Loveable characters.

This is my second Vish Puri book and I am in love with the all the characters. Mummy ji especially.

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Fabulous!

Just Love these books on Detective Puri, this one is no exception. They are exciting, evocative of India bringing to life that interesting country and written with great humour. An excellent read - just waiting for more novels. The reader is also amazing! Should be 6*’s!

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Great fun

Very enjoyable read, likeable characters and interesting on India, present day and its history. I look forward to listening to the next in the series

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Wow what an amazing book!

Wow what an amazing book!
Don’t let the title fool you, this book covers so many important issues such as the partition and the trauma women endured during this time and intertwined in a murder mystery in an interesting way!!

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Not a turkey!

Once again, I entered into the delightfully nutty world of Puri and family. Utterly charmed by Mummy and her subversive tactics! This story starts off in comic vein, but evolves into a fascinating tale of present day India and Pakistan, and the deeply held prejudices resulting from partition. It's a richly-woven performance by Sam Dastor, who brings the entire story to life with his excellent characterisations. The somewhat pompous Chubby is made to rethink his ideas and misperceptions in a way that manages to convey the overwhelmingly disasterous effects of partition.

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Entrancing from start to finish

My second Tarquin Hall/Inspector Vishpuri - and I can't wait to get on to the next. Hall has caught the flavour of India - the characters, the dialogue - with absolute precision. 'Don't do tension' Vishpuri exhorts at one moment. This portly private detective battles with murderers, moustache cutters, his weight, his 'mummy-ji', and all manner of life; and at the same time we learn of the terrible tie of Partition, and prejudices that still exist between India and Pakistan and, central to the plot, the corruption in gambling on cricket matches. Funny, informative, with a good story; and Sam Dastor juggles the voices with such familiarity that you really believe them. On to the next, and I can only hope Hall produces a fourth soon.

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Brilliant, Brilliant, Brilliant

Love these stories. My only complaint is there aren't enough of them. I particularly enjoy all the sidekicks (including Mummy Ji) without whom Detective Puri wouldn't be able to solve any of the riddles posed. More please.

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A thoroughly enjoyable read.

Would you consider the audio edition of The Case of the Deadly Butter Chicken to be better than the print version?

The audio version is perfect as Sam Dastor with his accents and characterizations makes the book "come alive". For me, reading it in printed form, would not have done it justice.

What was one of the most memorable moments of The Case of the Deadly Butter Chicken?

So many wonderful moments-I actually laughed out loud many times which is something a book rarely achieves, but the revelation of the atrocities to Hindu and Moslem women at partition in 1947 was a horrible eye-opener. I had never before heard of the tragedies that befell 1000's of women and families at that time. The description elevated this book from hugely entertaining and comedic to one of serious historical content. Very cleverly written by Tarquin Hall.

Which character – as performed by Sam Dastor – was your favourite?

All the characters are so well betrayed and although Mummy-ji is gorgeous my favourite has to be the hero Vish Puri.

Did you have an emotional reaction to this book? Did it make you laugh or cry?

Cry?-no. Laugh? A lot of the time. It was highly humorous.

Any additional comments?

I will hunt out anything else written by Tarquin Hall and hopefully narrated by Sam Dastor, who is already in my favourite narrators list. Excellent, so pleased I came across this gem.

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Loved everything about this book!

I am a huge fan of Alexander McCall Smith's No 1 Ladies Detective Agency series & was looking for something similar to listen to. Google led me to two authors who write similar novels based in my own country. Vaseem Khan's novel was a good listen, but this book is funnier. I found myself chuckling often and loved the characters, the setting and the plot. The accent is spot on too. The only negative thing I would say about the narration of this audiobook is that I wish more care had been taken with the Hindi pronunciation - there were so many words that were pronounced wrongly.

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A delicious delight

I love to depart my reality and spend time in India in the world of Vish Puri. The characters are so well written and I laughed out loud on several occasions. Sam Dastor's narration is excellent - particularly Chubby's mum.

My only criticism of this book is that I struggled to remember the names of the characters and so was a little bit confused about the plot by the end.... but it did not diminish my enjoyment.

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