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Barcelona: Roca, 2009; 282 p.; 22,5 cm
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Fiction. Mystery. HTML: 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… (more)
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User reviews
LibraryThing member richardderus
There was a popular song during my youth by a band called 10cc. The chorus of this song was, "I'm not in love/so don't forget it/it's just a silly phase I'm goin' through...." India, books Indian in setting and theme, Indian food *dripdrool*, Hindu theology, henna tattoos, all objects of
So what's a weentsy-teentsy little shoestring publishing house like Simon and Schuster supposed to do, try to buck the trend? Heavens to Betsy! Perish forbid! Must needs we leap aboard the wagon, fringe on the top gaily floofledy in the breeze of our passage on to the NEXT trend! And then where will Tarquin Hall be?
Tarquin who?
Vish Puri, our sleuth for this inaugural outing of the "Most Private Investigations Ltd" series, will be rattling around in iUniverse, his loyalists ordering a few copies here and there, and perchance Tarquin Hall coming up with the odd (a very advised use of the term) new entry but probably not.
The investigations here are not in the least bit the point of the book. The point is India, Indians, and the astonishing amount we here in the West don't know about any and all of those things. As such, I enjoyed the book quite a lot. I'm on record in several previous reviews as saying we'd best get used to Indian influences in our literature, because their influence is finally catching up with their numbers. I for one welcome this, because I find India completely fascinating, and I really really enjoy chances to add to my store of knowledge of the place.
Hall makes a very good guide, since he's as white a white boy as my blue eyes have ever seen. This means that things which would not need saying, like the fact that servants must fill washing machines by buckets, get said and our spoiled, spoiled eyes get big at the very *notion* of not simply twisting a tap for instant, clean water of whatever temperature we desire. (PLEASE GOD, plagues wars famines whatever, DON'T MAKE ME GIVE UP HOT SHOWERS!)
Oh! The story! Well, least said soonest mended, and let's move on to the important part: Should you read the book?
Nah. Fun, for me; pleasantly charmingly amusing, for me; but for a mystery reader, it would be a horrible experience, and for a snootybootsy four-hankies-and-a-pistol reader it would be a horrible experience, and for the general what's-new-this-week reader it would be a disorganized mess. If you're in the mood for a curry, though, could do nicely. Just don't go in with expectations too high.
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fascination for me and much of the American culture just now. Fairly soon, I understand we're to get our first Tatas on these shores. (Go Google "Tata.")So what's a weentsy-teentsy little shoestring publishing house like Simon and Schuster supposed to do, try to buck the trend? Heavens to Betsy! Perish forbid! Must needs we leap aboard the wagon, fringe on the top gaily floofledy in the breeze of our passage on to the NEXT trend! And then where will Tarquin Hall be?
Tarquin who?
Vish Puri, our sleuth for this inaugural outing of the "Most Private Investigations Ltd" series, will be rattling around in iUniverse, his loyalists ordering a few copies here and there, and perchance Tarquin Hall coming up with the odd (a very advised use of the term) new entry but probably not.
The investigations here are not in the least bit the point of the book. The point is India, Indians, and the astonishing amount we here in the West don't know about any and all of those things. As such, I enjoyed the book quite a lot. I'm on record in several previous reviews as saying we'd best get used to Indian influences in our literature, because their influence is finally catching up with their numbers. I for one welcome this, because I find India completely fascinating, and I really really enjoy chances to add to my store of knowledge of the place.
Hall makes a very good guide, since he's as white a white boy as my blue eyes have ever seen. This means that things which would not need saying, like the fact that servants must fill washing machines by buckets, get said and our spoiled, spoiled eyes get big at the very *notion* of not simply twisting a tap for instant, clean water of whatever temperature we desire. (PLEASE GOD, plagues wars famines whatever, DON'T MAKE ME GIVE UP HOT SHOWERS!)
Oh! The story! Well, least said soonest mended, and let's move on to the important part: Should you read the book?
Nah. Fun, for me; pleasantly charmingly amusing, for me; but for a mystery reader, it would be a horrible experience, and for a snootybootsy four-hankies-and-a-pistol reader it would be a horrible experience, and for the general what's-new-this-week reader it would be a disorganized mess. If you're in the mood for a curry, though, could do nicely. Just don't go in with expectations too high.
