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| South Asia |
South Asia
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| Vikas Swarup |
"This book is by the author of Q&A, which was made into the movie, Slum Dog Millionaire. I really had no idea what to expect from this story, but the premise sounded interesting; a noted Indian film producer/ gangster, who has just been acquitted of murdering a young woman has a celebratory party at his home. He is murdered and Six Suspects are rounded up.
The story is told from varying perspectives; that of the reporter who wants to solve the crime and then from the six suspects; all varied, different characters. The story is sometimes told in the first person, others moving into a third person account. It covers an intro of each character, then moves into a rationale for the actions that lead each to the location of the murder and establishes motives, then the final portion dealing with resolution. An interesting (in a good way) story, different characters and exotic Indian locales. (3 stars)"
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| Tarquin Hall |
"Meet Vish Puri, India's most private investigator. Portly, persistent and unmistakably Punjabi, he cuts a determined swathe through modern India's swindlers, cheats 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 pot shots 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.
The search for Mary takes him to the desert oasis of Jaipur and the remote mines of Jharkhand. From his well-heeled Gymkhana Club to the slums where the servant classes live, Puri's adventures reveal modern India in all its seething complexity." (I rated this 3 stars)
"The Case of the Man Who Died Laughing is the second book in the case files of Indian Private Detective, Vish Puri, by Tarquin Hall. I enjoyed the first book, but found this second more enjoyable. Firstly, you have to realize that it's not going to be a deep, profound mystery, instead, it's a visit to an exotic, different culture in New Delhi and it is peopled with interesting characters and a boisterous, happy family.
In this book, Puri assists Police Investigator Singh in investigating the strange murder of a man in broad daylight, seemingly by the Hindu goddess, Kali. The victim, an Indian scientist and a rationalist, has spent his life trying to expose Indian mystics and gurus as frauds. On the whole, Puri agrees. With his excellent team of assistants, Puri investigates a variety of suspects, including a powerful mystic. He sends his capable right hand woman, Facecream (a nickname), into the church of the mystic to try and find information.
Meanwhile, Puri's wife, Rumpi and his mother, are conducting their own investigation, into a brazen robbery of a party that they both had attended. Are they even better detectives than Puri?
It's an interesting, entertaining story. I enjoyed the cast of characters. I enjoyed reading about Puri's healthy appetite and the food that he eats, all sounded yummy. If you take everything with a slight grain of salt, you will enjoy this story immensely. Think of it as a #1 Ladies' Detective Agency - Lite. It's more about the people with a neat caper thrown in to keep you entertained. (3.5 stars)"
"Long-held secrets, deadly lies, a sports scandal, and a poisoned helping of butter chicken -- all in a day's work for the head of Delhi's Most Private Investigators, in this latest book in the delightful Vish Puri detective series. When the father of a Pakistani star cricket player falls dead during a glamorous India Premier League dinner, clearly it isn't just a case of Delhi Belly. But which of the VIPs at the victim's table is responsible for poisoning the man's butter chicken? And was the victim killed for his involvement with a gambling syndicate that controls cricket's illegal billion-dollar betting industry? The answers seem to lie across the border in Pakistan -- the one country Puri swore he would never set foot in. Or do they? For Puri's beloved Mummy-ji, who has a unique insight into the killing, believes there is much more to this murder than meets the eye. Puri and Mummy-ji's search for the truth will lead them to uncover decades-old secrets and tragedies thought best forgotten in their most compelling case yet."
"The Love Commandos are dedicated to helping lovers from different castes marry for love in spite of India's millennia-old caste prejudices. But when a would-be Romeo from the Untouchable caste is kidnapped, the Love Commandos turn to Vish Puri for help. Has his fiancee's father made good on his promise and done away with him? Or is his disappearance the result of other forces at work? It falls to Vish Puri to find out. Unfortunately, he's not having a good month. He can't locate a haul of stolen jewelry. He's been pick-pocketed. And the only person who can get his wallet back is his interfering Mummy-ji.Things only get worse when he discovers that his arch-rival, Hari Kumar, is also trying to locate the abducted boy - as is a genetics research institute exploiting illiterate villagers.
As the story moves from the pilgrimage site of Vaishno Devi to the "Moonlight Garden" in the shadows of the Taj Mahal, the world's greatest monument to love, we see India's past and future collide in ways that will change Puri and his undercover operatives forever."
