The Case of the Elusive Bombay Duck
-
- €7.99
-
- €7.99
Publisher Description
Portly, perceptive and spectacularly moustachioed, India’s finest private detective, Vish Puri, tackles his most difficult case to date in the long-awaited return of Tarquin Hall’s delightful humorous whodunit series set in New Delhi.
“Vish Puri is the Indian Poirot” Financial Times
“A wonderfully engaging PI” The Times
“Vish Puri [is] a Punjabi Sherlock Holmes” The Guardian
When Vish Puri, India’s Most Private Detective, learns he’s won the long-coveted International Detective of the Year award, it’s supposed to be a secret. But within hours, it seems all of Delhi knows – and his indomitable Mummy-ji announces she’ll be coming with him to the ceremony in London, never mind that she’s not been invited.
To add to his woes, a senior government bureaucrat gives him an undercover mission he can’t refuse. Puri is tasked with tracking down India’s most-wanted fugitive: a billionaire pharmaceutical fraudster codenamed Bombay Duck, who’s rumoured to be hiding in the British capital.
Puri’s only spending a week in London . . . and he’s already promised his wife he won’t work during their once-in-a-lifetime trip.
In desperation, he enlists the help of his reluctant nephew Jags and dives headfirst into the case. But can Puri hook the Bombay Duck and bring him to justice – all the while keeping his investigations secret from his wife and meddling mother?
Packed with the sights, sounds and flavours of both New Delhi and London, author Tarquin Hall – who divides his time between India and the UK – delivers an irresistible read for fans of Alexander McCall Smith, Harini Nagendra and Jesse Sutanto.
PUBLISHERS WEEKLY
Hall continues to delight with his witty sixth mystery featuring Indian PI Vish Puri (after The Case of the Reincarnated Client). At the outset, the 59-year-old gumshoe revels in the news that the International Federation of Private Detectives has named him 2021's Private Detective of the Year. He prepares for a trip to London with his wife to receive the honor, but his joy is tempered when his domineering—and uninvited—mother announces that she will join them. Then India's finance minister asks Puri to hunt for fugitive Harilal Bhatt (code name Bombay Duck), who authorities believe is hiding out in England. Bhatt's pharmaceutical company claimed it had developed a groundbreaking cure for diabetes, but the drug proved to have fatal side effects, and the doctor fled India before he could be charged with homicide and fraud. Aware that refusing the minister's "request" would put his career in jeopardy, Puri begrudgingly agrees, and attempts to conduct the missing person's search in London while concealing his activities from his wife and mother. Hall adeptly enriches the story's humor with real stakes for his nuanced characters. Alexander McCall Smith fans should check this out.
