Mourning Raga

Interesting twists, as usual. We learn a little more about Tossa, too. People in disguise, sneaky tricks of all sorts - but the oddest thing is how many people immediately feel themselves responsible for Anjli, while she feels quite responsible for herself. And a bit more of the proper care and feeding of the adolescent psyche. I remembered bits, enough not to trust what people said but not enough to know what they really meant. The story of the Buddha was interesting too, though what became of Anjli's father echoed more for me with Kipling. As usual fun to read, but not one of my favorites. Sneaky bit - the previous ebook (The House of Green Turf) had several chapters of this one at the end, enough to hook me and make me read it again.

This is an odd book, because while there is a well written mystery within it, the heart of the story is a child coming to know her father's home and learning about the life of the Buddha. Anjli has spent her life with her mother, an American film actress, but is going to live with her father in Dehli, Dominic Felse, the son of Peter's modern day detective ends up helping. His fiancee is also a daughter of a movie actress and so is glad to provide some stability for Anjli on her trip, yet when they get there things aren't as they seem. The mystery itself is a simple one of finding people and isn't terribly complex but Peters uses the story to discuss the life of Buddha and the lessons of his life. I would recommend this book to readers show more who know Peters but wish to read her take on India and spiritual traditions of another continent. show less

Dominic Felse, and his girlfriend Tossa, had planned to spend Christmas with his folks, but her filmstar mother Chloe has other ideas, and so instead they find themselves roped in to chaperone the 14-year-old daughter of her wealthy friend to India to join her ex-husband, the child's father. With all expenses paid, it should be the trip of a lifetime, but when they arrive in Delhi, they find that Anjli's father's been missing for more than a year, and her grandmother is on her deathbed. Then, just as they are making plans to return home with her, Anjli disappears too...

Written in 1969, there are no computers or mobile phones to aid in instant communication, and Dorette's letter to her ex announcing that she's sending his daughter to show more live with him lies unopened and unread. With Mr Kumar missing, his mother dead, and an old man murdered when Anjli was apparently taken, Dominic & Tossa don't know who they can trust other than Ernest Felder, a film-director friend of Doretta's who'd met them on their arrival.

Delhi is richly described, but we learn comparatively little of the main characters themselves other than their relationships to one another. Mourning Raga is one of a series of mysteries involving Dominic Felse, and earlier his father George, starting I believe with "Fallen into the Pit" (1951), and apparently, "The Piper on the Mountain" (1966) tells of Dominic's first encounter with Tossa. show less

Another Indian location for a murder and another mystery for Dominic Felse to solve.