The Case of the Man Who Died Laughing: From the Files of Vish Puri, Most Private Investigator - Hardcover

Hall, Tarquin

Hardcover

ISBN 10: 1416583696 ISBN 13: 9781416583691

Publisher: Simon & Schuster, 2010

Synopsis

Murder is no laughing matter.

Yet a prominent Indian scientist dies in a fit of giggles when a Hindu goddess appears from a mist and plunges a sword into his chest.

The only one laughing now is the main suspect, a powerful guru named Maharaj Swami, who seems to have done away with his most vocal critic.

Vish Puri, India’s Most Private Investigator, master of disguise and lover of all things fried and spicy, doesn’t believe the murder is a supernatural occurrence, and proving who really killed Dr. Suresh Jha will require all the detective’s earthly faculties. To get at the truth, he and his team of undercover operatives—Facecream, Tubelight, and Flush—travel from the slum where India’s hereditary magicians must be persuaded to reveal their secrets to the holy city of Haridwar on the Ganges.

How did the murder weapon miraculously crumble into ash? Will Maharaj Swami have the last laugh? And perhaps more important, why is Puri’s wife, Rumpi, chasing petty criminals with his Mummy-ji when she should be at home making his rotis?

Stopping only to indulge his ample Punjabi appetite, Puri uncovers a web of spirituality, science, and sin unique in the annals of crime.

About this title

Review:

"So brilliantly does Tarquin hall capture the sights, smells, sounds and foibles of modern India, not to mention the nuances of English-Indian speech, that it is hard to believe he is not himself Indian. He also serves up fabulous descriptions of the Indian cuisine much favoured by Puri, a sort of Indian Poirot whose lunch will always come before his crime-solving." (Daily Mail)

"The novel is an entertaining yarn about the apparent murder of a well-known religious sceptic by an apparition of the Goddess Kali and a ripe comedy of Indian manners, brimming with well-observed detail." (Mail on Sunday)

"Vish Puri - "Most Private Investigator", according to his card - is large, constantly hungry, a perpetual victim of Delhi's traffic congestion, and a wonderfully engaging PI . . . the characters - including Puri's complicated family - are splendid, and it's a joy to read" (The Times)

"A funny, entertaining novel [with a] wonderfully engaging Private Investigator . . the characters - including Vish Puri's complicated family - are splendid, and it's a joy to read." (Marcel Berlins The Times)

"Sweet-natured and hilarious" (Financial Tiimes Summer Reads)

Book Description:

The wonderful second outing for Delhi detective Vish Puri ('the Indian Hercule Poirot' Financial Times) and his team of skilled operatives.

About this edition

• Publisher: Simon & Schuster
• Publication date: 2010
• ISBN 10: 1416583696
• ISBN 13: 9781416583691
• Binding: Hardcover
• Number of pages: 309