This is a Vish Puri mystery- yes, the Dilliwala jasoos created by Tarquin Hall that I had referred to in an earlier post. This is his second book I read, and I am quite impressed. The Delhi language and mannerisms of all the aunties (particularly the aunties), the guys, the ordinary people 'and all' , is spot on. The mystery is no less.
A dinner guest, father of a Pakistani cricketer, is poisoned in full public view, at a gala dinner after an IPL (name disguised) cricket match. Vish Puri has eaten the same butter chicken that killed him. A lot of big businessmen and their families are present, and are suspects.
How Vish Puri, aided by his mother (mummy-ji) solves this international crime, involving the betting ring-leader, a paan laced with aconite, a moustache thief who steals the facial hair of the record-holder for the longest 'mouche', Pak ex-general with a softer side, and the diamond-smuggling syndicate of Gujarat, is the rest of this absorbing story. Tarquin Hall also takes a few cracks at Agatha Christie (solving a crime in a village of a dozen geriatrics is different from doing so in India, Vish Puri says) and the British people along the way.
A fun read, and I am looking forward to 'The Man Who Died Laughing' next, which I bought with great foresight before I left Delhi a few months ago.
A dinner guest, father of a Pakistani cricketer, is poisoned in full public view, at a gala dinner after an IPL (name disguised) cricket match. Vish Puri has eaten the same butter chicken that killed him. A lot of big businessmen and their families are present, and are suspects.
How Vish Puri, aided by his mother (mummy-ji) solves this international crime, involving the betting ring-leader, a paan laced with aconite, a moustache thief who steals the facial hair of the record-holder for the longest 'mouche', Pak ex-general with a softer side, and the diamond-smuggling syndicate of Gujarat, is the rest of this absorbing story. Tarquin Hall also takes a few cracks at Agatha Christie (solving a crime in a village of a dozen geriatrics is different from doing so in India, Vish Puri says) and the British people along the way.
A fun read, and I am looking forward to 'The Man Who Died Laughing' next, which I bought with great foresight before I left Delhi a few months ago.
2 comments:
Per my doc the local oil stringed (dead) Goat Karhai is going to be the bucket (I kick)
To each his own, I suppose, DH.
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