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LibraryThing member tututhefirst
I thoroughly enjoyed this one. The author manages to take a basic mystery cozy format and give us a well drawn portrait of life in modern day India by contrasting the lives of haves and have-nots. Vish Puri is a fascinating, intelligent, well-educated, detective who lives with his Mummie (think
Puri's office crew all have wonderfully descriptive nicknames (they call him "Boss") -Tubelight, Flush, Facecream-- and they go about helping him not only vet an large clientele of prospective spouses for the arranged marriages so common in India, but also helping to prove the innocence of a famous lawyer accused of murder of his servant Mary who has disappeared. The family only knows her name was Mary and she was not from their town. No last name, no picture, no registration papers, etc. Puri smells a rat and goes about trying to find Mary (how many gazaillion women in India are named Mary?) find out if she was murdered, and if so, who did it.
The portrait of India reminded me of Alexander McCall Smith's loving portrait of Botswana in the 1st Ladies Detective Agency series. Vish Puri is a believable, likeable detective and readers should hope that more of his adventures are forthcoming.
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Grandma Mazur from Janet Evanovitch), his wife Rumpie (she calls him "Chubbie" and tries unsuccessfully to regulate his caloric intake)and several servants who are well paid and well treated.Puri's office crew all have wonderfully descriptive nicknames (they call him "Boss") -Tubelight, Flush, Facecream-- and they go about helping him not only vet an large clientele of prospective spouses for the arranged marriages so common in India, but also helping to prove the innocence of a famous lawyer accused of murder of his servant Mary who has disappeared. The family only knows her name was Mary and she was not from their town. No last name, no picture, no registration papers, etc. Puri smells a rat and goes about trying to find Mary (how many gazaillion women in India are named Mary?) find out if she was murdered, and if so, who did it.
The portrait of India reminded me of Alexander McCall Smith's loving portrait of Botswana in the 1st Ladies Detective Agency series. Vish Puri is a believable, likeable detective and readers should hope that more of his adventures are forthcoming.
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LibraryThing member Matke
This is the "fluffy" book I put aside to read the "more serious" (or better written, or whatever I was thinking) book by Tey.
Lesson learned.
Our hero, Vish Puri, is a very human one. He runs a detective agency in Delhi, where things are somewhat different than they might be in the U.S. or the U.K.
Although most of Puri's (fondly known as "Chubby") cases come from pre-marriage investigations, he's consulted on other things as well, including possible murders. In this first book of the series, he'w working on a marriage case when he's asked to help a lawyer who's accused of murdering a servant.
On the surface, Hall's book seems a funny take on detectives, much like the Botswana series by McCall-Smith, but don't make the mistake of thinking that they're in the same class. They couldn't be more different.
Although the book is funny enough to make the reader laugh out loud in places, Hall has written with a thinly veiled undercurrent of anger at the corruption, mismanagement, and blindness of the Indian government. This reader enjoyed learning about both the pleasant ambiance of Delhi and the hidden rot in the city.
Most highly recommended to those who like some meat and some humor with their mysteries.
Lesson learned.
Our hero, Vish Puri, is a very human one. He runs a detective agency in Delhi, where things are somewhat different than they might be in the U.S. or the U.K.
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He takes his company motto, "Confidentiality is our watchword" seriously. He's portly, patient, persistent, and extremely clever.Although most of Puri's (fondly known as "Chubby") cases come from pre-marriage investigations, he's consulted on other things as well, including possible murders. In this first book of the series, he'w working on a marriage case when he's asked to help a lawyer who's accused of murdering a servant.
On the surface, Hall's book seems a funny take on detectives, much like the Botswana series by McCall-Smith, but don't make the mistake of thinking that they're in the same class. They couldn't be more different.
Although the book is funny enough to make the reader laugh out loud in places, Hall has written with a thinly veiled undercurrent of anger at the corruption, mismanagement, and blindness of the Indian government. This reader enjoyed learning about both the pleasant ambiance of Delhi and the hidden rot in the city.
Most highly recommended to those who like some meat and some humor with their mysteries.
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LibraryThing member gbill
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
As in The Case of the Deadly Butter Chicken which I also enjoyed, the story is a celebration of India - its food, its 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.
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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 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.
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LibraryThing member AddlestoneBrowsing
I just finished The Case of the Missing Servant last night and I loved it! One of the reviews on Amazon described the detective, Vish Puri, as an Indian Poirot and that lured me in (I'm a huge fan of India).
The main plot of the story is about Puri and his detective agency investigating a case
One aspect that I really enjoyed about the book was how well it unfolded. The plot was smooth, methodical and well-written--and having India as a setting just added to the overall quality.
