| Publisher | Hutchinson |
|---|---|
| Date Published | 10 October 2013 |
| ISBN-10 | 0091937426 |
| ISBN-13 | 978-0091937423 |
| Format | paperback |
| Pages | 320 |
| Price | £ 14.99 |
The Case of the Love Commandos
by
Vish Puri helps the Love Commandos to find a missing untouchable boy who is in love with a high caste girl. In the process, he investigates the murder of the boy’s mother and uncovers the exploitation of illiterate villagers by an international DNA company and a tale of political corruption at the highest level.
Review
Vish Puri’s associate at Most Private Investigations, known as Facecream, is a member of the Love Commandos, a group dedicated to helping inter-caste couples to be together despite their families’ disapproval. When Ram, a young Dalit (untouchable) boy disappears from a safe house days before his planned wedding to a high caste girl, Tulsi, Facecream appeals to Puri for help to find him. The search takes Puri away from a family pilgrimage to the famous Vashnu Devi shrine to Ram’s village outside Lucknow, an area dominated by caste politics and corruption. Here, he discovers that Ram’s mother has been brutally murdered.
In investigating the murder, Puri learns that an international DNA corporation has been taking blood samples from the villagers in exchange for a pittance, exploiting their ignorance. He uncovers a story of corruption and cover-ups in high places, political vote-rigging and bribery, culminating in murder.
Tarquin Hall is never afraid to tackle the big issues of Indian life. In this book, he tackles the caste system and arranged marriages, as well as political corruption and exploitation of the illiterate peasant farmers. However, he has a light touch and does not preach to the reader. His stories illustrate the problems from the point of view of a middle-class Indian gentleman and his family. Family problems are never far from Puri’s mind and his interfering mummy-ji is a constant source of stress to him as he tries to prevent her investigating his cases. He is even more disconcerted when she finds a case of her own to investigate and solves it before he can stop her!
As ever, the dialogue and settings are acutely observed and the dialogue perfectly conveys the cadences of Anglo-Indian English. The recipes are a delightful bonus and the glossary is invaluable, allowing the flavour of the setting to come through and the story to flow without constant explanations of the Indian terms. The Vish Puri books are a must-read for anyone with a love for a good, old fashioned whodunnit in an Indian setting.
In investigating the murder, Puri learns that an international DNA corporation has been taking blood samples from the villagers in exchange for a pittance, exploiting their ignorance. He uncovers a story of corruption and cover-ups in high places, political vote-rigging and bribery, culminating in murder.
Tarquin Hall is never afraid to tackle the big issues of Indian life. In this book, he tackles the caste system and arranged marriages, as well as political corruption and exploitation of the illiterate peasant farmers. However, he has a light touch and does not preach to the reader. His stories illustrate the problems from the point of view of a middle-class Indian gentleman and his family. Family problems are never far from Puri’s mind and his interfering mummy-ji is a constant source of stress to him as he tries to prevent her investigating his cases. He is even more disconcerted when she finds a case of her own to investigate and solves it before he can stop her!
As ever, the dialogue and settings are acutely observed and the dialogue perfectly conveys the cadences of Anglo-Indian English. The recipes are a delightful bonus and the glossary is invaluable, allowing the flavour of the setting to come through and the story to flow without constant explanations of the Indian terms. The Vish Puri books are a must-read for anyone with a love for a good, old fashioned whodunnit in an Indian setting.
Reviewed 22 February 2014 by Sylvia Wilson
