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Shajarur Kanta

From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia

The Quill of the Porcupine
AuthorSharadindu Bandyopadhyay
Original titleShajarur Kanta
LanguageBengali
SeriesByomkesh Bakshi
GenreDetective, Crime, Mystery
PublisherP.C. Sorkar and Sons (also anthologized by Ananda Publishers)
Publication date
1967 in hardcover Byomkesher diary and in the Sharadindu Omnibus in 1972
Publication placeIndia
Media typePrint (Hardback & Paperback)
Pages182 pp
Preceded byChholonar Chhondo 
Followed byBenishanghar 

Shajarur Kanta (transl. The Quills of the Porcupine) is a Bengali mystery novel written by Sharadindu Bandyopadhyay in 1967. The murderer kills people using porcupine quills thrust from behind into the heart.[1]

Plot

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The story starts with the death of a beggar, found dead with a porcupine's quill embedded to his heart. The police initially dismiss any foul play, but when a few more people end up dead in the same way, police are confused. Byomkesh is asked to investigate when a man is injured grievously, but survives the attack.

The man is Debashish Bhatto, a rich businessman, who has recently married Deepa in an arranged marriage. Byomkesh discovers that everything is not what it seems, especially when the gathering at Nripati Laha's allows him to interact with Debashish's friends and Deepa's family. Deepa's past is intricately entwined with her present, threatening to ruin her and Debashish's life.

Characters

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  • Byomkesh Bakshi
  • Ajit Bandyopadhyay
  • Satyabati
  • Debasish Bhatto
  • Deepa Bhatto, wife of Debashish
  • Udaymadhab Mukherjee, grandfather of Deepa and Bijoy
  • Neelmadhab Mukherjee, father of Deepa and Bijoy
  • Prabal Gupta, lover of Deepa
  • Sujan Mitra, an actor
  • Nripati Laha
  • Bijoy Madhab Mukherjee, brother of Deepa
  • Kharag Bahadur, footballer
  • Kapil Bose
  • Mother of Deepa and Bijoy
  • Dr. Sen
  • Dr. Gupta

Adaptations

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Television

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  • This was one of the stories in the 1993 TV series Byomkesh Bakshi titled "Sahi Ka Kanta".
  • The story adapted into another TV series in 2014 named Byomkesh, which aired on the Bengali channel ETV Bangla.

Film

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Web series

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  • This story was adapted for season 3 of the web series, Bomkyesh, by Anirban Bhattacharya.[citation needed]

References

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  1. ^ The Menagerie and Other Byomkesh Bakshi Mysteries. Penguin Books India. ISBN 9780143061960.
  2. ^ "Another Byomkesh Bakshi mystery".