Angie (aladdin) -
Droll and convoluted as always. Puri can work the system and maneuver around people (except Rumpi and Mummi-Ji) to peel the mystery like an onion. This book is set in the cricket sports world of India, a sport with passions over the top both for the sport and also for the mega billion betting "business" on the sidelines, with the potential for careers and fortunes to be made or lost. Never having made it to Indis (hope to rememdy that) the brought to life descriptions of traffic, crowded cities, foods and family life enrich my reading and whet my appetite (literally) for Indian cuisine and also for the newx Tarquin Hall Puri mystery. Definitely recommend this book to anyone with even one gene of curiosity about the world and people outside your home town.
Cathy C. (cathyskye) -
First Line: Stripped down to his undergarments and tweed Sandown cap, Vish Puri stepped onto his wife's old set of bathroom weighing scales.
At his wife's insistence, Vish Puri attends a fancy dinner hosted by a new multi-million-dollar cricket league. Amusing himself by watching people come and go from the banquet room, he is right on the spot when the father of one of the players eats some of the butter chicken on his plate and dies, seconds later, of poison.
Asked to investigate, Vish finds the case leading into the heart of illegal gambling...and deep into a country Vish loathes: Pakistan. During the 1947 Partition of India, several of Puri's family members were massacred in Pakistan, and he has vowed to never set foot on its soil. But in order to solve the case, he must go. What he doesn't realize is that his own mother, his beloved Mummy-ji, has many of the answers he needs.
Once again, Tarquin Hall led me straight to the heart of modern-day India-- the sights, the smells, the mindset of a fascinating country. He also taught me a great many things about the 1947 Partition of India of which I was not aware. (Who says you can't learn anything by reading mysteries?) In the book, Vish Puri is conducting two investigations: one involving illegal gambling and cricket, the other a mysterious (and often hilarious) case of someone who's going around shaving off the mustaches of men who hold records for the hairy appendages in India's own version of the Guinness Book of Records.
The levity of the mustache case was needed because many of the details of the other case were heartbreaking. Was I surprised when Mummy-ji turned out to be such a good investigator in this book? Not at all, but then I've had the pleasure of reading the previous two books in the series-- something I hope all of you experience as well. Not because you need to read them in order to make sense of this latest book, but because they are so informative-- and so much fun.
Hall does a marvelous job with the dialogue, bringing the cadence of speech into play without making it confusing. And the descriptions of the food? Mouthwatering! My husband and I now eat an Indian meal at least once a month simply due to Hall's books. For those readers who want to understand more and experience more of modern-day India, Hall includes a glossary and recipes in the back, and although I normally bypass things like this in other books, I don't when it comes to a Vish Puri book.
I can't recommend this series highly enough for readers who enjoy good mysteries, good food, wonderful characters, and a touch of light-hearted fun amidst all the seriousness. You and your armchair are in for a treat when traveling to Vish Puri's India!
At his wife's insistence, Vish Puri attends a fancy dinner hosted by a new multi-million-dollar cricket league. Amusing himself by watching people come and go from the banquet room, he is right on the spot when the father of one of the players eats some of the butter chicken on his plate and dies, seconds later, of poison.
Asked to investigate, Vish finds the case leading into the heart of illegal gambling...and deep into a country Vish loathes: Pakistan. During the 1947 Partition of India, several of Puri's family members were massacred in Pakistan, and he has vowed to never set foot on its soil. But in order to solve the case, he must go. What he doesn't realize is that his own mother, his beloved Mummy-ji, has many of the answers he needs.
Once again, Tarquin Hall led me straight to the heart of modern-day India-- the sights, the smells, the mindset of a fascinating country. He also taught me a great many things about the 1947 Partition of India of which I was not aware. (Who says you can't learn anything by reading mysteries?) In the book, Vish Puri is conducting two investigations: one involving illegal gambling and cricket, the other a mysterious (and often hilarious) case of someone who's going around shaving off the mustaches of men who hold records for the hairy appendages in India's own version of the Guinness Book of Records.
The levity of the mustache case was needed because many of the details of the other case were heartbreaking. Was I surprised when Mummy-ji turned out to be such a good investigator in this book? Not at all, but then I've had the pleasure of reading the previous two books in the series-- something I hope all of you experience as well. Not because you need to read them in order to make sense of this latest book, but because they are so informative-- and so much fun.
Hall does a marvelous job with the dialogue, bringing the cadence of speech into play without making it confusing. And the descriptions of the food? Mouthwatering! My husband and I now eat an Indian meal at least once a month simply due to Hall's books. For those readers who want to understand more and experience more of modern-day India, Hall includes a glossary and recipes in the back, and although I normally bypass things like this in other books, I don't when it comes to a Vish Puri book.
I can't recommend this series highly enough for readers who enjoy good mysteries, good food, wonderful characters, and a touch of light-hearted fun amidst all the seriousness. You and your armchair are in for a treat when traveling to Vish Puri's India!
I hardly ever read mysteries, but this caught my eye. I didn't realize it was preceded by several other books about this same Indian private detective. Nonetheless, you can follow the story without knowing much about the previous stories. It helps to understand India because this book is thoroughly invested in the culture, slang and customs of India. Lucky for me, I have great familiarity with that part of the world having lived there for seven years. The author who is from England has a glossary in the back in case you're not familiar with the Indian terms.
I was captured by the really intricate plot. Perhaps the plot is too intricate. Keeping track of the huge cast of characters and their spouses was a good exercise for my working memory. There's such humor in the book. I picked this up at a used book store because the humor was unusual in a mystery. Enjoyed the book so much now I'm planning to read other books about Vish Puri, the Most Private Detective
I was captured by the really intricate plot. Perhaps the plot is too intricate. Keeping track of the huge cast of characters and their spouses was a good exercise for my working memory. There's such humor in the book. I picked this up at a used book store because the humor was unusual in a mystery. Enjoyed the book so much now I'm planning to read other books about Vish Puri, the Most Private Detective
Gerhard O. (nccorthu) reviewed The Case of the Deadly Butter Chicken: (Vish Puri, Bk 3) on + 569 more book reviews
another good mystery by Tarquin Hall. If you've never read them try it.
