Meet India’s ‘Most Private Investigator’ in his first mystery, ‘The Case of the Missing Servant’. ‘A seething slice of the subcontinent’ – THE TIMES

July 7, 2009 10 comments »

American cover

Portly, persistent and unmistakably Punjabi, Vish Puri cuts a determined swathe through modern India’s cheats, swindlers and murderers.

In hot and dusty Delhi, where call centers and malls are changing the ancient fabric of Indian life, Puri’s main work comes from screening prospective marriage partners, a job once the preserve of aunties and family priests.

But when an honest public litigator is accused of murdering his maidservant, it takes all of Puri’s resources to investigate. How will he trace the fate of the girl, known only as Mary, in a population of more than one billion? Who is taking potshots at him and his prize chili plants? And why is his widowed “Mummy-ji” attempting to play sleuth when everyone knows mummies are not detectives?

With his team of undercover operatives — Tubelight, Flush, and Facecream — Puri ingeniously combines modern techniques with principles of detection established in India more than two thousand years ago — long before “that Johnny-come-lately” Sherlock Holmes donned his deerstalker. » Read more: Meet India’s ‘Most Private Investigator’ in his first mystery, ‘The Case of the Missing Servant’. ‘A seething slice of the subcontinent’ – THE TIMES

New York Times calls ‘The Case of the Missing Servant’, ‘A first novel set in Delhi that offers penetrating insights into the new India.’ Read more reviews here.

July 6, 2009 No comments »

CASE OF THE MISSING #10B27A_2

‘A first novel set in Delhi that offers penetrating insights into the new India.’ — NEW YORK TIMES

‘Great fun – a seething slice of the sub-continent.’ – THE TIMES

‘An amusing, timely whodunit…Hall has woven his impressive knowledge of India into a tautly constructed novel that is a highly readable introduction to the country for newcomers.’ – GUARDIAN

‘India’s Most Private Investigator uses stealth, cunning and above all discretion to turn the tables on a killer…lively and quick-paced series debut.’ – KIRKUS REVIEWS (Starred Review)

‘India, captured in all its pungent, vivid glory, fascinates almost as much as the crime itself.’ – ENTERTAINMENT WEEKLY

‘Entertaining…Hall combines an insider’s insight with the eclectic eye of a good foreign correspondent…. The very opposite of the “exoticism” of which this kind of fiction is often accused. Instead of escaping into “another world”, western readers are encouraged to see an unflattering reflection of their own values and desires.’ – FINANCIAL TIMES

‘A good mystery and a fun read.’ – THE DAILY NEWS (New York)

‘The stories from “the files of India’s most private investigator” make hilarious reading and also paint a vivid picture of life in a modern Indian city. It’s all great fun.’ – THE WASHINGTON TIMES

‘Hall’s mystery…is as whimsical and colorful as its cover suggests… This novel could easily have been just a playful pastiche of the traditional British mystery, but through its comic tone and ironic point of view, the novel becomes a take on justice in post-colonial India.’ – MINNEAPOLIS STAR TRIBUNE

‘Tarquin Hall is a distinguished journalist and has no problem marshalling details to create a sense of what everyday life is like in Delhi: the smell of chat and kachoris seems to waft from the page, as indeed does the stench of political corruption.’ – DAILY TELEGRAPH

‘The debut of what promises to be an outstanding series… The novel is dense with atmosphere, creating a delightful mix of the exotic and familiar… An excellent, delightfully humorous mystery with an unforgettable cast of characters, The Case of the Missing Servant immediately joins the No. 1 Ladies’ Detective Agency as representing the best in international cozies.’ – BOOKLIST (Starred Review) » Read more: New York Times calls ‘The Case of the Missing Servant’, ‘A first novel set in Delhi that offers penetrating insights into the new India.’ Read more reviews here.

Latest Reviews in Full

July 5, 2009 No comments »

The latest review is from THE GUARDIAN:

‘In the parks of affluent south Delhi, college students exchange surreptitious kisses among 14th-century tombs. Servants who toil away for £60 a month walk their masters’ gingham-clad dachshunds. Businessmen and expatriates jog along the same trails from which labourers pilfer firewood for cooking and bathing. Distinct eras, value systems and social classes converge in this sprawling city.