The main plot of the story is about Puri and his detective agency investigating a case
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about Mary, a servant girl, who may or may not have been murdered by her employer. Puri's undercover agents have hilarious nicknames that he has given them and as characters, they have a comical, yet serious quality to their investigative skills.One aspect that I really enjoyed about the book was how well it unfolded. The plot was smooth, methodical and well-written--and having India as a setting just added to the overall quality.
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LibraryThing member MurderMysteryMayhem
A most colorful clichéd cozy – The obvious comparison is of course to Alexander McCall Smith’s Mma Ramotswe series but Vish Puri, India’s Most Private Investigator, is not quite as optimistic about human nature.
It’s contemporary India, Delhi actually, where red tape is wound around paper
The book is written in Indian English and peppered through out with terms that need to be located in a 14 page glossary which appears at first to be a hindrance but will actually add some words to your vocabulary. Have some fun…embrace the cliché and allow yourself to smile while Vish Puri handles his cases with aplomb. He is after all the winner of the Super Sleuth plaque awarded in 1999 by the World Federation of Detectives.
It’s contemporary India, Delhi actually, where red tape is wound around paper
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shuffling and bound up in corruption. A private investigator has to use all the traditional tools of the trade, from disguises to aliases, and Puri has a cast of motley operatives working undercover, tailing suspects, planting bugs, and bribing all and sundry to assist him in solving his most difficult cases. India’s Most Private Investigator will conclude all his cases in a highly satisfactory manner, Vish Puri wouldn’t allow anything less, but the satisfaction is not necessarily the clients.The book is written in Indian English and peppered through out with terms that need to be located in a 14 page glossary which appears at first to be a hindrance but will actually add some words to your vocabulary. Have some fun…embrace the cliché and allow yourself to smile while Vish Puri handles his cases with aplomb. He is after all the winner of the Super Sleuth plaque awarded in 1999 by the World Federation of Detectives.
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LibraryThing member lauranav
This was a fun book, while also providing a look at modern day India, city and village, rich and poor. Vish Puri is a great detective (the best in India) and he uses methods that work well in India, unlike the young Johnny-come-lately types who try to do it like the American tv shows.
We get to meet
All is not well with his country, but Mr. Puri does his best, and his best is a very good job indeed.
We get to meet
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so many fun characters, including the detective's wife and mother, plus Mrs. Chadha, a member of the South Extension Amateur Theatrical Society who answers the phones in the communications room of the detective agency, Mr. Chatterjee with his many disguises, and Mrs. Duggal a retired member of India's secret service. All is not well with his country, but Mr. Puri does his best, and his best is a very good job indeed.
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LibraryThing member LaurieRKing
If Kim's Babuji became a private investigator in modern India, he'd sound a lot like this.
LibraryThing member AnneliM
Set in modern Delhi and giving an interesting representation of the life in India, Vish Puri, the very private detective is busy with several cases at once.
Well written, engaging, how true is the depiction of Indian life?
Well written, engaging, how true is the depiction of Indian life?
LibraryThing member bfister
Read for a 4MA discussion. It's a bit of a puzzle - though set in India and with dialogue in Indian English, it doesn't convey much of a sense of place, and the lead character is not particularly winning. I found it basically not very engaging. Nice cover though.
LibraryThing member FMRox
Quirky mystery involving Private Investigator Vish Puri who investigates the disappearance of a missing servant girl, who probably is dead.
This new mystery series takes place in modern India. The many characters are stereo-types but leave a lot a room for development in future series. The main
This new mystery series takes place in modern India. The many characters are stereo-types but leave a lot a room for development in future series. The main
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character is somewhat pompous and over bearing but still lovable. The plot includes a good description of modern India culture and landscape. I will be checking out the next book in the series. Show Less
LibraryThing member jjlangel
Very funny, well-plotted and well-paced mystery. I definitely want to read more about these characters!
LibraryThing member cathyskye
First Line: Vish Puri, founder and managing director of Most Private Investigators, Ltd., sat alone in a room in a guesthouse in Defense Colony, south Delhi, devouring a dozen green chili pakoras from a greasy takeout box.
In today's Delhi, the fabric of Indian life is being changed by call centers
In The Case of the Missing Servant, Hall does the No. 1 Ladies' Detective Agency one better. I knew I would like this portly private eye as soon as I learned his business was above the Bahri Sons bookshop. With his love of food and his insistence that the principles of detection were established in India more than two thousand years ago, Vish Puri could be just a figure of affectionate fun, but he does know his stuff, and his team of undercover operatives (with names like Facecream and Tubelight to protect their identities) is very good.
