The Case of the Missing Servant

The most original detective in years. Picture Hercule Poirot with an Indian accent, eating chili pakoras and riding in an auto rickshaw. Tarquin Hall has captured India in a way few Western writers have managed since Kipling. India's humor, commotion and vibrancy bursts from every page, exposing its vast, labyrinthine underbelly. Scintillating!

Tahir Shah, author of The Caliph's House

A brilliantly written humorous tale that vividly captures the sounds, smells and foibles of modern India

Ayub Khan Din, writer of East is East

Lively and quick-paced ... What Cara Black does for Paris, Hall achieves for India

Kirkus

Tubby, ingenious and hilarious, Delhi's most trusted PI, Vish Puri, is not easily forgotten. Properly disdainful of unoriginal crime-busters like Sherlock Holmes and James Bond, his unique methods of detection deserve to be widely known and feted

David Davidar, author of The Solitude of Emperors

Entertaining . . . Hall combines an insider's insight with the eclectic eye of a good foreign correspondent . . . The very opposite of the "exoticism" of which this kind of fiction is often accused. Instead of escaping into "another world", western readers are encouraged to see an unflattering reflection of their own values and desires

Financial Times

This intriguing book is in essence a modern Indian take on the adventures of Agatha Christie's famous detective Hercule Poirot . . . The detective certainly bears resemblance to his understated Belgian colleague . . . The vibrancy and the vastness of the Indian sub-continent, combined with the appeal of a solid thriller, certainly raise curiosity

Metro Eireann

A seething slice of the sub-continent

The Times

An amusing, timely whodunit ... Hall has woven his impressive knowledge of India into a tautly constructed novel that is a highly readable introduction to the country for newcomers

Guardian

India, captured in all its pungent, vivid glory, fascinates almost as much as the crime itself

Entertainment Weekly

[Hall] captures his second country with grace and humor and creates a protagonist able to put more cases in his "conclusively solved" cabinet. An entertaining start (complete with expletives-included glossary) to a promising series

Library Journal (starred review)

Hall turns to fiction with the debut of what promises to be an outstanding series . . . An excellent, delightfully humorous mystery with an unforgettable cast of characters, The Case of the Missing Servant immediately joins the No. 1 Ladies' Detective Agency as representing the best in international cozies

Booklist

Offers penetrating insights into the new India

New York Times

Tarquin Hall is a distinguished journalist and has no problem marshalling details to create a sense of what everyday life is like in Delhi: the smell of chat and kachoris seems to waft from the page, as indeed does the stench of political corruption

Daily Telegraph

Pour yourself a cup of tea and pull up a comfy chair. Great fun - a seething slice of the sub-continent

Kate Saunders, The Times