Locked room mystery? Yes, please! Family drama? Sure, as long as it isn’t mine. I feel like this book is not exactly as marketed, so let’s discuss. Here’s my Review of The Night of the Storm by Nishita Parekh with marked spoilers and the ending explained!
The Night of the Storm of Nishita Parekh
To be published on January 16, 2024 by Dutton Books. Thanks to the publisher for providing an advance copy to me for my honest review.
Plot Summary of The Night of the Storm
Jia Shah is feeling the pressure. She’s just split from her husband Dev and is trying to raise her tween son Ishaan as a single parent.
As a powerful hurricane bears down on Houston, Jia needs to evacuate. Her sister Seema offers them refuge, but Jia is reluctant to take her up on the offer. Why? What is Jia afraid of and what terrible things will happen as the storm hits?
Jen’s Quick Take on The Night of the Storm
- More a family mystery/drama than a fast-paced thriller
- Highlights the immigrant experience in the United States
- A main character that some readers found annnoying
- A low (3.44) Goodreads rating that might be because the book was marketed as a thriller
Review of The Night of the Storm
I really enjoy a closed circle mystery featuring a limited number of suspects in a confined area. The Night of the Storm definitely qualifies, with a family of eight (two brothers, their wives, and their mother; the sister of one of the wives; and two children) trapped in a large suburban house during a fierce storm.
But I would caution readers that The Night of the Storm is NOT a fast-paced thriller. It’s more of a classic mystery with a heavy dose of family drama.
I enjoyed the fact that this family was largely South Asian-American, with one exception, and that it looked at gender expectations and family relationships.
Because of the small cast of characters (one outsider does eventually join the group) the suspects are very limited and to some readers this may become more of a why-done-it than a who-done-it.
But The Night of the Storm offered some nice twists and turns at the end.
I can see from Goodreads that some readers disliked Jia, the main character. I didn’t, but I feel like this is the kind of story where many of the characters are meant to be unlikeable (I’m thinking of Dev, Seema, and Vipul in particular).
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