The mystery is puzzling, and the assassination attempt on Puri's life which is ignored by him and investigated by his mother is a secondary plot that's truly funny.
As much as I loved Hall's characters and plot, I was totally absorbed in the book's setting. Hall brought modern India to life in all its complexity and contradictions. Included in the back is a glossary which I found useful mainly for the Punjabi cuisine that Vish Puri loves so much, and I have to admit reading The Case of the Missing Servant "forced" an unexpected second purchase: an Indian slow cooker cookbook. Since my husband loves Indian cuisine, he's going to reap the rewards of the second purchase.
How am I going to reap the rewards of Tarquin Hall's first book about a wily, lovable private investigator? By greedily gobbling up future books in the series!
In today's Delhi, the fabric of Indian life is being changed by call centers
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and malls. Most of Vish Puri's business comes from screening prospective marriage partners. Aunties and family priests just can't keep up in this age of the Internet. However, Vish branches out when an honest local lawyer is accused of killing his maid, and it takes all of his resources to investigate.In The Case of the Missing Servant, Hall does the No. 1 Ladies' Detective Agency one better. I knew I would like this portly private eye as soon as I learned his business was above the Bahri Sons bookshop. With his love of food and his insistence that the principles of detection were established in India more than two thousand years ago, Vish Puri could be just a figure of affectionate fun, but he does know his stuff, and his team of undercover operatives (with names like Facecream and Tubelight to protect their identities) is very good.
The mystery is puzzling, and the assassination attempt on Puri's life which is ignored by him and investigated by his mother is a secondary plot that's truly funny.
As much as I loved Hall's characters and plot, I was totally absorbed in the book's setting. Hall brought modern India to life in all its complexity and contradictions. Included in the back is a glossary which I found useful mainly for the Punjabi cuisine that Vish Puri loves so much, and I have to admit reading The Case of the Missing Servant "forced" an unexpected second purchase: an Indian slow cooker cookbook. Since my husband loves Indian cuisine, he's going to reap the rewards of the second purchase.
How am I going to reap the rewards of Tarquin Hall's first book about a wily, lovable private investigator? By greedily gobbling up future books in the series!
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LibraryThing member martitia
Vish Puri is the founder of India’s Most Private Investigator’s Ltd. Most of his cases involve checking out prospective marriage partners for families, a task traditionally carried out by women and religious leaders. But, when a lawyer, known for his extreme honesty, is under investigation by
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the authorities for a missing servant known only as Mary, the lawyer hires Puri to find her. Puri sends out his team of undercover agents into the streets of Delhi to bring back information, while he searches for clues in the case of the missing servant. Colorful characters, humor and a storyline set in the social realities of 21st century India create a winning mystery. The author handles the realities of corruption and injustice with a light touch, so that he keeps the novel to the softer side of the mystery spectrum. Investigator Vish Puri is a unique combination of Agatha Christie’s dapper Hercule Poirot and Alexander McCall Smith’s compassionate Precious Ramotswe. Show Less
LibraryThing member wood_rabbit
The Case of the Missing Servant is the first book in the series about detective Vish Puri, India’s ‘Most Private Investigator’, by British author Tarquin Hall. The book is set in India, moving between the cities of Delhi, neighbouring Gurgaon, Jaipur and even going as far as remote tribal
This book has been unreasonably compared to the No. 1 Ladies’ Detective Agency series by Alexander McCall Smith with probably the only similarity being that it is not set in the traditional British or American setting. The 51 year old detective dislikes being compared to Sherlock Holmes, but has a moustache that probably even Hercule Poirot would be proud of. He is trying to track down a missing servant, with the only information available to him being her first name Mary and that her skin colour is dark.
Vish Puri’s detecting skills are based a lot on use of his brains with ideas borrowed from Chanakya, a shrewd, famous economist and minister in ancient India. However, he does not discount the use of forensics either and we are informed that India was a pioneer in this field with tools like fingerprinting, substance testing like tobacco ash comparisons, having been developed in the country. He successively uses modern technology like phone tapping etc. in order to solve his cases.
The book is enjoyable though it can get irritating sometimes. If you are looking for some light hearted, amusing reading with a few mysteries thrown in, this is definitely the book to go for.
