Vish Puri Mystery
7 total works
Early one morning, on the lawns of a grand boulevard in central Delhi, a group of professionals are attending their therapeutic Laughing Club when a 20-foot apparition of the Goddess Kali apppears, and strikes one of their number dead.
The goddess disappears without trace, and soon news of the crime has all India agog. For the victim is celebrated sceptic and rationalist Dr Suresh Jha, enemy of all gurus and mystics, and he has been silenced in a manner calculated to unnerve even his most loyal supporters.
As the media go into a frenzy, it becomes clear that the case goes to the heart of the battle between superstition and rationality in modern India. But the fact remains that a murder has been committed. And as it becomes clear that powerful forces are at play, one man is perfectly placed to investigate: the portly detective Vish Puri.
In fact, the idea that he could resist getting involved in such a tantalizing murder is preposterous. There is as much chance of him going without his lunch.
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.
The wonderful fourth outing for Delhi detective Vish Puri ('the Indian Hercule Poirot' Financial Times).
When India's Love Commandos rescue a young woman from a high-caste family who has been forbidden from marrying an untouchable, she looks set to live happily ever after with the man she truly loves. But just hours before the wedding, her boyfriend, Ram, is abducted. Has his would-be father-in-law made good on his promise and done away with him?
It falls to Vish Puri to find out. Unfortunately, he's not having a good month. He can't locate a haul of stolen jewellery. He's been pickpocketed. 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.
To find Ram first, Puri and his team must travel into the badlands of rural India where the local politics are shaped by millennia-old caste prejudices.
'If Mma Ramotswe is an African Marple, Vish Puri is an Indian Poirot'
Financial Times
'A joy to read'
The Times
—Alexander McCall Smith, author of The No. 1 Ladies' Detective Agency
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.
"Hilarious . Hall's plot is filled with engaging twists. Vish is a wonderfully realized character . You can dive in anywhere in this series and be rewarded with a rich experience" - Booklist Starred Review
A client claiming she was murdered in a past life is a novel dilemma even for Vish Puri, India's Most Private Investigator.
When a young woman comes forward claiming to be the reincarnation of Riya Kaur, a wife and mother who vanished during the bloody 1984 anti-Sikh riots, Puri is dismissive. He's busy enough dealing with an irate matrimonial client whose daughter is complaining about her groom's thunderous snoring. Puri's indomitable Mummy-ji however is adamant the client is genuine. How else could she so accurately describe under hypnosis Riya Kaur's life and final hours?
Driven by a sense of duty - the original case was his late father's - Puri manages to acquire the police file only to find that someone powerful has orchestrated a cover-up. Forced into an alliance with his mother that tests his beliefs and high blood pressure as never before, it's only by delving into the past the help of his reincarnated client that Puri can hope to unlock the truth.
