Cheating Death - Softcover

Keating, H.R.F.

Softcover

ISBN 10: 0091753392 ISBN 13: 9780091753399

Publisher: Random House UK, 1992

Synopsis

Under orders from New Delhi, Inspector Ghote is sent to look into the theft and sale of exam papers from one of the most deplorable outlying colleges of Bombay University. At first glance all seems straightforward. The chief suspect, Bala Chambhar, has attempted suicide and Principal Bembalkar has admitted leaving his office safe unlocked.

But life is never easy for Ghote and he soon finds himself head-over-heels in the often farcical world of Indian college life with struggles on the Board of Trustees over who should run the college and student protests leading to kidnapping and violence.

About this title

From AudioFile

Sam Dastor is not the only narrator who can perfectly reproduce the voice and personality of Inspector Ghote, Bombay Crime Branch. In this superb narration Garard Green brings to life, not only Ghote, but all the colorful denizens of a seedy Bombay college: protesting students, inept administrators and "ivory-tower wallahs." Ghote is there to investigate the theft of examination papers and an attempted murder. Unlike mysteries with complicated plots which can be difficult to follow, especially while commuting, this simple story with its leisurely narration offers pure, undemanding pleasure. J.C. (c)AudioFile, Portland, Maine

From Kirkus Reviews

In the wake of the Central Bureau of Investigation's concise, polished, and utterly unhelpful report on a cheating scandal at Bombay's Oceanic College, Inspector Ghote is sent to ascertain how Bala Chambhar, the student now near death after an overdose of sleeping pills, could have purloined an exam paper from Principal Bembalkar's locked office. It doesn't take long for Ghote to figure out that this locked room was rather porous after all, but by that time he's realized that Chambhar, though he was selling copies of the exam all over Bombay, can't have been the person who took it in the first place; the thief (and poisoner) must have been somebody who wanted to discredit the Principalji. One of his aspiring successors, perhaps: the potbellied Dean, the unruffled Head of English, the self-styled Professor of Astrology? Or an aggrieved lecturer in English looking for revenge after getting tarred by disaffected students? Or one of the revolting students themselves? Giving his usual sublimely convincing imitation of a ``totally stupid police officer,'' Ghote stumbles through a maze of confrontations with student protesters, amateur kidnappers, and the pettiest of petty bureaucrats before a hint from his wife sets him on the path to Chambhar's would-be killer. Something of a holiday from the intensity of Ghote's last appearance (The Iciest Sin, 1990) and Keating's most recent novel (The Rich Detective, 1993)--a return to the foolishly endearing manner that masked the sly social commentary of Ghote's earliest adventures. -- Copyright ©1994, Kirkus Associates, LP. All rights reserved.

Edition details

• Publisher: Random House UK
• Publication date: 1992
• Language: English
• ISBN 10: 0091753392
• ISBN 13: 9780091753399
• Binding: Paperback
• Number of pages: 224