The case of the missing servant by Tarquin Hall

"The case of the missing servant" by Tarquin Hall. This is the first mystery novel of Vish Puri series.

Tarquin Hall is a British author who has spent a lot of time in the subcontinent. Vish Puri is his private detective, owner of 'Most private investigators', operating out of Delhi. He is 51 year old chubby Punjabi, father of three daughters, has large mustaches, short height, is intelligent and has an ego (since he knows that he is the best). Readers of mystery must have, by now, noticed the similarities with Hercule Poirot of Agatha Christie. He also tends to his terrace flower garden daily. This trait is similar to Nero Wolf of Rex Stout.

A lawyer from Jaipur hires Vish Puri. A lady servant has gone missing and police doubt that the lawyer has murdered her. A retired army officer wants Puri to investigate bridegroom of his grand daughter, a civilian,  and prove that he is not worthy. An attempt is made on Puri's life and Puri could not get any clue. But his mummy wants to investigate and track the shooter.

Puri starts the investigation with help of his assistants code named 'handbrake', 'tube light', 'door stop', 'face cream' etc. The lawyer is arrested and ex-driver of lawyer is murdered. The plot thickens.

Who is the murderer? Is it one or more? Can Vish Puri solve all three cases? Does his mummy help or create more problems?

This story and all Vish Puri mysteries take place in India. Tarquin has written the story with all the details of daily Indian life that speaks a lot about his observation power. The author has used the Indian English very effectively. Tarquin has caught the pulse of Delhi perfectly. The language, the way things work or do not work, the interactions between the characters, everything is perfect. Reading the book you can not make out that the author is not an Indian.

This book does not have major twists. The story is evenly paced and you remain interested.

A good read. Recommend reading.

The cuckoo's calling" by Robert Galbraith aka J.K. Rowling

"The cuckoo's calling" by Robert Galbraith aka J.K. Rowling (of Harry Potter fame).

Lula Landry, a mixed race adopted child of white parents and herself a very famous model, falls from the balcony of her apartment in the middle of a chilly winter night and dies. After investigations the police declare it as suicide. But her adopted brother is not convinced. He engages a, once brilliant, now broke and loser, detective Cormoran Strike and his latest temporary assistant cum secretary Robin to investigate.

Strike starts to investigate the case and puts the details together meticulously & methodically. There is a witness claiming it to be a murder but police prove that she was lying. Then there is another murder.

Who is the murderer? Her druggie  boyfriend? Her gay friend and fashion designer? Her co-model and friend? Her poor lady friend who has undergone treatment for mental illness? Her mother? Unknown stalker? An American rapper? Why was she murdered? Was she murdered?

Author has based the novel on the backdrop of fashion world. The lives and affairs of rich and fashionable are brought to the fore. The artificialness, hollowness, and addiction to drugs and publicity is shown effectively. The book employs foul language. The f*** word appears at least a thousand times in the book.

JK Rowling has taken her time to develop the plot. She has given a lot of attention to details. The buildup to the climax is slow. You neither get excited not bored. Sometimes I could feel influence of Agatha Christie due to attention to detail.

I was able to guess the murderer but not the modalities of murder.

Although the book is not in the same league as Harry Potter, it's a good book. Recommend reading.

A nice quiet holiday by Aditya Sudarshan

"A nice quiet holiday" a debut novel by Aditya Sudarshan. This is a murder mystery.

Anant, the narrator and a young lawyer, works as law cleark to Justice Shinde. Shinde decides to take Anant with him to a nice quiet holiday, in the mountains, to Bhairavgadh at his friend Shikhar Pant's house. A number of guests are invited. Pant's  writer cousin (Kailash), a couple (Mittal's) who run a NGO for AIDS, Pant's friend (Mr. Anand) with his young son (Avinash) & Pant's family  homeopath (Dr. Nath) with his two sons and young beautiful daughter (Mallika). There are two servants and a dog in the house in addition to this ensemble.

There is a public unrest against the NGO for publishing obscene material. Kailash's influence avoids arrest of Mittal's. Then Kailash is murdered. The judge encourages Anant to become amateur investigator. He startes investigating and at the same time is smitten by Mallika's charms.

A book goes missing with other unrelated things, children who are playing hide and seek give a clue, there is a blackmailer, there seems to be no motive for murder. Anant stumbles and fumbles trying to find clues and reports to the judge.

Who is the murderer? Is he in the house? Is there another murder? How is the murderer identified? What role does the judge play?

In a murder mystery you expect at least some and preferably many twists. Needle of suspicion should always be pointing to someone and change as the story goes. In this story, no one is a suspect. You hardly feel that an investigation is ongoing.

Love story takes front seat in one section over mystery. Story is slow and uninteresting. Motive for murder is also not very convincing. Book doesn't end for a while, even after the murderer is caught and motives and deductions are explained.