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villages in Jharkhand. The author has lived for sometime in India and is married to an Indian-American and this helps him avoid the most obvious of clichés generally resorted to otherwise. The book is easy reading with an uncomplicated plot and some side stories all of which are resolved at the end. This book has been unreasonably compared to the No. 1 Ladies’ Detective Agency series by Alexander McCall Smith with probably the only similarity being that it is not set in the traditional British or American setting. The 51 year old detective dislikes being compared to Sherlock Holmes, but has a moustache that probably even Hercule Poirot would be proud of. He is trying to track down a missing servant, with the only information available to him being her first name Mary and that her skin colour is dark.
Vish Puri’s detecting skills are based a lot on use of his brains with ideas borrowed from Chanakya, a shrewd, famous economist and minister in ancient India. However, he does not discount the use of forensics either and we are informed that India was a pioneer in this field with tools like fingerprinting, substance testing like tobacco ash comparisons, having been developed in the country. He successively uses modern technology like phone tapping etc. in order to solve his cases.
The book is enjoyable though it can get irritating sometimes. If you are looking for some light hearted, amusing reading with a few mysteries thrown in, this is definitely the book to go for.
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LibraryThing member riverwillow
I really enjoyed this book. Vish Puri, India's greatest private detective, is an engaging central character - I love how he believes that the foundations of detection were laid in India more than two thousand years ago. Although the backbone of his business is marital investigations - ensuring that
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prospective spouse is suitable to join the family - he still gets involved in investigating other crimes. Hall surrounds his character with a cast of other, engaging characters, and how his Mummy still cares for him, unbeknownst to Puri she investigates a murder attempt on her son, often with hilarious results. The book also summons up a view of a changing India, where the body of a young woman whose been raped and beaten, is an unremarkable thing. Show Less
LibraryThing member Joycepa
Vish Puri, a Punjabi living in New Dehli, is the owner of Most Private Investigations.He’s middle-aged, portly, and quite self-satisfied with himself and his situation. His business is thriving. He has two cases of particular interest. One is a matrimonial investigation, very common in India
English, hall has spent a great deal of time in other countries, India being one of them. His writing style is a wonderful attempt to recreate the rhythm and word usage of Anglo-Indian speech. The plots are not much and the resolutions leave a good del to be desired, based too much on “intuition”--Vish’s or his mother’s--with too much exposition in place of evidence. But the characters are quirky, the writing is good, and Hall presents a good look at modern-day Indian life. As with just about every single contemporary Indian author, Hall writes about the endemic corruption in the Indian system; this book concentrates on the police and judicial system. Hall gives a good look at the Indian way of life from the point of view of a knowledgeable outsider. And knowledgeable he is, right down to the Sikh jokes common in northern India.
Despite rather cavalier plot development, The Case of the Missing Servant is still a fun read.
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where often matches are made through newspaper and other advertising venues, and the families want to ensure proper caste and social status matches. In this instance, Vish’s client is a general, a hero of the Kashmiri war. The general’s concern is his granddaughter, whose fiancé he suspects of hiding something. Used to instant obedience and immediate results, the general is not the easiest client in the world. To make matters even more interesting, someone is trying to kill Vish, taking potshots at him while he’s tending his precious chili peppers on the roof of his house.English, hall has spent a great deal of time in other countries, India being one of them. His writing style is a wonderful attempt to recreate the rhythm and word usage of Anglo-Indian speech. The plots are not much and the resolutions leave a good del to be desired, based too much on “intuition”--Vish’s or his mother’s--with too much exposition in place of evidence. But the characters are quirky, the writing is good, and Hall presents a good look at modern-day Indian life. As with just about every single contemporary Indian author, Hall writes about the endemic corruption in the Indian system; this book concentrates on the police and judicial system. Hall gives a good look at the Indian way of life from the point of view of a knowledgeable outsider. And knowledgeable he is, right down to the Sikh jokes common in northern India.
Despite rather cavalier plot development, The Case of the Missing Servant is still a fun read.
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LibraryThing member bookczuk
When I went to Grapes and Beans, in Clayton GA, this book was waiting for me on the book exchange shelf. It's one I've been wanting to read, ever since my dear friend, Murghi, recommended it to me. And here was the first book in the series, served up to me , made to order.
I really, really enjoyed
I really, really enjoyed
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the trip back to India this book provided, though I started craving Indian food. The mystery was secondary to the characters and the descriptions of life. Thank you, Murghu, for recommending this series. I look forward to reading more. Show Less
LibraryThing member amodini
I’m a big who-dun-it fan. Poirot is my favorite detective of all, followed by Precious Ramotswe and Sherlock Holmes. Poirot is Poirot because of all his eccentricities, so when I read of a desi equivalent, it piqued my curiosity.
