Book Summary and Reviews of The Case of the Deadly Butter Chicken by Tarquin Hall

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Cloggie Downunder

entertaining Indian cosy crime fiction
The Case Of The Deadly Butter Chicken is the third book in the Vish Puri, Most Private Investigator series by British journalist and author, Tarquin Hall. At a celebration dinner for a nephew’s cricketing success, Vish Puri is enjoying some illicit Butter Chicken on the terrace when he witnesses an exchange between the father of up-coming Pakistani fast bowler, Kamran Khan, and a man with an envelope. And he’s not the only one to observe it. A short time later, having enjoyed a plate of the same delicious dish, Faheem Khan suddenly collapses: his Butter Chicken was poisoned.

Puri is furious to be summarily excluded from the investigation by Delhi’s Police Chief, but then finds that English former Deputy Police Commissioner (recently departed from an investigative role with the International Cricket Federation) James Scott wants him to investigate on behalf of a new body, Clean Up Cricket. He’ll have to tread carefully: amongst the obvious suspects at Faheem’s table, there are some powerful individuals.

Some efficient legwork allows him to strike a few names from the list, but he is leaning towards a motive involving match-fixing: the envelope in Faheem’s pocket contained a lot of cash. In the interests of investigation, Puri has to place a bunch of losing bets on a cricket match at the home of a Syndicate bookie but, despite Facecream’s brilliant acting skills as his young girlfriend, his disguise isn’t sufficient. Were it not for an aconite-laced paan his host chewed, a sticky end had been in store for them; Mohib Alam was the second Syndicate bookie to meet this fate.

Worrying is Mummy-ji’s strange behaviour after meeting Kamran Khan and his father: is it because they are Pakistani? Before the partition, his mother grew up in Rawalpindi, so might she have known Faheem Khan? And distracting Puri from it all is the case he wishes he hadn’t agreed to take: record-length moustaches are being shaved off without the wearer’s consent. And, of course, there’s Puri’s ongoing battle with his weight…

Puri somehow manages to tie in a dog that dies in the middle of a cricket match, a lost expensive earring, and a slip of coded numbers with which his father-in-law, Brigadier Mattu might be able to help. Puri is forced to go to Pakistan to learn more, something he initially dreads, until he finds the people are friendlier than expected and the kadai gosht is as delicious as it was described. Over the course of his investigations, he is abducted, shot at, and threatened, but also gets to enjoy the luxury of the VVIP stand at Kotla Stadium.

As always, the stereotypically-Indian dialogue is a delight. When asked will she have a meal, Mummy-ji replies “Some hunger is there. I’ll be joining you shortly, na. Just I’ll take a bath. Ten minutes only is required.” In this instalment, Hall’s protagonist manages to expose an illegal betting syndicate, solve the moustache-theft mystery, and learn some surprising facts about Mummy-ji’s past. Once again, entertaining Indian cosy crime fiction. Bring on #4, The Case of the Love Commandos.

Other books by Tarquin Hall at BookBrowse