The Case of the Missing Servant (Vish Puri Series #1)

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More About This Book

Overview

Watch out Alexander McCall Smith! Here comes the first novel by the highly acclaimed writer Tarquin Hall in an entrancing new mystery series set in India.

The portly Vish Puri is India’s most accomplished detective, at least in his own estimation, and is also the hero of an irresistible new mystery series set in hot, dusty Delhi. Puri’s detective skills are old-fashioned in a Sherlock Holmesian way and a little out of sync with the tempo of the modern city, but Puri is clever and his methods work.

The Case of the Missing Servant shows Puri (“Chubby” to his friends) and his wonderfully nicknamed employees (among them, Handbrake, Flush, and Handcream) hired for two investigations. The first is into the background of a man surprisingly willing to wed a woman her father considers unmarriageable, and the second is into the disappearance six months earlier of a servant to a prominent Punjabi lawyer, a young woman known only as Mary.

The Most Private Investigator novels offer a delicious combination of ingenious stories, brilliant writing, sharp wit, and a vivid, unsentimental picture of contemporary India. And from the first to the last page run an affectionate humour and intelligent insights into both the subtleties of Indian culture and the mysteries of human behaviour.

Editorial Reviews

Publishers Weekly

Vish Puri, the head of Delhi's Most Private Investigators Ltd., tackles a rather prosaic domestic case in this first of a projected series, the fiction debut of British author Hall (Salaam Brick Lane). Ajay Kasliwal, a lawyer who has brought cases against corrupt government officials, retains Puri to find a maid, Mary, who has gone missing from his household. Rumor has it that Kasliwal killed Mary because he got her pregnant, and when Mary turns up dead, the authorities arrest Puri's client. While the 51-year-old married detective, who could lose some weight and is affectionately called "Chubby," has a certain quirky charm, the resolution of the mystery of Mary's murder is less than satisfying. Hopefully, a future installment will go into what sounds like a more unusual matter, "the Case of the Missing Polo Elephant," for which Puri won the fictional "Super Sleuth" award in 1999. (June)

Copyright © Reed Business Information, a division of Reed Elsevier Inc. All rights reserved.
Library Journal

Vish Puri's New Delhi detective agency has never been busier, often doing background checks on persons selected for arranged marriages. With his keen skills of observation and deduction, a network of personal contacts, and some modern communication devices, Punjabi Puri claims to be his country's top detective, citing his Super Sleuth award from the World Federation of Detectives for solving the Case of the Missing Polo Elephant in 1999. (He also has an appetite for pakoras and 30 excess pounds and is known to family and friends as Chubby.) A prominent lawyer who asks Puri to find a missing servant is arrested for the young woman's murder when her body is found, requiring complex work by Puri's staff. Meanwhile, he must check out the squeaky-clean fiancA© of the granddaughter of a revered war hero. And Puri's visiting Mummy-ji undertakes her own search when her son is shot at. In his fiction debut, British journalist Hall (To the Elephant Graveyard)-who lives in London and New Delhi-captures his second country with grace and humor and creates a protagonist able to put more cases in his "conclusively solved" cabinet. An entertaining start (complete with expletives-included glossary) to a promising series. [See Prepub Mystery, LJ2/1/09; India is hot in the mystery world; in July, St. Martin's is publishing Six Suspects by Vikas Swarup, whose novel Q & A was made into the Academy Award-winning film Slumdog Millionaire.-Ed.]
—Michele Leber

More Reviews (1) Fewer Reviews
Kirkus Reviews
India's Most Private Investigator uses stealth, cunning and above all discretion to turn the tables on a killer. Although he holds his 1999 Super Sleuth award from the World Federation of Detectives almost as dear as the greasy pakoras and chicken frankies his wife Rumpi begs him to stop eating, Vish Puri would readily admit that the vast majority of his clients come to him for the mundane purpose of domestic spying. So when noted Jaipur attorney Ajay Kasliwal hires Most Private Investigations, Ltd. to locate the missing housemaid he's suspected of killing, Puri is ecstatic at the chance for some real detection. Slipping his agent, a Nepalese beauty called Facecream, into the Kasliwal menage to mingle with the servants, Puri has his driver, Handbrake, take him on a tour of the Pink City to see where a simple country girl from Jharkand might hide. Meanwhile, back in Delhi, Puri's Mummy, strictly against his orders, stakes out an apartment block in Puri's own Gurgaon district in an attempt to discover who had the audacity to fire bullets at her beloved Chubby on the very roof of his house. Relying on the covert and sometimes byzantine network of corruption that rules Indian bureaucracy, the two press their separate quests to insure that justice triumphs in the end. What Cara Black does for Paris, Hall (Salaam Brick Lane: A Year in the New East End, 2005, etc.) achieves for India in this lively and quick-paced series debut. Agent: Emma Parry/Fletcher and Parry

