The Case of the Man Who Died Laughing AND The Case of the Missing Servant

Tarquin Hall's mystery is light, comical and very entertaining.  Distinguished scientist and Guru Buster, Dr. Suresh Jha, receives a very specific death threat. The next morning, the committed rationalist attends his regular exercise/self-improvement group, the Rajpath Laughing Group, at a public park.

Suddenly, while Professor Pandey is telling a knock-knock joke that convulses the group members, a mist begins to form around their ankles and rises to their shins, and then higher.  The sky darkens, dogs bark, and then, appearing out of the mist, high above the ground, is the hideous face of Kali, the Indian goddess of time, creation, destruction and power, the destroyer of evil forces.  Facing Dr. Jha, she screams "You who have dared to insult me! You who have dared to mock my power!You will taste blood!", and thrusts a sword deep into his chest.

Kali

A video, taken by a passing French tourist, is broadcast on the all major news stations and the impossibility of any material explanation for these startling events convinces millions that Kali has miraculously appeared and wreaked vengeance on Dr. Jha.

Later that day, Most Private Investigator Vish Puri is visited by Inspector Singh, who asks for his help in investigating the circumstances of Dr. Jha's death.  Most Private Investigator Puri kicks into action, with frequent food breaks for his favorite Punjabi dishes; thanks to a glossary at the end of the book, this provides a valuable catalog of Indian snacks.

A very entertaining mystery, with a couple amusing side-plots, lots of colorful characters, and whimsical commentary on life in India - a quick and diverting read!

Just ran across another Vish Puri mystery on our library's Staff Picks shelf...once again, I thought the story was lively and very amusing - and I enjoyed The Case of the Missing Servant even more than the first one I read.  These are wonderful, light reads - highly recommended!

The Enchantress of Florence

This is a lush book, with bravura writing, that weaves a magical and captivating tale together with historical events and figures.  A charismatic and beautiful young man arrives in Mughal India from Florence with an outlandish tale of presumed relationship to Akbar, the all powerful ruler. Is his implausible story true, entitling him to become part of the ruling family, or is he a likable and immensely gifted con man, who should perhaps be put to death?

When the sword of the tongue is drawn, the emperor thought, it inflicts deeper cuts than the sharpest sword.

The power of artistic creation is a central to the book, in small ways:

the court's musical genius Tansen had gone so far as to create a raag in the two courtesan's honor, the raag deepak, so called because when he played it for the first time in the House of Skanda the sorcery of the melody made unlit lamps burst into flame.

And in major themes: The emperor, through the power of his imagination alone, creates one living, perfect wife, visible to him and a few others, who is eventually replaced by Qara KÖz, Lady Black Eyes, who had died more than a century previously.  

The book is a pleasure to read, in its historical range, bursts of humor, mordant views of  man, and celebration of artists.

Behind the Beautiful Forevers

This exceptional book by Katherine Boo reads like an absorbing, fascinating novel yet is, almost unbelievably, nonfiction.  Boo, a Pulitzer Prize-winning reporter and writer for the New Yorker, lived in Mumbai and delved into the lives of the residents of Annawadi, a small slum beside a lake of sewage, adjacent to a very busy international airport serving Mumbai.

"Everything around us is roses" is how Abdul's younger brother, Mirchi, put it.  "And we're the shit in between."

In an afterward, Boo describes her research, interviewing and filming residents with the help of translators and student interns, for four years, then piecing together this extraordinarily vivid and clear-eyed account of key events in the life of Annawadi, including suicides, a murder, a tragic accident involving horses painted like zebras, and always the crushing power of poverty, inequality and pervasive corruption.

As Abdul and his family had already learned, the police station was not a place where victimhood was redressed and public safety held dear.  It was a hectic bazaar, like many other institutions in Mumbai, and investigating Kalu's death was not a profit generating enterprise."

Boo's aim is to understand how globalization and world economics shape the lives of those at the lower end of the economic scale and her insights are penetrating and empathetic.  This is a beautiful book, though heartbreakingly sad.

Working backwards (II)

More mini-reviews, of books I read March - July 2008:

Middlesex - A rare homerun from the college book club. The immigrant experience of the American century. I prefer Philip Roth - perhaps because this is Greek instead of Jewish - but I'm splitting hairs. Read it.

A Black Englishman - More typical of the college book club: mediocre. The scent and feel of India lingers appealingly, though.

Day of Battle - Volume 2 of a as-yet-unfinished 3-volume history of America's involvement in WWII in Europe. This covers the invasion of Sicily and Italy, an intriguing contrast. Sicily is Patton, Monty, and a rip-roaring success. Italy, rarely the focus of pop historys of WWII, is a winter slog.

Winter's Tale - Grand and grandiose. A time-leaping paean to NYC.

Expectant Father - A useful alternative perspective, though less needed than its author thinks.

The Nine - A pop biography of the justices of the US Supreme Court. A very fast, fun, insightful read. But, damn, it makes you realize that the Conservatives have already won this battle.

Razor's Edge - The college book club goes for a classic, but still I'm not won over. First half of the book feels like Fitzgerald (yay!) but the second half feels like a very tentative inquiry into bohemianism (boo!).

Baby Whisperer - Another perspective on raising babies. Seems good - the compromise position between kids-first and Ferber - but the compromise is ambiguous and hard to execute on. Not recommended.