Hall, Tarquin Vish Puri Mysteries. #bk. 1

Read by Sam Dastor

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 chilli 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. "Sam Dastor portrays Puri as the likable detective he is: a man of conviction who is attached to his family and who is dismayed by the 'progress' occurring in his beloved India." "Great fun-a seething slice of the sub-continent." "India, captured in all its pungent, vivid glory, fascinates almost as much as the crime itself." "Entertaining…Hall combines an insider's insight with the eclectic eye of a good foreign correspondent." "Hall… marshal[es] details to create a sense of what everyday life is like in Delhi: the smell of chai and kachoris seems to waft from the page, as indeed does the stench of political corruption." "A delightful mix of the exotic and familiar…An excellent, delightfully humorous mystery with an unforgettable cast of characters…[that] joins the No. 1 Ladies' Detective Agency as representing the best in international cozies." "India's Most Private Investigator uses stealth, cunning, and above all discretion to turn the tables on a killer…in this lively and quick-paced series debut."

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