The Case of the Man Who Died Laughing (Paperback)

From the Files of Vish Puri, Most Private Investigator (Vish Puri Mysteries)

By Tarquin Hall

Simon & Schuster, 9781439172384, 309pp.

Publication Date: June 21, 2011

Other Editions of This Title:
Pre-Recorded Audio Player (6/1/2010)
Hardcover (6/15/2010)
Compact Disc (6/1/2010)
Hardcover (2/1/2011)
Paperback (3/1/2012)
Hardcover, Large Print, Large Print (12/1/2010)
Paperback, Spanish (11/1/2010)

List Price: 16.00*
* Individual store prices may vary.

July 2010 Indie Next List

“Vish Puri, master of disguise and lover of all things spicy, does not believe that Dr. Suresh Jha's death was brought about by supernatural powers. While he sets his team of operatives--Facecream, Tubelight, and Flush--off to investigate, he tries to ignore the fact that his wife and mother are investigating their own crime. The second book in this series set in India is a hoot!”
— Doris Blechman, Anderson's Bookshop, Naperville, IL
View the List

Description

The latest adventures of Indian detective Vish Puri continues the series that "immediately joins the No. 1 Ladies' Detective Agency as representing the best in international cozies" (Booklist, starred review).

Murder is no laughing matter.

Yet a prominent Indian scientist dies in a fit of giggles when a Hindu goddess appears from a mist and plunges a sword into his chest.

The only one laughing now is the main suspect, a powerful guru named Maharaj Swami, who seems to have done away with his most vocal critic.

Vish Puri, India's Most Private Investigator, master of disguise and lover of all things fried and spicy, doesn't believe the murder is a supernatural occurrence, and proving who really killed Dr. Suresh Jha will require all the detective's earthly faculties. To get at the truth, he and his team of undercover operatives--Facecream, Tubelight, and Flush--travel from the slum where India's hereditary magicians must be persuaded to reveal their secrets to the holy city of Haridwar on the Ganges.

How did the murder weapon miraculously crumble into ash? Will Maharaj Swami have the last laugh? And perhaps more important, why is Puri's wife, Rumpi, chasing petty criminals with his Mummy-ji when she should be at home making his rotis?

Stopping only to indulge his ample Punjabi appetite, Puri uncovers a web of spirituality, science, and sin unique in the annals of crime.


Praise For The Case of the Man Who Died Laughing: From the Files of Vish Puri, Most Private Investigator (Vish Puri Mysteries)…

“Delightful . . . Hall splendidly evokes the color and bustle of Delhi streets and the tang of contemporary India.” —Seattle Times, “Best Crime Novels of 2010”



“Hall writes amusing mysteries…[his] affectionate humor is embedded with barbs.” —Marilyn Stasio, The New York Times Book Review



“Modern India, in all its colorful squalor, provides a vivid backdrop for this well-crafted whodunit.” —Jean Westmoore, Buffalo News



“Delightful . . . a terrific book with wonderful puzzle plot and a great setting.” —The Globe and Mail



“Hall takes the reader into a very Indian, very Delhi web of spirituality, sin, slums, and power broking, but all treated with a veneer of wit and intelligent absurdity.” —India Today



“Splendid . . . Entertaining . . . Vish Puri is large, constantly hungry, a perpetual victim of Delhi’s traffic congestion, and a wonderfully engaging P.I. . . . A joy to read.” —The Times (London)