Ruby Roy and the Murder in the Falls by Rima Ray

Have you ever come across a story where the main character is based on you – your life, your quirky, crazy and wacko life? If you do not think you live a crazy, quirky and wacko life, you are not welcome to join the gang! The RR gang, I mean!

Let’s see what makes the RR gang special. We have Ruby Roy, a professor at Baron University and the main character of this story; Rima Ray, author and professor; Rekha Rao, yours truly who needs no introduction. 😀 What binds us together is our love for everything quirky. Rima says Ruby Roy is probably an exaggerated version of her. I too could relate to Ruby’s character – getting lost in a train of thought, overthinking (especially about winning a lottery), dabbling in astrology and whatnots, cat lover (or rather, cat butler) – the list is long!

Enough shop talk, let me start with the review.

Ruby Roy is waiting for her husband to pick her up. She wore her glasses this time – there was this incident when she saw his car in the parking lot, got in and almost kissed him, only to realize it was the wrong car and she was about to kiss the wrong person! Then there was another incident related to not-wearing-glasses scenario – a Christmas party, all colleagues present, and an incident that resulted in Roby pulling off the top of her Chair’s wife. Oh Lordy!

So, she’s learned it the hard way – better to wear glasses than be as blind as a bat. We also have another ‘fantasy world incident’ involving an astrologer from Bangalore (my city!!) who said Ruby has nag dosh (curse from the snakes) and Ruby would also win a lottery. So Ruby imagines how her life would change when she wins the lottery. She would add dogs to her list of pets (she already owns two cats named Million and Nobel), then some cows, goats, sheep… elephant, tiger, cheetah, and some of those bigger felines, And they all lived happily ever after… as each other’s dinner! Ruby would also invite Barry Drewmore, Oprah, Mindy Kaling, Chris Evans, Andy Cohen and Denzel Washington for Indian potlucks, mango lassis, samosas and Bollywood dance performances. Oh what fun!

Ruby was once told by her colleague to have a look at Chinese Astrology. So, that evening, Ruby went home and discovered her Chinese Zodiac sign. A Rat! She was a Rat Woman! And her husband, Cleo, was a Pig Man. Then she dug deeper into rats and pigs and found images of horrifying ‘rat woman and pig man’ on Google. Well, that was the end of rats and pigs. Phew!

Oh drat! I am again deviating from the main topic of discussion, ain’t I?

Cleo arrives to pick Ruby up and Ruby remembers she left her backpack in her office. She goes back to retrieve and finds the Chair’s officer door open. She goes in to just drop a hello or bye or whatevs when she finds the Chair, Dr. Peter Malcolm, sitting on his chair with his mouth open, eyes large and round as a fish, and a knife protruding from his chest. Ruby stammers his name before she’s hit on the head.

She wakes up to find herself lying on a stretcher outside the building. The local police insists she must visit the station and give her statement. She agrees and is made to wait in the interview room. A detective enters the room *start romantic bollywood music* he looks like Chris Evans! The only actor Ruby has a crush on – well, George Clooney is married so he no longer qualifies as handsome, you see! Ruby goes into a dreamy state where she finds herself dancing with Chris Evans. Her train of thought is interrupted by the detective and she accidentally calls him Chris… Oops, you did it again! The detective says “Chris?” and Ruby corrects it to Crys… Crystal Clear. Phew, nice save! It so happens that the detective is called Chris!

Who would have wanted to kill Dr. Peter Malcolm? Ruby is curious to know. She’s read all the Marple, Poirot, Holmes and Father Brown series, and also watched a lot of mystery shows but now she gets to experience a murder mystery for real! She casually talks to her colleagues about Peter and learns quite a lot. It seems Peter was not a good man and had his eyes set on many women.

During a meeting, Ruby wonders if Professor Anthony (who speaks inside his mouth and not out loud) and Peter knew each other for a long time. After all, both men joined Baron University at the same time. But she never saw them talk to each other. Hmm, then there is this incident at Peter’s funeral – which changes the course of the murder investigation.

I can go on and on, talking about this book and turn this review into a book of its own! I hope it is pretty clear that I enjoyed every bit of this story. I do mean EVERY BIT! From quirky characters to the cats and the murder mystery, absolutely entertaining. I mean, how often do I get to read a story featuring a main character with whom I can totally relate, huh?

Do not drink water before or while reading this book. The story is sure to make you laugh so hard that you will want to pee in your pants. So stay off water. You’re welcome! 🙂 Just to be clear, I am not saying this from experience. Thank you, next!

Coming to the murder mystery and the identity of the perp – we do have another crime in the second half of the story. Ruby once again is caught up in the middle of it and this time, she cannot sleep until she finds the solution. Or rather, the killer. She tries to sleep and then, Eureka! She finds the missing link of the puzzle and the identity of the killer. This is followed by a phone call to Chris Evans Detective Chris Jones at three in the morning, followed by a movie-scene-like denouement which results in someone turning into a real-life superhero. *think supergirl + batwoman + Doctor Strange +…*

Ruby Roy and the Murder in the Falls by Rima Ray is an absolutely entertaining, quirky, humorous and brilliantly-written mystery. Highly recommended!

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