Who Threw Draco Down the Chimney? By Smita Bhattacharya

by Dianne, guest reviewer

"Who Threw Draco Down the Chimney?" begins in 1947 with the discovery by Andrea Rosetti of a decomposing body in a chimney. Then it switches to the present day where Darya Nandkarni is conversing with Ana-Maria Rosetti, and this marks the beginning of Darya’s story that pertains to the disappearance of a young man named Brian. As the story unfolds, it switches between the past and the present as Darya conducts an investigation into what happened to Brian and shares her findings with Ana-Maria. Darya uncovers startling and disturbing revelations that could tie into why Brian is missing. Also, does the decades-old mystery surrounding the body in the chimney have anything to do with Brian?

This story is the third installment in Darya Nandkarni’s Misadventures Series. It takes place in Sibiu, a city in Transylvania, located in Central Romania. Darya’s expertise as an amateur detective is the catalyst for drawing her into a mystery that is rife with far more complications than she imagined. Throughout the story there are references to unexplained serious-sounding family issues that Darya has escaped from temporarily. Smita Bhattacharya has penned a story with descriptions that help create clear and vivid pictures in the readers’ mind of not only the characters and setting but Bhattacharya has also written realistic dialogue that reveals and fits in with the characters’ personality traits.

After the prologue, which sets up this enjoyable mystery with twists and turns and dark secrets, there is a helpful list that gives readers a brief description of the setting and the main characters along with definitions of words used by the local inhabitants who are part of the story. A map of Romania showing all the locations cited is included, and interesting quotes that tie into this tale are scattered throughout. The novel is broken down into weeks, and there is a mistake in the numbering, so two weeks are out of sequence. Even though this is the third book in the series, it can be read as a stand-alone. The ending readily lends itself to a fourth installment.