In this book, Tarquin Hall writes about Vish Puri, a 51 year old,
As a detective novel, this book works although it doesn’t have a very tight pace, and in that, it sort of resembles the “No. 1 Ladies Detective Agency” series, rather than a hardcore detective novel. Hall peppers the story with Puri’s observations on Delhi and Indian society and government which make interesting reading. Plus Puri is typically Punjabi and Hall manages to introduce his very Punjabi characteristics into the mix.
Puri has set up “Most Private Investigators Ltd.” and is aided by nick-named employees in his work – there’s FaceCream, Flush, TubeLight, DoorStop and HandBrake all so named for a reason. Then there’s Puri’s wife Rumpi, his mother “Mummyji”, his secretary Elizabeth Rani, the servant boy Sweetu and Puri’s friend “Rinku”. Even Kasliwal has a nickname; Chippy. Puri and his family live in Gurgaon in a “white, four-bedroom Spanish-style villa with orange-tiled awnings, which they’d furnished from top to bottom in Punjabi baroque”. Punjabi baroque indeed – I can quite picture that, LOL !
In describing Puri’s abode, Hall also gives us a brief history of Delhi, it’s surrounding towns, and it’s class structure:
“Little had Puri known that in building a new home in Gurgaon, he had become a trendsetter. His move from Punjabi Bagh coincided with the explosion of India’s service industries in the wake of the liberalization of the economy. In the late 1990s, Gurgaon became Delhi’s southern extension, and was made available for major “development.”
. . .
Concrete superstructures shot up like great splinters of bone forced from the body of the earth. . . . All this was built on the backs of India’s “underprivileged classes,” who were working for slave wages. They had arrived in Gurgaon in their tens of thousands from across the country. But neither the local authorities nor the private contractors provided them with housing, so most had built shacks on the building sites alongside the machinery and the brick factories. Before long, shantytowns of corrugated iron and open sewers spread across an underdeveloped no-man’s-land.”
Puri himself is a mix of the old-fashioned and the new. He wears safari-suits and Sandown caps (he has 14 of them), and sports a moustache. At home, he relaxes in his silk dressing gown, and monogrammed slippers “VP”. He drives around in an ambassador, giving that old beast it’s due “Ambassadors might look old-fashioned and slow, but the latest models had Japanese engines.” Although his blood pressure is up, he loves his Punjabi staples – pakoras. He also thinks that young people have no moral fiber and says as much in a letter to the “Times of India” :
“A fellow is no longer happy serving society. Dharma, duty, has been ejected out the window. Now the average male wants five-star living: Omega watch, Italian hotel food, Duabi holiday, luxury apartment, a fancy girl on the side,” Puri had written. “All of a sudden, young Indians are adopting the habits of goras, white people.”
Tarquin Hall, himself a “gora”, manages to gauge and write about Indian society quite accurately. Even given that Hall has lived in India, his nuanced knowledge of India and it’s customs is impressive. Hall's characters are nicely fleshed out, down to personal details, like the mother-son relationship between the doting (and nosy) Mummyji and Vish. The people in this book have an authentic feel, and Hall even manages to get them to speak in Delhi's "vernacular" English "Everything is all right, though, na ?" His novel is colorful and descriptive, bringing to life Delhi and it’s residents with humorous, but true details:
“And yet the arranged marriage remained sacrosanct. Even among the wealthiest Delhi families, few parents gave their blessings to a “love marriage,” . . . Increasingly Indians living in major towns and cities relied on newspaper ads. The Singlas advertisement in the Indian Express had read as follows:
SOUTH DELHI HIGH STATUS AGRAWAL BUSINESS FAMILY SEEKS ALLIANCE FOR THEIR HOMELY, SLIM, SWEET-NATURED, VEGETARIAN AND CULTURED DAUGHTER. 5’1”. 50 kg. WHEATISH COMPLEXION. MBA FROM USA. NON-MANGLIK. DOB : JULY ’76 (LOOKS MUCH YOUNGER)”
“The Case of the missing servant” was a very enjoyable read.