Product Details

  • ISBN-13: 9781439172377
  • Publisher: Simon & Schuster
  • Publication date: 4/20/2010
  • Pages: 310
  • Sales rank: 295,108
  • Series: Vish Puri Series , #1
  • Product dimensions: 5.40 (w) x 8.40 (h) x 0.90 (d)

Meet the Author

Tarquin Hall is a British writer and journalist who has reported extensively on S.E. Asia and the Middle East for the British press. He is also the author of the highly acclaimed non-fiction books Salaam Brick Lane and To the Elephant Graveyard. The Vish Puri series is his first venture into fiction. He lives in London, England.

Read an Excerpt

One

Vish Puri, founder and managing director of Most Private Investigators Ltd., sat alone in a room in a guesthouse in Defence Colony, south Delhi, devouring a dozen green chilli pakoras from a greasy takeaway box.

Puri was supposed to be keeping off the fried foods and Indian desserts he so loved. Dr Mohan had ‘intimated’ to him at his last check-up that he could no longer afford to indulge himself with the usual Punjabi staples.

‘Blood pressure is up, so chance of heart attack and diabetes is there. Don’t do obesity,’ he’d advised.

Puri considered the doctor’s stern warning as he sank his teeth into another hot, crispy pakora and his taste buds thrilled to the tang of salty batter, fiery chilli and the tangy red chutney in which he had drowned the illicit snack. He derived a perverse sense of satisfaction from defying Dr Mohan’s orders.

Still, the fifty-one-year-old detective shuddered to think what his wife would say if she found out he was eating between meals — especially ‘outside’ food that had not been prepared by her own hands (or at least by one of the servants).

Keeping this in mind, he was careful not to get any incriminating grease spots on his clothes. And once he had finished his snack and disposed of the takeaway box, he washed the chutney off his hands and checked beneath his manicured nails and between his teeth for any tell-tale residue. Finally he popped some sonf into his mouth to freshen his breath.

All the while, Puri kept an eye on the house across the way and the street below.

By Delhi standards, it was a quiet and exceptionally clean residential street. Defence Colony’s elitist, upper middle-class residences — army officers, doctors, engineers, babus and the occasional press-wallah — had ensured that their gated community remained free of industry, commerce and the usual human detritus. Residents could take a walk through the well-swept streets or idle in the communal gardens without fear of being hassled by disfigured beggars . . . or having to negotiate their way around arc welders soldering lengths of metal on the pavements . . . or halal butchers slaughtering chickens.

Most of the families in Defence Colony were Punjabi and had arrived in New Delhi as refugees following the catastrophic partition of the Indian subcontinent in 1947. As their affluence and numbers had grown over the decades, they had built cubist cement villas surrounded by high perimeter walls and imposing wrought iron gates.

Each of these mini-fiefdoms employed an entire company of servants. The residents of number 76, D Block, the house that Puri was watching, retained the services of no fewer than seven full-time people — two drivers, a cook, a cleaner-cum-laundry-maid, a bearer and two security guards. Three of these employees were ‘live-in’ and shared the barsaati on the roof. The overnight security guard slept in the sentry box positioned outside the front gate, though, strictly speaking, he really wasn’t meant to.

The family also relied on a part-time dishwasher, a sweeper, a gardener and the local pressing-wallah who had a stand under the neem tree down the street where he applied a heavy iron filled with hot coals to a dizzying assortment of garments, including silk saris, cotton salwars and denim jeans.

From the vantage point in the room Puri had rented, he could see the dark-skinned cleaner-cum-laundry-maid on the roof of number 76, hanging underwear on the washing line. The mali was on the first-floor balcony watering the potted plants. The sweeper was using up gallons of precious water hosing down the marble forecourt. And, out in the street, the cook was inspecting the green chillis being sold by a local costermonger who pushed a wooden cart through the neighbourhood, periodically calling out, ‘Subzi-wallah! ’

Puri had positioned two of his best undercover operatives, Tubelight and Flush, down in the street.

These were not their real names, of course. Being Punjabi, the detective had nicknames for most of his employees, relatives and close friends. For example, he called his wife Rumpi; his new driver, Handbrake; and the office boy, who was extraordinarily lazy, Door Stop.

