THE CASE OF THE MAN WHO DIED LAUGHING

Vish Puri (The Case of the Missing Servant, 2009, etc.) takes a break from vetting prospective bridegrooms to investigate a murder that defies all reason.

Once the Hindu masters taught the virtues of poverty. But in modern India, prosperity and devotion go hand in hand, at least at the Abode of Eternal Love, where well-heeled worshippers gather to revere the Maharaj Swami, who summons the Vedic sage Bharadwaja before their amazed eyes. No wonder famed Guru Buster Dr. Suresh Jha has targeted the swami in his campaign against the holy men Jha claims delude the people with superstition. Then, to the shock of his fellow rationalists, Jha is dispatched by the goddess Kali, 20-feet tall and hovering above the ground, as his fellow members of the Rajpath Laughing Club watch in horror. Inspector Jagar Prakash Singh of the Delhi police wastes no time in engaging the help of India’s Most Private Investigator. Although respectful of his ancestors’ religion, Vish Puri suspects that the swami had a hand in Jha’s impossible death. To find out how, the safari-suited sleuth must travel to the hidden quarter of Shadipur, home to Delhi’s famed magicians. While his loyal wife Rumpi stays home awaiting the arrival of their daughter Jaiya’s twins and his beloved Mummy-ji chases the thief who stole the proceeds of her first kitty party, Puri consults Akbar the Great and Manish the Magnificent to see through the illusion straight to the crime.

As tasty as Puri’s favorite aloo parantha.