Nilesh Jasani's Reviews > Close to Death

“Close to Death” is a gripping whodunit that keeps readers hooked not as much through the central mystery as through the engaging characters, fast-paced narrative, and the author’s superb storytelling skills. The novel deftly balances character backstories with a rapid series of tense events and shifting suspicions.

What truly sets this book apart is its masterful writing and ability to insert the author himself as an underdog character (a feature through the series) that readers can't help but root for. The novel has a delightfully meta quality as the author's fictional self gets entangled in the investigation. The master children’s book writer has a talent for blending humor and suspense, which takes the form of charming, self-deprecating that undercuts the tension with welcome levity. Yet he's also able to ratchet up the stakes with tangible feelings of danger and high-stakes intrigue. This personal involvement lends the story a wonderful Sherlockian, first-person writing flair.

The central mystery is not bad, even though not something that would really surprise too many. The joy of the book is not in its mystery parts.