What's happened
Two reviews of Abir Mukherjee’s The Pinnacle and Robert J Harris’s Crescendo (plus other titles) chart crime, power and celebrity in modern Mumbai and classic Hollywood. The Guardian and The Scotsman assess a city’s glitter and grit through money, influence and murder.
What's behind the headline?
Analysis
- The Guardian emphasizes social commentary around class and crime in a cosmopolitan Mumbai setting, highlighting Amit’s ambivalence and Gemma’s perspective as pivotal to resolving the mystery.
- The Scotsman frames Crescendo as a Hitchcock-esque metafiction, noting Burgogne’s role as a novelist-on-set who uncovers the how and why behind the production’s turmoil.
- Both pieces situate character-driven tension against a backdrop of glamour and power, underscoring how media and celebrity shape public perception of crime.
- Direct quotation support from each piece illustrates differing narrative angles: Mukherjee’s social satire vs. Harris’s film-noir homage.
- Overall, coverage stresses craft, pacing and the interplay of wealth, influence and morality in contemporary crime storytelling.
How we got here
The Guardian and The Scotsman publish contemporary crime and literary reviews of titles set in Mumbai and Los Angeles, with cross-border stars and production crews at the center. Mukherjee’s novel follows a rich cityscape and a suspect’s fragile loyalties, while Harris’s Crescendo nods to Hitchcock’s legacy in a metafictional project.
Our analysis
The Guardian: Laura Wilson reviews The Pinnacle and other crime titles; The Scotsman: David Robinson reviews Crescendo and Mukherjee’s The Pinnacle, with emphasis on Mumbai’s opulence and the Hollywood-on-set metafiction angle.
Go deeper
- Which of the two books does the reviewer find more compelling on the balance of character and plot?
- Do the reviews suggest any broader themes about media power and crime in contemporary fiction?
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David Maurice Robinson is an American former professional basketball player who played for the San Antonio Spurs in the National Basketball Association from 1989 to 2003. Nicknamed "the Admiral" for his service with the U.S.