THE CASE OF THE MAN WHO DIED LAUGHING by Tarquin Hall

The second book in what one hopes will be a long series of Vish Puri detective novels, showcases the author’s love and obvious affection for India, especially Delhi, and his eye for the wildly off-beat. The man who died laughing really did. At the Laughing Club on Rajpath. And from …

THE CASE OF THE MISSING SERVANT by Tarquin Hall

India finally has her own Precious Ramotswe. Her own home-grown, uncomplicated, tell-it-as-it-is private detective.  Punjabi by nature, by appetite and by his larger than life personality. Meet Vish Puri, resident of Gurgaon, chilli-grower, Sandown-cap-lover and solver of crimes in Delhi. Vish Puri is a clever, intuitive detective, of that there …

CALL ME DAN by Anish Trivedi

This début novel of Mumbai-based Anish Trivedi is well-written, sharply-observed, and a great read. The main character, Gautam, is a 30-year old lower middle-class young man, still living at home with his parents and sister.  Their life is frugal, traditional and distinctly joy-less. To his parents’ despair, Gautam doesn’t have …