In this book, Tarquin Hall writes about Vish Puri, a 51 year old,
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portly, Punjabi private investigator plying his trade in Delhi. Puri, who’s bread and butter is mostly investigating potential marriage alliances, is hired to clear the name of a lawyer accused of murdering a servant girl in his employ. Mary, the girl in question has disappeared and honest litigator Ajay Kasliwal accused of doing away with her, is embroiled in what looks to be a conspiracy put together by his corrupt enemies. Will Puri be able to stop them putting Kasliwal away for good ?As a detective novel, this book works although it doesn’t have a very tight pace, and in that, it sort of resembles the “No. 1 Ladies Detective Agency” series, rather than a hardcore detective novel. Hall peppers the story with Puri’s observations on Delhi and Indian society and government which make interesting reading. Plus Puri is typically Punjabi and Hall manages to introduce his very Punjabi characteristics into the mix.
Puri has set up “Most Private Investigators Ltd.” and is aided by nick-named employees in his work – there’s FaceCream, Flush, TubeLight, DoorStop and HandBrake all so named for a reason. Then there’s Puri’s wife Rumpi, his mother “Mummyji”, his secretary Elizabeth Rani, the servant boy Sweetu and Puri’s friend “Rinku”. Even Kasliwal has a nickname; Chippy. Puri and his family live in Gurgaon in a “white, four-bedroom Spanish-style villa with orange-tiled awnings, which they’d furnished from top to bottom in Punjabi baroque”. Punjabi baroque indeed – I can quite picture that, LOL !
In describing Puri’s abode, Hall also gives us a brief history of Delhi, it’s surrounding towns, and it’s class structure:
“Little had Puri known that in building a new home in Gurgaon, he had become a trendsetter. His move from Punjabi Bagh coincided with the explosion of India’s service industries in the wake of the liberalization of the economy. In the late 1990s, Gurgaon became Delhi’s southern extension, and was made available for major “development.”
. . .
Concrete superstructures shot up like great splinters of bone forced from the body of the earth. . . . All this was built on the backs of India’s “underprivileged classes,” who were working for slave wages. They had arrived in Gurgaon in their tens of thousands from across the country. But neither the local authorities nor the private contractors provided them with housing, so most had built shacks on the building sites alongside the machinery and the brick factories. Before long, shantytowns of corrugated iron and open sewers spread across an underdeveloped no-man’s-land.”
Puri himself is a mix of the old-fashioned and the new. He wears safari-suits and Sandown caps (he has 14 of them), and sports a moustache. At home, he relaxes in his silk dressing gown, and monogrammed slippers “VP”. He drives around in an ambassador, giving that old beast it’s due “Ambassadors might look old-fashioned and slow, but the latest models had Japanese engines.” Although his blood pressure is up, he loves his Punjabi staples – pakoras. He also thinks that young people have no moral fiber and says as much in a letter to the “Times of India” :
“A fellow is no longer happy serving society. Dharma, duty, has been ejected out the window. Now the average male wants five-star living: Omega watch, Italian hotel food, Duabi holiday, luxury apartment, a fancy girl on the side,” Puri had written. “All of a sudden, young Indians are adopting the habits of goras, white people.”
Tarquin Hall, himself a “gora”, manages to gauge and write about Indian society quite accurately. Even given that Hall has lived in India, his nuanced knowledge of India and it’s customs is impressive. Hall's characters are nicely fleshed out, down to personal details, like the mother-son relationship between the doting (and nosy) Mummyji and Vish. The people in this book have an authentic feel, and Hall even manages to get them to speak in Delhi's "vernacular" English "Everything is all right, though, na ?" His novel is colorful and descriptive, bringing to life Delhi and it’s residents with humorous, but true details:
“And yet the arranged marriage remained sacrosanct. Even among the wealthiest Delhi families, few parents gave their blessings to a “love marriage,” . . . Increasingly Indians living in major towns and cities relied on newspaper ads. The Singlas advertisement in the Indian Express had read as follows:
SOUTH DELHI HIGH STATUS AGRAWAL BUSINESS FAMILY SEEKS ALLIANCE FOR THEIR HOMELY, SLIM, SWEET-NATURED, VEGETARIAN AND CULTURED DAUGHTER. 5’1”. 50 kg. WHEATISH COMPLEXION. MBA FROM USA. NON-MANGLIK. DOB : JULY ’76 (LOOKS MUCH YOUNGER)”
“The Case of the missing servant” was a very enjoyable read.
