Title/Author: The Case of The Missing Servant/Tarquin Hall
Publisher: Arrow Books

ISBN 13: 978-0-099-52523-3

In a nutshell
The Case of The Missing Servant is set in the modern day India, smack right in Delhi and Rajasthan. It is a very complex detective story, with many suspects and in-between cases, mishaps and shenanigans, because “It is certainly not straightforward locating one missing female in a population of one billion plus personages,” said Vish Puri, the portly, persistent Punjabi detective and proud founder of Most Private Investigators Ltd., the owner of 14 Sandown caps, and a fan of fiery chillies.

He gets an assignment which stirred his humdrum case of matrimonial investigations. A lawyer gets accused of killing his maidservant who goes only by the name of Mary. He denies killing her. Puri believes him, even his servant, Jaya says “He is a good man.” to which his son attested, “He never broke one law in his entire life.”

However, justice and evidence weren’t on his side.

What I liked
Vish Puri. Definitely Vish Puri! This portly detective is so likeable it’s hard not to love him and his antics. Not to mention also, his irritating and vainglorious crew – feisty Facecream, tech-genius Flush and sharp-witted Tubelight and his compliant driver, Handbrake. (Don’t you just love their nicknames? LOL) And oh ya, and his indomitable Mummy-ji too 🙂

Oh and guess what investigation methods he uses?? *wink* Creatively fusing 2000-year old Indian investigation methods with modern techniques, he creates this unique communications room which is equipped with a multi-deck sound system that’d play appropriate background noise according to the type of call received! He also has 9 telephone lines for incoming calls from the various cases he handles, and a very special personal costume designer who helps him with his disguises.

What I didn’t quite like
Hmm…nothing much, really…

My verdict? 4/5
Best enjoyed with a cup of hot choco on a beautiful weekend 😉