The book is insipid. Avoid.

The siege of Krishnapur by J. G. Farrel

"The siege of Krishnapur" by J. G. Farrel. Farrel won Booker prize for this book in 1973.

This is the story of Krishnapur, a fictitious small principality, in Bengal presidency; in, East India Company ruled, India during the uprising of 1857. Although this is a fiction the author has used a number of real incidents from the uprising, from diaries and letters of those present at that time, in this story. The sepoys have started uprising and collector of Krishnapur has ordered all whites, Eurasians and loyal native servants to take refuge in his fortified residency. Interestingly this book is written only as seen  from the eyes of the English population. So you do not know what's happening on the other side.

There are a number of interesting characters: the collector, a doctor, his beautiful daughter looking for a suitable suitor, a magistrate, a padre, young officers, a visiting young Englishman, his widow sister, the maharaja, prince and prime minister. Each looks at the crises from his point of view but all are concerned about their well-being and safety.

What fate awaits the occupants of residency? Will they be able to defend till rescue arrives? Can they remain united? Will the sepoys win?

The story is very short on events and action. Hence author has spent a lot of space on the surroundings, furniture, showpieces in the residency, philosophy and theology. Not much happens even if you miss 8-10 pages.

As the siege continues the rations dwindle, men keep dying, hygiene deteriorates, gloom prevails, fights break out for minor things. But human nature tries to find joy, even in such dire circumstances, in small things like tea party or child birth. Love kindles, people get philosophical, opinions change, perspectives alter. There is an undercurrent of dread in the book.

Author has successfully captured the absurdities of the discrimination within the society, without sounding supremacist. The pecking order within the residency with elite whites at top followed by other whites then the Eurasians and finally loyal natives remains even during the crisis.

Since this book is written only from the point of view of English populace, there was a danger of this book becoming biased. Author has successfully avoided this trap. The key to the success of this book is being impartial and unbiased.

It's a slow story. An OK read. One can read It for a change.

Bourne Retribution by Eric Van Lustbader.

"Bourne Retribution" by Eric Van Lustbader. Bourne series was started as a trilogy by Robert Ludlum and continued by Lustbader after his death. This book is 11th in the series and 8th by Lustbader.

Jason Bourne, a spy who lost his memory, has captivated audience for decades and many have lifted this idea in their novels in one form or other.

In this book Bourne is urged by head of Mossad, Ely Yadin, to go to China and try to severe the link between Chinese minister who supplies raw material and Mexican drug lords who refine and market it. Bourne has eliminated the chief of most powerful Mexican drug cartel and drug cartels have killed Rebecca (a Mossad agent, who loved Bourne) in previous book. Hence the angle of retribution.

Where does he go? Who does he meet? Does he get his retribution? What does he lose in the process? Is he betrayed again?

Like all Bourne books, this one is also fast paced and full of action. I had started losing interest in Bourne series in 7th, 8th and 9th book, but this book had revived the interest.

In order to fully understand the story, you should have read previous books before reading this one. The characters, incidents and references are lost on those who will start with this book.

Lustbader has concentrated on plot than the character of Bourne. There is a lot of action in the book and pace is fast. The end though, is not as elaborate and the villain is killed relatively easily. There is also a pleasant surprise at the end.

A good book. Read it if you  are a fan of Bourne series.

The edge of the machete by Abhisar Sharma

"The edge of the machete" by Abhisar Sharma, 2nd book of The Taliban Conundrum Trilogy.

All the terrorist organizations in Pakistan and Afghanistan have decided to come together, at a secrete facility called 'The Beast', to prepare & launch attacks against America and it's allies. This facility is so secret that it's not known to any government or intelligence organization.

CIA has infiltrated 'The Beast' with one of its operative called  Ed Gomez aka Sarfaraz Khan, whose friend has been executed by the terrorist Amir Sherzai. There is a white Muslim (Shaun Marsh aka Shahid Khan), whose mother was a Kashmiri, at The Beast; who wants to be a Jihadi but doesn't know if he can kill. An Indian journalist Rahul Sharma is a captive at The Beast.

How lives of Rahul and Shahid are intertwined? What is the big plan? Does Ed Gomez become Sarfaraz for a cause or has the raw power of Sarfaraz taken over Ed? Can he  avenge killing of his friend?

Author has taken a very big canvas for the book. The story moves between Pakistan, Afghanistan, India, England and America. There are a lot of characters. The nature of plot requires proper development of three main characters and author had to spend considerable space for that. Abhisar has used flash backs liberally to establish the story and relations of characters.

Converging three stories for the finale is a Herculean task and Abhisar has almost succeeded in it. There was a possibility of developing this seed into a fantastic tale. Although the story has come out good, it could have been better.

