Inspector Ghote's good crusade by H. R. F. Keating

"Inspector Ghote's good crusade" by H. R. F. Keating - whodunnit!. 

This book was originally published in 1966. This edition of book is published by Severn House in 2020 and has 208 pages. This is Book 2 of Inspector Ghote series. 

Frank Masters, an American millionaire, who runs a foundation for vagrant children in Mumbai, is dead. His doctor says it's arsenic poisoning. CID inspector Ghote is assigned to the case. 

Was it arsenic poisoning? Was it murder? Who killed Frank Masters? Why?

The arsenic was stolen from dispensary that had a special lock and only one key. A number of people had a chance. A German house keeper who claims to be with a swami at the time of murder. An English lady doctor who is brusque and probably racist. Edward G, a smart and sleek vagrant child whose truth and lies are difficult to decipher. Tarzan, an acrobatic vagrant child who runs away when approached. Sunny, an Anglo Indian medical worker who was supposed to have the key to the room with poison. Chatterjee, a social worker eager to please. Amrit Singh, a notorious criminal and smuggler. 

This story is not like a typical whodunit. Ghote is here to stay, so it gives us glimpses of Ghote the human being, Ghote the husband and Ghote the inspector. He is impressionable. He is gullible. He is determined. He is persistent. He is intelligent. 

DSP, his boss, gives him direct orders that go against his conscience. Rather than falling in line and obeying orders he relentlessly pursues the facts and tries to find the truth. He doesn't believe in deviating a little bit in the interest of greater good. 

This book has a lot of investigation. For most part Ghote appears clueless. But at the end he cracks the case. How he reaches his conclusion? How he deduced the identity of murderer? What solid proof does he have to prove his charge? Answers to these are a bit nebulous. 

The story is slow. It's not a happening story. So after a while readers start losing interest. But my interest was not totally lost and I completed the book. 

HRF Keating wrote a series of 26 crime novels of Inspector Ghote over a period of 45 years.

Why did I read this book? Curiosity of English author and Indian hero. 

What I didn't like? Pace, lack of proof. 

What did I like? Human Ghote. 

Not a must read.