The Case of the Missing Servant: From the Files of Vish Puri, Most Private Investigator (A Vish Puri Mystery) - Softcover

Hall, Tarquin

Softcover

ISBN 10: 1439172374 ISBN 13: 9781439172377

Publisher: Simon & Schuster, 2010

Synopsis

The first in a detective series that “immediately joins the No. 1 Ladies’ Detective Agency as representing the best in international cozies” (Booklist, starred review).

Meet Vish Puri, India’s most private investigator. Portly, persistent, and unmistakably Punjabi, he cuts a determined swath through modern India’s swindlers, cheats, and murderers.

In hot and dusty Delhi, where call centers and malls are changing the ancient fabric of Indian life, Puri’s main work comes from screening prospective marriage partners, a job once the preserve of aunties and family priests. But when an honest public litigator is accused of murdering his maidservant, it takes all of Puri’s resources to investigate. With his team of undercover operatives—Tubelight, Flush, and Facecream—Puri combines modern techniques with principles of detection established in India more than two thousand years ago, and reveals modern India in all its seething complexity.

About this title

From the Back Cover:

Meet Vish Puri, India's most private investigator. Portly, persistent, and unmistakably Punjabi, he has the exacting nature of Hercule Poirot and the provincial appeal of Precious Ramotswe.

In hot dusty Delhi, where call centers and shopping malls are changing the ancient fabric of Indian life, Puri's main work comes from screening prospective marriage partners. But when an honest public litigator is accused of murdering his servant, it takes all of Puri's resources to investigate. In a population of more than a billion, how will he trace the fate of the girl, known only as Mary? With his eccentric team, and techniques that combine the most modern -- and ancient -- of investigative skills, the search for Mary takes Puri to the desert oasis of Jaipur and to the remote mines of Jharkhand. As he moves from his well-heeled Club to the slums where the servant classes live, his adventures reveal modern India in all its seething complexities.

About the Author:

Tarquin Hall is a British author and journalist who has lived and worked throughout South Asia, the Middle East, and Africa. He is the author of The Case of the Missing Servant, The Case of the Man Who Died Laughing, and The Case of the Deadly Butter Chicken, along with dozens of articles and three works of nonfiction, including the highly acclaimed Salaam Brick Lane, an account of a year spent living above a Bangladeshi sweatshop in London’s notorious East End. He lives in Delhi with his wife, Indian-born journalist Anu Anand, and their son.

About this edition

• Publisher: Simon & Schuster
• Publication date: 2010
• ISBN 10: 1439172374
• ISBN 13: 9781439172377
• Binding: Paperback
• Number of pages: 336