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| Barbara Cleverly |
"In a land of saffron sunsets and blazing summer heat, an Englishwoman has been found dead, her wrists slit, her body floating in a bathtub of blood and water. But is it suicide or murder? The case falls to Scotland Yard inspector Joe Sandilands, who survived the horror of the Western Front and has endured six sultry months in English-ruled Calcutta. Sandilands is ordered to investigate, and soon discovers that there have been other mysterious deaths, hearkening sinister ties to the present case.
Now, as the sovereignty of Britain is in decline and an insurgent India is on the rise, Sandilands must navigate the treacherous corridors of political decorum to bring a cunning killer to knowing the next victim is already marked to die." (I rated this 3 stars).
"World War I hero and Scotland Yard detective Joe Sandilands is traveling to Simla, summer capital of the British Raj, when he is thrust abruptly—and bloodily—into his second case of serial murder: His traveling companion, a Russian opera singer, is shot dead at his side in the Governor of Bengal's touring car at a crossroads known as Devil's Elbow. Like Cleverly's award-winning and enthusiastically reviewed The Last Kashmiri Rose, which debuted Sandilands, Ragtime in Simla effectively combines exotic settings with high suspense in a deftly plotted tale of 1920s India. At Simla, in the pine-scented Himalayan hills, the English colonials have re-created a bit of home with half-timbered houses, glittering dinner tables, amateur theatricals, and gymkhanas. But when Joe's murder investigation turns up an identical unsolved killing a year earlier, he begins to uncover behind the close-knit community's sparkling facade a sinister trail of blackmail, vice, and deadly secrets." (I rated this 3 stars)
"In the northwest frontier 1910, the screams of a wounded British officer abandoned at the bottom of a dark ravine are heard by a young Scottish subaltern. Ignoring the command to retreat to base the Highlander sets out alone, with dagger in hand, to rescue his fellow officer from the Pathan tribesman who is slowly torturing him to death. But the bloody outcome of this rescue attempt is not what anybody could have predicted. Over a dozen years later the backwash of this tragedy threatens to engulf Joe Sandilands. On a welcome break from his policing duties, Joe is spending a fortnight with his old army friend, James Lindsay, commander of the British army's front line fort at Gor Khatri on the Afghan border. However, the fragile peace is soon broken resulting in the death of a Pathan prince and the taking of hostages, and Joe and his companion are given seven days in which to identify, arrest and execute the killer before the frontier erupts into war. The deadly edge of the final days of the Raj sets the backdrop for this third engrossing novel in the popular Joe Sandilands series." (I rated this 4 stars)
"This is the 4th book in the Joe Sandilands mystery series, so far set in India during the time of the Raj. Sandilands is a Scotland Yard commander who, in the first book, was seconded to the British police in India to teach law enforcement techniques to the Indian police and to learn from them as well. In the 4 books he has also worked for Sir George Jardine, the governor of Bengal, traveling around India solving various mysteries and acting as Sir George's eyes and ears in outlying areas.
This story finds Sandilands in Ranipur, looking into the suspicious deaths of two heirs to the throne of the prince who is also dying. As well, he is to assist if possible with tracking and killing a tiger that has been killing local people. I like the pace of the story and I've grown to like Sandilands, his detective style and his personality. The mystery is interesting and worked at methodically and this allows Barbara Cleverly to give an excellent portrayal of the region and of life in the Raj at the time.
The story isn't complex but it's still an entertaining read. I will now have to find the next in the series, The Bee's Kiss, which finds Sandilands returning to London. I'm looking forward to seeing him in action in more familiar turf for him. (3.5 stars)."
I'm going to add one more book, Anil's Ghost, by Michael Ondaatje, which is set in Sri Lanka. It is more than a mystery, it's a love story, a great work of fiction. But there is an element of mystery as well. I want to mention it because it is a fantastic work.
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| Michael Ondaatje |
"Anil's Ghost transports us to Sri Lanka, a country steeped in centuries of tradition, now forced into the late twentieth century by the ravages of a bloody civil war. Enter Anil Tissera, a young woman and forensic anthropologist born in Sri Lanka but educated in the West, sent by an international human rights group to identify the victims of the murder campaigns sweeping the island.
When Anil discovers that the bones found in an ancient burial site are in fact those of a much more recent victim, her search for the terrible truth hidden in her homeland begins. What follows is a story about love, about family, about identity - a story driven by a riveting mystery."
So there you go, folks. See anything that might interest you?
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