot moved along and I liked the slight romance that peppered the pages. Goodreads says this is book one, so I look forward to the next installment.

Anyone that likes crime stories that is looking for something a little different in setting and culture, should definitely give this one a try.

This was a quick read. It is an intriguing, new voice, new location for a thriller. Fast moving plot, characters that are unique and engaging. But there are a lot of characters, and I felt overwhelmed. Especially since the plot includes a lot of political manipulation, and the government officials/mobsters/detectives are plenty and adding their own fingers into the mix into this investigation.

Overall a thriller with a unique serial killer that will entertain the masses. Looking forward to more from this author.

The prologue for The Blue Bar was great, and really got me interested in the story. I had no idea what Tara was doing, or why or who she worked for and I was eager to learn more. But then the actual novel began, and I got quickly became disinterested. The characters were not distinguishable and I just wanted to get back to Tara. I felt like there was a constant tease, where Tara was mentioned, but her story wasn't explained. Maybe I needed to keep reading, but I just wasn't interested enough to do so. DNF

This was different from other books that I usually read. It was a mix of romance, thriller, and police procedural, so that definitely kept things interesting. And y’all, I was actually so invested in the romance. Arnav and Tara’s relationship was so much fun to read about. It had a bit of a star-crossed lovers vibe and I loved that!

I would say my favourite part of the story was the POV of the killer (yeah, yeah, there’s something wrong with me).. It was just so creepy to read from his perspective and not know who he could be.

I did find that the story was a bit slow at times, and I struggled to keep track of all the characters. But there were also many moments where there was so much happening and I was glued to the pages. I also loved the amount of detail, and the writing was very well done!

This review is posted on my Goodreads and on my Bookstagram account.