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The Case of the Missing Servant: A Vish Puri Mystery

Tarquin Hall
Simon & Schuster (2009)
ISBN 9781416583684
Reviewed by Narayan Radhakrishnan for Rebecca’s Reads (6/09)


I have been an aficionado of detective stories, mysteries and thrillers since my childhood. As a child I was enamored by the detective stories of Enid Blyton (“Famous Five,” “Five Find,”etc.); in the pre- teen years, Hardy Boys and Nancy Drew were my staple diet. I graduated to Agatha Christie and Arthur Conan Doyle in my teen years- and later Sam Spade (Dashiell Hammett), Phillip Marlow (Raymond Chandler), and more recently Alex Cross (James Patterson) became my reading companions as far as detective stories are concerned. For me detective stories always meant “looking towards the West.” At the same time I gave a clean goby to the novels which originated from my homeland. It should be remembered that the first detective story originated from India (in the 1st Century A.D. Sudraka’s Mricchakatika is regarded as the first detective story)….but for reasons even unknown to me- I just refused to read detective novels set in India. All this changed a couple of years back when I saw an Indo-Angolan movie starring Naseerudin Shah. I believe the name of the movie was “The Perfect Murder” and Shah starred as an ace police detective-  Inspector Ghote….based on the Inspector Ghote series of novels written by H.R.F. Keating.  I began reading the Keating works and also other books written by Indian authors. I began to realize what I was missing- but Keating still reigned supreme in Indian detective novel writing, followed by Paul Mann with his lawyer George Sansi novels.

It is at this juncture that I got my hands on “The Case of the Missing Servant.” And to put it mildly, this one is one engrossing and scintillating read….a book which captures the charm, charisma and quaintness of Indian culture in all its diversity.

A very refreshing read; I was hooked within pages into the work. Vish Puri, proprietor of The Most Private Investigative Agency, is India’s numero- uno private detective. His fame has spread across the country and the way he has solved crimes would make even his mentor, the great Chanakya, proud. Vish Puri thinks himself to be the successor of the legacy of Chanakya….but off late the cases coming his way are more concerning marital infidelities, jealous wives keeping a tab on their husbands etc. And it was with great relief that lawyer Ajay Kasliwal comes to his life. The ace lawyer seeks Puri’s help for he believes that he might soon be arrested in connection with the murder of his maid servant. Kasliwal insists that the girl has gone missing but wants Puri to find the girl before any untoward incident happens. At the same time Puri also has another case in his hand -- the case of a brigadier who has enlisted Puri to dig up dirt in any way or other of his granddaughter’s prospective groom. How Puri manages to solve both cases forms the crux of the novel. Helping Puri are his octogenarian mother (Mummyji), and his sidekicks Flush, Tubelight and handbrake. What follows is a fast-paced narration filled with suspense laced with humour- that makes “The Case of the Missing Servant” one cool read…… or rather to put it Puri-wise- “Juicy chicken pakora jaise ek novel.”

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