Contemporary Delhi used to be ignored by authors, who tended to write about the city’s glorious past or about other Indian locales. But this aversion to the Indian capital seems to be waning. Novelists such as Aravind Adiga, and a slew of talented writers still unknown outside India, are painting artful portraits of present-day city life. Most recently, Sam Miller and Tarquin Hall, both experienced British reporters, have published books that attempt to decode this confounding megalopolis, an ever-expanding urban corridor in which the 21st century’s ambitions and nightmares seem to thrive side by side.

An amusing, timely whodunit, Hall’s novel The Case of the Missing Servant centers on Vish Puri, a clownish Punjabi Sherlock Holmes who bemoans the Americanisation of his country while living in a quasi-American Delhi suburb. Puri’s humdrum days of digging dirt on candidates for arranged marriage are interrupted by a murder case. A maidservant named Mary has gone missing, and lawyer Ajay Khasliwal, a patriot who yearns for his country to be a superpower, has been accused of impregnating the young woman, a migrant labourer from the tribal hinterlands, and then disposing of her body.

Khasliwal, however, claims he’s been framed. Over whiskey and chili cheese toasts at the Gymkhana Club, he explains that he’s been trying to bring “inept local and national authorities to account” and, as a result, a “conspiracy of interests” is out to get him. Puri traipses between Delhi and Rajasthan trying to prove the attorney’s innocence, unearthing the “endemic corruption” that is “severely hampering the country’s development”, as well as the shady ways of progress-wary purists.

Hall has woven his impressive knowledge of India into a tautly constructed novel that is a highly readable introduction to the country for newcomers. His portrait of Delhi’s middle classes is complex, and he understands that urban growth is often “built on the backs” of the rural poor. But his insistence on eliciting laughs by making fun of Indian English is tiresome, and his generalisations about Indian culture are at times off-key. The inclusion of even one non-Indian character would have infused the book with a note of redemptive honesty, but the author has shied away from confronting his ambiguous relationship with Delhi.’

Here’s one from New Zealand.  SOUTHLAND TIMES

‘A delightful cross between Agatha Christie and the Kumars. This is the story of how Vish Puri, India’s most private investigator, always gets his man or, in this case, a girl, known only as Mary, who has disappeared among India’s population of more than 1 billion and who holds the key to this modern Punjabi whodunnit.

Puri’s bread-and-butter work is screening prospective marriage partners in a culture where couples rarely marry for love, but all his modern techniques must now be combined with detection principles established in India more than 2000 years ago, to save his friend, an honest public litigator, from standing trial for murder.

Fast-paced, clever and witty, this thriller will have you sitting on the edge of your tasselled cushion, takeaway butter chicken forgotten, popodom crumbs scattered on the Persian rug beneath you.

Even if you don’t like your curries hot, you’ll love this spicy feast of top Anglo-Indian crime writing. So jaldi karo, beta, and be putting the kettle on for a nice cup of chai, this book is badiya! Namaste.’

WINNIPEG FREE PRESS:

‘For something completely different, you can’t beat U.K. journalist Tarquin Hall’s little ethnic gem, The Case of the Missing Servant (McClelland & Stewart, 320 pages, $30), featuring Delhi’s Most Private Investigator, Vish “Chubby” Puri. » Read more: Latest Reviews in Full

Latest Blog Reviews for ‘The Case of the Missing Servant’

July 1, 2009 4 comments »

‘Hall…has a silky smooth style, ripe with colorful descriptions and honest dialogue.’ BOOKGASM

‘A who-dun-it with Indian Tadka can not get better than this. Not at all over the top, has lovable characters & the taut writing makes the book an immensely entertaining read. I am now waiting for a series of cases to follow. So go grab your copy NOW!!!’ BOOKS, LIFE N MORE

‘Hall is able to bring to life the social complexities of the large, polyglot country. The divide between rich and poor, the confusion and dislocation of Delhi, the rigidly stratified social system – Hall builds them all up around Puri so we understand not only the detective, but the world he lives in.’ THE DIE IS CAST

‘A delightful mystery that immerses the reader in contemporary Indian culture. Readers of the No. 1 Ladies Detective Agency series will be thrilled to find a book that combines a foreign locale and an engaging main character with a humorous/cozy bent.’ POP GOES FICTION

‘I enjoyed Chubby’s philosophizing (he also writes letters to the Times) about the woes of modern India as much as the cleverly plotted mystery. Vish Puri, Most Private Investigator is tremendous (at times even farcical) fun – where else would you find a PI whose wife admonishes “Danger doesn’t worry me…but those deadly pakoras and chicken frankies you like so much do.” Don’t miss this one!’ BOOKLOONS