The Case of the Man who Died Laughing (Vish Puri 2) [Kindle Edition]

Early one sweltering Delhi morning well known rationalist, Dr Suresh Jha, is stabbed to death while attending an open air laughter therapy session. What makes this crime unique is that the murderer is none other than the Hindu goddess Kali. While most of India believes a supernatural event has occurred, detective Vish Puri is convinced there is a rational explanation for the crime and sets out to find it. As we accompany him on his investigation and believe we are on the verge of discovering how the murder was staged, who committed the crime and what the motives were, events always take an unexpected turn and serious rethinking is required. To complicate matters Puri's irrepressible, feisty and shrewd mother has enlisted the help of his reluctant wife Rumpi to solve another mystery, showing that all detective work need not be the prerogative of experts.

Meanwhile Tarquin Hall draws us into everyday life in India. We witness the customs surrounding birth and death, watch the ancient Indian game of chaturanga, the forerunner of chess, walk through a Delhi slum where live street entertainers, belonging to a profession once honoured by kings, now harassed by police. We pass through a holy city to spend time in an ashram, because the distinction between real and pseudo-spirituality is at the core of this book.

Laid bare is the vulnerability of the human race. Because we have all inherited brains that evolved to protect us from danger, it is natural to act quickly and on minimal evidence. We are constantly at risk of becoming victims of deception. However there is hope for all of us....

For me the greatest strength of this book is that Vish Puri, the middle aged, overweight grandfather, who wears a safari suit and a Sandown cap and has one leg shorter than the other, is a metaphor for the ordinary human being who, with intelligence, hard work, patience, persistence and, above all, a pure heart can, with guidance, overcome even the most daunting obstacles.

I wholeheartedly recommend that you read this book. Read more ›

The first story in this series is 'The Case of the Missing Servant' The Case of the Missing Servant (Vish Puri 1). 'The Case of the Missing Servant' is the second in the series and in Vish Puri, Tarquin Hall has created a superior private detective who gives his services to the Delhi police to solve the most tricky of crimes. Puri's team of sidekicks, introduced in the previous book, all play a part in unravelling this tricky mystery.

Imagine an amalgam of Sherlock Holmes/Miss Marple/and the Pink Panther then a flavour of the 'Kumars at No. 42'. Finally add a pot belly, a flat cap and a stereotypically, Punjabi Indian old-fashioned usage of the English language, and you begin to imagine Puri. He does not come alone though, you also get his extended family and their network of friends and relatives. His indominatable 'mummy' is a senior lady not to be messed with. This is a great caste of the aspiring middle-class in Delhi. Mr Hall's tongue is firmly in his cheek as he writes but there is a serious theme underlying this story - The contradiction between the new India of technocrats and the continuing influence of the old, yet ever present India, and its pantheon of gods and gurus and swamis.

The man who died laughing was a prominent secularist intellectual who has earned fame as a 'Guru Buster' exposing false gurus as frauds and tricksters. This man is murdered in Raj Path Gardens at the very centre of Indian bureacracy. Even more startling he dies at the hands of the goddess Kali who dramatically appears in the midst of his early morning 'laughing group' and stabs him to death before mysteriously disappearing again before the eyes of his fellow-laughers. What drama!...

Puri's investigation extends North to the holy town of Haridwar on the Ganges to a suspect Swami's ashram. Meanwhile his fiesty mother and longsuffering wife Rumpi have an investigation of their own underway. Despite pressure from people in high places Puri persists with his investigation and unmasks the murderer but not before more murder happens. A very enjoyable story and number 3 in the series The Case of the Deadly Butter Chicken is on my wishlist. Read more ›

Some crime writers made their career out of impossible crimes, but not even John Dickson Carr tackled a murder apparently committed by a Hindu goddess. Tarquin Hall's second outing for his modern day Indian detective Vish Puri does exactly that, however. And very entertaining the result is too.

The puzzle is challenging, but with enough clues for an acute reader to guess something of the solution. Be warned one section of the final explanation veers slightly toward science fiction but in a context that's forgivable.

Those who enjoyed The Case of the Missing Servant will find the second just as charming and enjoyable; those who haven't read it will not have any difficulties in getting straight into this one, without any need to have to catch up with the first book.

It is often said of historical fiction that good historical fiction is fiction that has to be set in a particular time period otherwise the story would not work. The same is true of an exotic locale. Hall's books - and this story particularly - fulfil that test. Modern India has a society that allows a traditional private sleuth to relatively plausibly operate alongside the police force. This story is one that could only fit modern India: it provides the contrast between modernity and traditional life, with scientific rationalism and powerful widespread belief in the supernatural coexisting, sceptical thought beside TV sadhus and magical godmen. By no means a close or particularly realistic examination of modern India, this book makes excellent use of its chosen backdrop.

The Case of the Man Who Died Laughing is well worth reading and Tarquin Hall's series is shaping up very nicely. `World Class, actually' - as Vish Puri himself might say.