An excellent Indian murder mystery

Bad weather is a time for good books, and this weekend I read a murder mystery featuring a portly Punjabi detective, Vish Puri. The Case of the Missing Servant unfolds in Delhi, Gurgaon and NOIDA with side trips to Mehrauli "farmhouses" and to the Pink City.

I read it straight through in a single afternoon, and it was neither immediately obvious nor deliberately obscure, thus passing my basic tests for a well-written and well-paced murder mystery.

I also liked the fact that it was deeply Indian in its setting, characters and motivations, diving smoothly and intimately into the complexities and contrasts of life in New Delhi. Very often when people write about India, they are either dark, harsh and judgmental, or else they tend to sugarcoat. In this case, I thought the portrayal was authentic without being depressing, a realistic portrayal by an Indian author. In fact, reading the book, I would never have thought the author looked like this!

Tarquin Hall, featured nowhere in the book, is half-British, half-American and lives in New Delhi with his Indian-born wife. In the writing of this book, he seems to have adopted at least temporarily and with remarkable accuracy Indian attitudes, stereotypes, slang, beliefs and value systems.

Vish Puri, the central character, a Punjabi Sherlock Holmes and admirer of Chanakya, is slightly cocky like all great fictional detectives, and dreams of being portrayed by actor Anupam Kher in a possible Bollywood biopic of his life. As he negotiates the twists and turns of a sensational murder case, Hall explores life in North India - the web of relationships between the classes and the masses, the dirty nature of the construction business, the locus of power among politicians, businessmen, bureaucracy and judiciary, and corruption at every layer of society.

He does all this, however, while remaining matter-of-fact, almost cheerful, and without altering the entertaining pace. The tone is never bitter, and never without hope - the warmth and humanity of Vish Puri permeates this excellent page turner like the aroma of fresh paranthas.

(Check out the Guardian UK's review here)