Tarquin Hall

Tarquin Hall’s fourth novel in the Vish Puri detective series proves just as remarkable as the previous entries. Hall, a British journalist who lives in India and is married to an Indian, captures the sights and smells of India while providing an excellent and amusing mystery. Vish Puri fans will be delighted; those new to the series won’t be at a loss and will enjoy The Case of the Love Commandos as much as seasoned readers.

When high-born Tulsi Mishra falls in love with low-born Ram — show more a Dalit, or “untouchable” — her father, Vishnu Mishra is, unsurprisingly, staunchly opposed. However, the star-crossed lovers plan an elopement with the help of the Love Commandos, a real-life team of Indians who try to ease the way for marriages between Hindus of different classes. On the day of the elopement, Ram turns up missing and soon thereafter Ram’s mother turns up dead. Vishnu Mishra is the obvious suspect for both.

One of Vish Puri’s operatives, nicknamed Face Cream, convinces her boss to investigate the disappearance as a pro bono case. Vish Puri soon discovers that any number of people existed who wanted Ram out of the way. As Puri untangles leads dealing with Ram’s home village, a shadowy medical laboratory and his slick detective rival, Hari Kumar, readers will thoroughly enjoy Puri’s attention to detail, his uncanny abilities and his comical sense of self-satisfaction.

Meanwhile, Vish Puri’s eagle-eyed mother, Mummy-ji — despite the discouragement of her son and daughter-in-law — tackles an investigation of two unsavory characters she meets on the train en route to a pilgrimage. Does Mummy-ji get her man? Let’s just say that Vish Puri inherited a lot of his cleverness from her!

As with his previous novels, Hall seamlessly weaves in facts about India into The Case of the Love Commandos. The lessons about the abysmal lives of Dalits, despite modernization, and of the rampant corruption at every level of society in no way interfere with the flow of the excellent novel. Don’t miss it! show less

Totally delightful Indian mystery complete with a hard working, food loving Detective, his family and his staff.

Vish Puri is the owner of a successful Detective Agency. A cold case from his father has been brought to his notice by his mother. Mummy-ji wants his assistance, and of course she wants in on the action.
This was very much a feel good Bollywood style mystery that edges onto farcical but remains within the circle of fascinating intrigue, being both humorous and mysterious. Mummy-ji show more is somewhat the bane of Puri's existence. She calls him Chubby, and is desperate to help her son solve cases. Of course Puri doesn't want his mother muddying the waters, but somehow Mummy-ji inserts herself into the investigation and et voilà, finds out something new. And then there's the added positive, Mummy-ji is able to ask questions and go places that Puri can't. Not that Puri is even aware of these places half the time. That is until his mother alerts him.
I loved that Mummy-ji's old phone completely circumnavigated any searches for her by sophisticated machinery the tech's used when Puri was trying to find her.
Added to Puri grief on a personal level, he believed in cash not banks and so when the government put strictures in place to thwart black monies in the economy, Puri was caught short. His poor employees are paid in cash. Puri does everything in cash!
Our foodie detective quite undid me with the rather mouth watering descriptions of the food encountered every which way throughout the story.
I didn't really know what I was getting into with this Indian detective novel. A mystery that opens up the past for Puri and the Anti-Sikh Riots of October-November 1984. Parts of the story are historically accurate and form a springboard for Puri's investigations.
A heartwarming mystery and I loved every moment of it!

A Severn House ARC via NetGalley show less

In this Vish Pui mystery, the first in the series, a lawyer accused of murdering one of his servants contacts India’s Most Private Investigator, proclaims his innocence, and asks him to find the real killer. In a subplot, a wealthy man hires him to investigate his daughter’s fiancé, wanting to ensure he gets the “real dirt” on him prior to approving of the wedding.

As in The Case of the Deadly Butter Chicken which I also enjoyed, the story is a celebration of India - its food, its show more culture(s), and the good along with the bad. Hall simply states the latter in what comes across as a non-judgmental way, and yet it’s there: poor quality housing built on the backs of those working for “slave wages” that begins falling apart shortly after completion, crowds competing and pushing to cram on to trains, with women, babies, and the elderly being ejected like “chaff from a threshing machine”, and people working in uranium mines without having any clue as to the hazard this represents to their health. “How had the Marathi poet Govindraj put it? ‘Hindu society is made up of men who bow their heads to the kicks from above and who simultaneously give a kick below.’”

The mystery is engaging, though I won’t spoil it. Humor is sprinkled throughout the book, an example of which that I really smiled over was Vish’s antics on an airplane ride. He’s terrified of air travel but buys himself a business class ticket because “if he was going to meet his doom he might as well do it with extra legroom”, and then proceeds to have his briefcase open as he’s stowing it in an overhead bin, with “Sexy Men aftershave and a pair of VIP Frenchie chuddies” falling into the aisle. He sits “as rigid as a condemned man in an electric chair”, chanting a mantra over and over, and then later annoying other travelers in a way I won’t describe. The point is he’s smart and virtuous, but fallible, and lovable for that. He tells his wife “First I’m going upstairs to wash my face”, which Hall then tells us is code for “I’m hungry and I’d like to eat in ten minutes.” And eat he does, food spicy enough to feel like molten lead for most, greasy street snacks he eats on the sly, careful to conceal the evidence, and delicious appetizers over drinks.

Enjoy going out for Indian food while reading this one. show less

Colorful, entertaining, fast-paced and (to my surprise) even educational. Hall does a good job juggling several mysteries and manages to weave in some historical facts about the partition of India and Pakistan and its bloody aftermath; what I most enjoyed though were the humor and the insights into Indian society. The one major problem is that the book left me with a craving for chicken tikka masala and naan, and I'm not sure I can read any more of Hall's books if I don't have Indian food show more nearby! show less