The Case of the Missing Servant : A book review

Some days back I was killing time on the net hopping from one blog to another, as I often do, when I found this - a review of a Detective series set in India! The reviews sounded good and I jumped to ebay to buy it off.

The Case of the Missing Servant is the first book featuring Vish Puri, a middle-aged Punjabi detective who lives in Delhi. He self-proclaims himself to be the best detective in India and has an uncanny ability to solve mysteries bested by none except his mom, known as Mummyji. The book starts with him eating delicious onion pakoras (it literally made my mouth start watering!) and the first few pages give you an insight into the kind of character Puri is. The book is littered with Hinglish, the occasional gaali, and common Indian delicacies while Vish goes snooping around trying to solve multiple mysteries. What I liked about the book is that it tickles your inner sense in a way that few books do these days (Wodehouse is like a rising crescendo of nudging and winking that almost always ends in spontaneous laughter!). And I could also relate to Vish, who like any other middle class guy in India cribs about corruption, poverty, etc but is also kind to his driver and servants. (Did that come out feudal?) And I have realized that mysteries still rank top in my list of preferred genres, especially after being tricked into reading the Harry Dresden series by a scheming friend :) (it is an awesome combo of Fantasy + Mystery set in Chicago)

This is Tarquin Hall's first book and he released the 2nd book last month. I am hoping to grab the 2nd one soon; until then, go and buy "The Case of the Missing Servant"!