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LibraryThing member LyzzyBee
Bookcrossing, 22 October 2011)
In tone a little like the "Marriage Bureau for Rich People" books, in this first book in a series we have a nicely told tale of Vish Puri, Punjabi Detective, and his resourceful family and employees. A nice, rich back story with lots of enticing previous cases is
In tone a little like the "Marriage Bureau for Rich People" books, in this first book in a series we have a nicely told tale of Vish Puri, Punjabi Detective, and his resourceful family and employees. A nice, rich back story with lots of enticing previous cases is
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provided, and we know to watch out for Vish's Mummy, who is just as clever as her son. The murders are not too gory, and I will look out for others in this series. Show Less
LibraryThing member tulikangaroo
For all the comparisons with Mma. Ramotswe of the No. 1 Ladies' Detective Agency, Vish Puri is a very different detective. He's quite Poirot-esque, with his mustache, hat, and ego. Like in Alexander McCall Smith's books, the culture is as big a character as the detective; but where things in
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Botswana take their course in an unhurried way, things in India are always churning and moving, making for a completely different tone and reading experience. I enjoyed this book, but when I want to escape into a book for a quiet break, I'll be turning to Precious Ramotswe. Show Less
LibraryThing member ccayne
Light mystery with great characters. Vish Puri and his cast of assistants, Facecream, Handbrake, etc., wend their ways through the intricacies of Indian society and bureaucracy to solve a case. I liked the depiction of every day Indian life, the food and Puri's attempts to stick to his diet and the
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wonderful characters. It was a bit too much of a cozy for me but it worked on many other levels. Show Less
LibraryThing member khuben
From the files of Vish Puri comes, "The Case of the Missing Servant." Vish Puri, founder and managing director of Most Private Investigators, Ltd., spends most of his time doing background checks on proposed marriage partners, but when a prominent attorney is accused of murdering his maid he turns
This book was a lot of fun. Hall gives the reader a feeling for life in contemporary India, with the sometimes incomplete and uncomfortable blending of traditional and modern lifestyles. I was impressed by his skill in writing "dialect dialogue" and enjoyed his style of gentle humor. I was sorry to reach the end of this volume and am looking forward to reading Puri's next case.
I received this book as a Goodreads First Read.
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to Vish Puri for help. As he works through the case, uncovering the true chain of events, Puri's skill as a detective is allowed to shine.This book was a lot of fun. Hall gives the reader a feeling for life in contemporary India, with the sometimes incomplete and uncomfortable blending of traditional and modern lifestyles. I was impressed by his skill in writing "dialect dialogue" and enjoyed his style of gentle humor. I was sorry to reach the end of this volume and am looking forward to reading Puri's next case.
I received this book as a Goodreads First Read.
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LibraryThing member Schatje
This is the debut appearance of the Punjabi detective, Vish Puri, founder of Delhi's Most Private Investigators, Inc.
A maidservant has gone missing, and a crusading layer has been accused of killing her. Puri sets out to prove the attorney's innocence. (Other more minor cases are also
Puri is called the Punjabi Sherlock Holmes and, although he shares similarities with a number of fictional detectives, he has a charm all his own. He is clever and resourceful but with enough eccentricities and flaws (vanity, boastfulness) to make him both memorable and likeable. He is assisted by a motley crew of investigators, although they are not developed to any great extent.
The author excels at local colour. He describes the sights, sounds and smells of India; the food descriptions alone leave the reader craving Indian food. The author also touches on the country's contemporary problems (e.g. rapid urbanization, outsourcing, caste prejudices, the gap between rich and poor, rampant corruption).
The book is sufficiently suspenseful while also evoking pathos and laughter at times. It is definitely a promising introduction to a literary detective.
A maidservant has gone missing, and a crusading layer has been accused of killing her. Puri sets out to prove the attorney's innocence. (Other more minor cases are also
Show More
investigated.)Puri is called the Punjabi Sherlock Holmes and, although he shares similarities with a number of fictional detectives, he has a charm all his own. He is clever and resourceful but with enough eccentricities and flaws (vanity, boastfulness) to make him both memorable and likeable. He is assisted by a motley crew of investigators, although they are not developed to any great extent.
The author excels at local colour. He describes the sights, sounds and smells of India; the food descriptions alone leave the reader craving Indian food. The author also touches on the country's contemporary problems (e.g. rapid urbanization, outsourcing, caste prejudices, the gap between rich and poor, rampant corruption).
The book is sufficiently suspenseful while also evoking pathos and laughter at times. It is definitely a promising introduction to a literary detective.
Show Less
LibraryThing member 2wonderY
This was an interesting way to learn a little bit about domestic India. Mr. Hall is not hesitant
Language
Original language
English
Original publication date
2009-06-16
Physical description
282 p.; 22 cm
ISBN
8499180124 / 9788499180120