Vultures and elephants, murder and corruption. What more could a book need?
Ok, it’s only one elephant, but a very clever one. Meet Ganesha, a young and ingenious companion for (former) Inspector Chopra, sent to him by his missing uncle, for reasons unknown. Chopra owns a detective agency and this was my first introduction to him and to Vaseem Khan’s very successful Baby Ganesh Detective Agency series. I’m pleased to say that it was a positive experience and, in short, I would recommend this book to any crime fiction fans interested in reading about life in modern India.
What’s it about?
When Cyrus Zorabian, a well known Parsee, is murdered and his body dumped in a site of great cultural significance, the police aren’t particularly interested, dismissing his death as a random occurrence and the investigation as a dead-end. Convinced that more can and should be done, Zorabian’s daughter, Perizaad, summons Chopra for assistance, but as he investigates Cyrus’ recent activities, it appears that the wealthy industrialist was hiding many secrets and there are multiple people who had good reason to wish him harm.
Meanwhile, Chopra’s assistant, Rangwalla, is investigating a potential miscarriage of justice involving a fire in a building which killed multiple people. The police have already locked up their culprit: Hasan Gafoor, the owner of the building, who didn’t want to sell his property, despite it being condemned by the authorities as structurally unsound. Throughout his trial Gafoor maintained his innocence and now he has an unlikely ally: the father of a woman killed in the explosion believes that the official investigation and conclusions are untrue.
As the investigations proceed, they begin to collide. Can Chopra discover the truth or will the endemic corruption in Mumbai silence him too?
What’s it like?
Entertaining, interesting and enjoyable. The investigations are well developed, relationships between characters are convincingly drawn (I especially liked Poppy’s character) and I found myself constantly wanting to find out more about the subjects raised in the novel. I love a story that sends me researching, not because I’m puzzled or confused, but because I’m fascinated by different cultural practices and expectations. (Yes, Poo2Loo is a real campaign. Yes, excarnation is a real death rite, practised by the Parsee community. Yes, vultures have been sadly affected by modern farming.)
Chopra is a likeable investigator with a clear moral compass, (for instance, he tends to a vulture that he accidentally harms,) though he ought perhaps to know by now to exercise more caution when dealing with criminals who have already demonstrated their willingness to execute people they consider to be a threat.
Final thoughts
I really enjoyed reading this well developed investigation while learning more about life in Mumbai. I will definitely be looking to read more books in the Inspector Chopra series, ideally starting with the first book, ‘The Unexpected Inheritance of Inspector Chopra’, as I do prefer to enjoy a series in the correct order, and I want to know more about how Ganesha came to be part of Chopra’s family.