Abhisar had a fluid writing style and does not allow you to get bored. Portrayal of main characters is good. Sarfaraz and his dilemma of completing the task after infiltration or becoming a mighty terrorist, Shahid and his dilemma of whether his identity is white man or a Muslim, Rahul's state of mind in captivity and Aamir, a terrorist & killer of Ed's friend, who is cruel beyond imagination & who wants to be recognized as most feared terrorist.

The climax is slightly mellowed down and a bit abrupt. Author has created the preamble for the sequel in the end.

An OK read. Read if you have time.

Draupadi in high heels by Aditi Kotwal.

"Draupadi in high heels" by Aditi Kotwal.

Deeya Panchal, an uber rich young entrepreneur & heiress, is attracted towers handsome Karan Ravi and also likes Arjun Kapur. Who will she choose? Her closest male friend & advisor is Krishna Gopalkrishnan. Does this remind you of something?

Intelligent readers would have smelt the plot by now. This is Mahabharat in modern times. Deeya, at one point, realizes the parallels in her life with that of Draupadi. Draupadi made choices that shaped her destiny and created history.

What choices does Deeya have? Will she marry Arjun Kapur and his brothers? Will she choose Karan? Or would she find someone else? Is there a karmic relation between her and Draupadi? What influence does the modern day equivalents of Bheeshma, Kunti, Drushtadyumna, Dushala and Drupad have on her decision and future? What role does Krish play?

Aditi has a fluent writing style. Since the story runs parallel to Mahabharat, she had to invent little on that front. She has portrayed the character of Deeya with vigor. Today's young independent entrepreneur who is rooted to Indianness, open-minded young lady yet longing for serious relationship is shown beautifully.

She has compensated in writing where the book lacks in story. Experienced readers can guess the end by the time they are half way through. Aditi could have added a lot of twists and turns and could have made the story a lot more complicated, but she has preferred to keep it simple and straight instead of risking entanglement in her own web.

I completed the book in one sitting. Recommend reading.

Mazya navryachya bayka (माझ्या नवऱ्याच्या बायका)" by Mrs. Sunanda Raja Gosavi

"Mazya navryachya bayka (माझ्या नवऱ्याच्या बायका)" a Marathi book & autobiography by Mrs. Sunanda Raja Gosavi. Sunanda is wife of legendary Marathi actor Raja Gosavi. Sunanda had narrated a series of articles on this subject in a magazine & this is a publication of that series in a book of 125 pages.

Mazya navryachya bayka means lovers of my husband. As the title suggests this is an account of extra marital affairs of authors fornicating husband.

The number of affairs Raja Gosavi had are numerous and mind boggling. He had a way with women. Some of the affairs were even with the knowledge of their husbands. The book shows how the life of the author turned into living hell due to husband's unending affairs, responsibility of 5 children, shortage of money dispite having a famous & successful husband and how she tried to adjust to no avail.

Sometime it amazes you how the lady had endured such a mental torture and stayed put for 34 years in this unhappy marriage. It appears that what made her stay with such a husband was money and security of having a husband and a roof over head. It's a tragedy through and through. Although the subject is controversial author has steered clear of naming any of the love interests of her husband.

This is an account of the wife from her point of view and there may or may not be other side to it. This book does not have the other side of coin. Raja Gosavi's autobiography 'Raja navacha Gosavi (राजा नावाचा गोसावी) may have the account from his perspective, but I have not read it.

An OK read. Those who have seen Raja Gosavi's fabulous acting or have known him would be intrigued by this aspect of his personality.

Lashkar by Mukul Deva

"Lashkar" by Mukul Deva. This is the first book of Lashkar series.

This is the story of Iqbal, a Muslim youth from Lucknow, who is drawn in the web of terrorism by the maulana of a mosque in Delhi. He is smuggled to Pakistan, trained and sent back to India to execute terrorist activities in India. The story is set in 2005.

A number of blasts hit Delhi a few days before Iqbal returns to India. But then comes a twist. India's docile response turns into a stern response and India decides to retaliate. Force 22, an ultra secret special operations group, is called into action. This is where the book becomes interesting.

Will Iqbal be able to reenter India safely?  Will Iqbal be able to execute terrorist activities? Had the indoctrination made him a ruthless maniac? Is there a personal angle? What is India's stern response? How is it executed by Force 22? Does it succeed? Does Iqbal see the reality?

This book explains in  detail how the misguided youth are smuggled to Pakistan, how they are trained, how terrorist activities are planned and executed, how ISI plays an important role in all this. How a covert attack is planned and executed. India's response brings a lot of action in the book. This section keeps you on the tenterhook and the adrenaline keeps pumping.

Mukul has an effective writing style. He has paced the novel very well & has supplemented it by the technical details of military hardware. He has successfully kindled the excitement and patriotic feelings within the readers to take the book to a different level. I would not be surprised if the book becomes a Bollywood movie.

Mukul is a master story teller. The book is unputdownable. Recommend reading.