“When a 20ft apparition of the Goddess Kali appears before a group of professionals at their therapeutic laughing club in Delhi and strikes one of their number dead, the crime, bizarre even by Indian standards, sets off a frenzy of excited speculation.  The Goddess, needless to say, disappears without trace, but she leaves behind a very real, very dead, celebrated sceptic and rationalist Dr Suresh Jha, the arch enemy of all gurus and mystics. This is the second outing for the wonderfully comic ‘most private investigator’ Vish Puri, a portly local detective who realises that behind this preposterously staged event, powerful forces are at work.  So brilliantly does Tarquin Hall capture the sights, smells, sounds and foibles of modern India, not to mention the nuances of English-Indian speech, that it is hard to believe he is not himself Indian. He also serves up fabulous descriptions of the Indian cuisine much favoured by Puri, a sort of Indian Poirot whose lunch will always come before his crime-solving.” DAILY MAIL

http://www.dailymail.co.uk/home/books/article-1369567/CRIME.html#ixzz1Hfl8obC8

“Vish Puri…[is] a wonderfully engaging PI… [A] funny, entertaining novel… The characters – including members of Puri’s complicated family – are splendid, and it’s a joy to read.” Marcel Berlins in The Times

AVAILABLE NOW IN HARDBACK

LIBRARY JOURNAL has selected “The Case of the Man Who Died Laughing” as one of its best audiobooks for 2010.

Hall, Tarquin. The Case of the Man Who Died Laughing. 7 CDs. library ed. unabridged. 8½ hrs. AudioGO (formerly BBCAA). 2010. ISBN 9780792764533. $79.95; Playaway digital; digital download. F
Hall follows up The Case of the Missing Servant (2009), also available from AudioGO and read by Bombay-born actor Sam Dastor, with this second novel to feature PI Vish “Chubby” Puri. Here, Puri’s friend dies in a fit of giggles during a yoga class, apparently killed by an apparition of the Hindu goddess Kali. The mystery itself is engaging, but it is the fascinating characters and setting and Hall’s rich presentation of the many complexities of modern Indian life and culture that are this series’s biggest strength. Dastor has thoroughly mastered the Indian voice and vernacular, and his wonderful narration is critical to the success of this title on audio. Essential for anyone liking mysteries in international settings. ["Hall provides appealing characters, a strong sense of place, a complex plot, and mouth-watering Indian cuisine," read the review of the S. & S. hc, LJ Xpress Reviews, 6/3/10.—Ed.]—Kristen L. Smith, Loras Coll. Lib., Dubuque, IA

The book was also voted No.5 amongst the top mysteries and thrillers for 2010 on Audible.com