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The Case of the Man Who Died Laughing

Tarquin Hall
Random House (2009)
ISBN 9781416583691
Reviewed by Narayan Radhakrishnan for RebeccasReads (08/10)


Sauvé, Debonair, deadly looks, fast cars…..and that’s…..James Bond for you. Now meet Vish Puri, India’s most private detective. He is well, not sauvé, not- so debonair looking but is tall and lithe (okay about  1 ½ feet short of being tall, and a few extra, extra pounds that makes him not so lithe); and intelligent to the core. The nemesis of philandering husbands and unfaithful wives, Puri is a boon for the cheated spouse. But Puri yearns for more…other than updating the log of who’s sleeping with whom. And when Dr. Jha, the famous rationalist and atheist is murdered in a queer way in cold blood, Puri’s grey cells are called into action. It seems that Goddess Kali had jumped out of the blue and delivered a death knell to Dr. Jha. The whole nation is in a frenzy. Has the Kaliyug arrived? Prayers are offered in temples across the country and people are flocking in dozens to seek the blessings of god men. Some claim that the murder was done by a famed Swamiji, a person whose wrath Dr. Jha had incurred with his atheist propaganda. How Vish Puri solves this inexplicable murder forms the background of the novel.

However, its not the story or the plot that makes "The Case of the Man Who Died Laughing" that makes this novel interesting. It is the way Tarquin Hall narrates the novel that makes it interesting. Hilariously funny and at the same time not compromising with the suspense element, Tarquin Hall does it to detective fiction with Vish Puri; of what John Mortimer had done to legal fiction with his Barrister Rumpole stories. Hall portrays a myriad picture of India, with all its spiritual glory and the quaint unity in diversity that makes the Indian culture unique. He also doesn’t mince words while describing the corruption, the bribery and the poverty that exist in the midst of aplenty. Joining Puri in his quest for truth are the hall regulars, Handbrake, Facecream, Tubelight and of course- Puri’s octogenarian mother- Mummyji. And of course, Mummyji has another small investigation going on without Puri knowing about it.

Tarquin Hall has, with Vish Puri, opened the floodgates for a new brand of mysteries; of Crime fiction set in Asia. Though HRF Keating did it in the Seventies with Inspector Ghote, its Tarquin Hall who has given new voice to this genre. Close on the heels of Tarquin Hall, Singapore lawyer Shamini Flint has started her own series (Inspector Sing Investigates). The market is blooming, and thank you Mr. Hall for creating Vish Puri, India’s Most Private Investigator.