…

Puri himself was known by various names.

His father had always addressed him by his full name, Vishwas, which the detective had later shortened to Vish because it rhymes with ‘wish’ (and ‘Vish Puri’ could be taken to mean ‘granter of wishes’). But the rest of his family and friends knew him as Chubby, an affectionate rather than a derisive sobriquet — although as Dr Mohan had pointed out so indelicately, he did need to lose about thirty pounds.

Puri insisted on being called Boss by his employees, which helped remind them who was in charge. In India, it was important to keep a strong chain of command; people were used to hierarchy and they responded to authority. As he was fond of saying, ‘You can’t have every Johnny thinking he’s a Nelson, no?’

The detective reached for his walkie-talkie and spoke into it.

‘What’s that Charlie up to, over?’ he said.

‘Still doing timepass, Boss,’ replied Flush. There was a pause before he remembered to add the requisite ‘over.’

Flush, who was thirty-two, skinny and wore thick, milk-bottle-bottom glasses, was sitting in the back of Puri’s Hindustan Ambassador monitoring the bugs the team had planted inside the target’s home earlier, as well as all incoming and outgoing phone calls. Meanwhile, Tubelight, who was middle aged with henna-dyed hair and blind in one eye, was disguised as an autorickshaw-wallah in oily clothes and rubber chappals. Crouched on his haunches on the side of the street among a group of bidi-smoking local drivers, he was gambling at cards.

Puri, a self-confessed master of disguise, had not changed into anything unusual for today’s operation, though, seeing him for the first time, you might have been forgiven for thinking this was not the case. His military moustache, first grown when he was a recruit in the army, was waxed and curled at the ends. He was wearing one of his trademark tweed Sandown caps, imported from Bates of Jermyn Street in Piccadilly, and a pair of prescription aviator sunglasses.

Now that it was November and the intense heat of summer had subsided, he had also opted for his new grey safari suit. It had been made for him, as all his shirts and suits were, by Mr M. A. Pathan of Connaught Place, whose grandfather had often dressed Muhammad Ali Jinnah, founder of Pakistan.

‘A pukka Savile Row finish if ever I saw one,’ said the detective to himself, admiring the cut in a mirror in the empty room. ‘Really tip top.’

The suit was indeed perfectly tailored for his short, tubby frame. The silver buttons with the stag emblems were especially fetching.

Puri sat down in his canvas chair and waited. It was only a matter of time before Ramesh Goel made his move. Everything the detective had learned about the young man suggested that he would not be able to resist temptation.

Customer Reviews

Average Rating 4
( 29 )

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See All Sort by: Showing 1 – 20 of 29 Customer Reviews

  • Posted August 8, 2011

    Interesting

    Different. Similar to Cotterill and McCall-Smith stories in that the descriptions of life in the country of the story is it's strong suit. Nice characters though....do not getthe wierd names for Puri's employees though...Facecream, Handbrake and Tubelight? hmmmmm

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  • Posted April 3, 2011

    Fun Read about India Detective- Special Flavor of India Enjoyably Depicted

    This is a fun and flavorful read about "the great Indian detective" Vish Puri. Memorable characters pop up throughout the book as a story of intrigue is spun around the main client, a high powered lawyer charged with the murder of a servant. As Vish works on multiple cases, it is not clear who is trying to murder Vish or why; yet, he must forge ahead to prove his client not guilty. While the book is fun and light, it gives a good insight into the complex world that is India. In a probably realistic way, topics including arranged marriage, corruption and street crime are handled as incidentals to the story. Querkey Indian English dominates much of the conversation and a sprinkling of "Indian Words" crop up here and there. As someone who has lived overseas, I felt this added an authentic flavor to the story. Get it. Read it. It will be a memorable read.

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  • Posted August 31, 2010

    Like taking a trip to India

    I was in Delhi in 2007. Reading this book, I was struck by the way it so effectively captures all the paradoxes and complexities of life in modern India. I really felt immersed in the small, but very authentic world, Tarquin Hall creates. He weaves in references to very real problems like overbuilding, class differences, etc but there's so much more--the lives of the wealthy, the wide diversity of religions, the corruption in the government. All wrapped in a tasty, compelling and entertaining story.

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  • Posted August 14, 2010

    I love Vish Puri!!

    Honestly, I wasn't sure what to expect from this novel by Tarquin Hall....But I love all things India, such a fascinating, wonderful culture, plus I love mysteries, so....
    What I got was a spicy, rotund detective who hides his junk food habit from his wife, and whose Mother is as good a detective as he is(though he thinks it's not her place). Two plotlines going on...who killed a beautiful young woman who serves in the home of a powerful man, and who's trying to kill Vish Puri...really keeps your interest.
    I think you'll fall for Vish Puri too....

