#611 - The Case of the Mysterious Witches : An M4 Mystery Book 3
by Mallika Ravikumar
“The Case of the Mysterious Witches : An M4 Mystery Book 3” by Mallika Ravikumar. Published by Talking Cub, the children’s imprint of Speaking Tiger. An intriguing mystery of a woman being branded as a witch and subjected to harassment investigated by the incredible M4 consisting of three children and a dog.
The detective group of M4 (Meera, Malhar, Mirchi and his dog Munna) are on a weekend trekking trip near their town of Maulsari. They hear cries for help and come across a hapless woman being chased by a mob of violent men. She is found badly injured and unconscious in a ditch by the group who take her to the nearest primary health care clinic. The group have to find out who the woman is and why the men were after her. They are flabbergasted to know that the woman named Mayawati has been declared as a witch by the villagers who believe that she is the reason for their misfortunes. She is hounded out of her home and land!
The M4 start investigating what seems to be a potential case and stumble upon an astonishing fact. Mayawati isn’t the only one facing this strange situation. There are multiple women like her in several villages. Their investigation makes them realise the presence of several culprits. From a famous sorcerer called Billaur Buva running a supposedly holy ashram pretending to have divine powers and declaring women as witches, to a village full of superstitious people who are ready to blame someone for their misery, to unscrupulous land grabbers who are constantly on the lookout for gullible targets. The children realise that this is quite a nasty business and find themselves in a murky world of witch hunting and how it is related to caste and gender based violence. Read the book to know what the M4 do this time and whether hapless women like Mayawati can be saved by the law.
The book is the third instalment of the ever delightful “M4 Mystery” series which is a favourite at our home. The series aims to bring in aspects of legal knowledge to children in Indian settings. My eleven year old son and I were drawn headlong into this engrossing mystery as well which was quite a revelation. To think of women being branded as witches in this day and age was quite shocking. It shows how there are so many evil forces at work to take advantage of the fears and superstitious beliefs of gullible villagers. To realise how this is tied to land grabbing and discrimination was quite thought provoking. It was heartwarming to see the M4 and the supportive adults around them who help them out in this case and say no to injustice. The plot was racy and well developed with the various threads being spun and woven together neatly. The book is an excellent means to create awareness about several topics like witch hunting, land grabbing, discrimination based on several factors like caste or gender, superstitious beliefs and fears, and blind faith in healing men or women who claim to have special powers. Overall a “MUST READ” for everyone.
P.S - The first two books of the series are “The Case of the Vanishing Gods : An M4 Mystery Book 1” and “The Case of the Missing Turtles : An M4 Mystery Book 2”.
Recommended Age
The book is apt for children aged 10 and above.
Where to buy from?
The publishers Talking Cub here.
Disclaimer - We received this book from the publisher, Talking Cub, for review. Thank you to the folks at Talking Cub, for sending across the book!