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  • Posted May 28, 2010

    more from this reviewer

    Meet the Indian Sherlock Holmes

    Vish Puri might take offense to being likened unto Sherlock Holmes (who stole his ideas from Chanakya and failed to give any credit); however, for modern readers this is an understandable comparison. He is not a bumbling or lazy detective (although very much in love with his greasy take-aways), rather an experienced and astute investigator with agents in all the right places and a rather extraordinary gift of deduction.
    Hall creates a story about East Indians which is not at all offensive. The stereotypes he uses are pulled from real life and the vagaries of daily life and "Indian" english are well captured.
    This story is not full of twists and turns, but a light hearted read that offers the reader enjoyment and a taste of both poor and wealthy Indian lives.
    I look forward to reading Hall's next Vish Puri novel.

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  • Anonymous

    Posted September 12, 2009

    Comical while capturing Indian values and culture

    Fast read, good for young teens

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  • Posted August 18, 2009

    more from this reviewer

    Meet the Indian Hercule Poirot

    Vish Puri, founder of the Most Private Investigators Ltd., and something of an Indian Hercule Poirot, supports his comfortable lifestyle with matrimonial background checks, but every once in a while something more worthy of his talents comes along. Puri is often compared to Sherlock Holmes for the acuity of his observation, but Puri disdains the comparison, preferring to cite 2,000 year-old Indian detecting principles - Holmes' inspiration.

    A decade earlier, Puri and his wife moved to the rural fields outside of Delhi to escape the sprawl and pollution of the city. But the New India has caught up to them. Housing developments, factories and office buildings have gobbled the farmers' fields and roads criss-cross the land spewing smog. Every morning Puri gives his precious chili plants a bath and the next morning they are coated in grime once again.

    In this first appearance, Puri, dressed to the nines, munching mouth-watering hot and crunchy snacks, and bemoaning the breakdown of society, comes to the aid of a lawyer who has just been accused of raping and murdering his servant girl.

    The evidence is thin - even proof that the girl is dead is shaky. But the lawyer has angered some powerful people. He's a crusading type who has taken on corruption in government and refuses to be bribed or silenced. The case gives Hall a chance to explore India's vast, hilariously, stunningly complex bureaucracy and its attendant miasma of corruption.

    Puri has his methods of cutting the tangles of red tape, however, and help from his team of loyal and quick-witted assistants as well as his tenacious and even quicker-witted mother (looking into an attempted shooting of her son) and unflappable wife, keep things moving at home and throughout the city.

    Though the plot is entertaining the real fun here is the eccentric Puri; his appreciation of spicy - very spicy - food, his strong opinions, his various eccentricities and his ingenuity and resourcefulness.

    Hall, a British journalist (Salaam Brick Lane) captures the contradictions and hugeness of modern India with its mania for growth and its love of tradition, its new rich and ever poor, its giddy wealth and grinding, shocking poverty.

    Charming, witty, clever and atmospheric, Hall's foray into fiction is a winner.

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  • Posted June 8, 2009

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    Very Entertaining!

    I really enjoyed this book. It was a quick, easy read. The mystery wasn't very hard to figure out, but it has such wonderful characters and atmosphere that it more than makes up for it. Just enough humor and suspense. Mummy-ji is great and I hope she's featured in the other books that I'm sure will follow. Vish Puri is a great character and I really look forward to his future cases! The only (sort of) drawback to this book was that I found myself flipping to the glossary in the back so often to find out the meaning of a lot of words and phrases, which sometimes disturbed the flow of reading. But I'm glad the author included it. It was very helpful. I won't hesitate to recommend this book to anyone looking for some quick, entertaining reading.

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  • Posted March 25, 2009

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    fun book

    I am finishing up the advance reader's copy of this book and although mystery isn't really my thing, I'm really enjoying it. It is different from what I would normally read. The characters are great - the main character, Vish, is hilarious. Not in what he says, necessarily, but how he behaves. Every character in this book is pretty well fleshed out and has a distinct personality - Mummy is one of my favorites. This is a great, light read. The only thing that can be confusing is that the characters speak english as though a person from India would truely speak english. It threw me off a little at first, but as you get into it it flows seamlessly with the story itself and it is easy to "hear" the characters as they converse. I would totally recommend this to anyone who likes light-hearted mysteries and humor.

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