In one of the ten best mysteries of the year ("Seattle Times"), private investigator Vish Puri becomes embroiled in a high-stakes mystery involving one of India s most controversial commodities: love.
When Ram and Tulsi fall in love, the young woman s parents are dead set against the union. She s from a high-caste family; he s from the lowest strata of Indian society. Young Tulsi s father locks her up and promises to hunt down the loverboy dog. Fortunately, India s Love Commandos, a real-life group of volunteers dedicated to helping mixed-caste couples, come to the rescue. But just after they liberate Tulsi, Ram is mysteriously snatched from his hiding place.
The task of finding him falls to India s Most Private Investigator. Unfortunately, Vish Puri is not having a good month. He s failed to recover a cache of stolen jewels. His wallet has been stolen, and he s having to rely on his infuriating Mummy-ji to get it back. And to top it all, his archrival, investigator Hari Kumar, is also trying to locate Ram. To reunite the star-crossed lovers and reclaim his rightful place as India s unchallenged Most Private Investigator, Puri and his team of operatives must infiltrate Ram s village and navigate the caste politics shaped by millennia-old prejudices.
Critics hailed "The Case of the Deadly Butter Chicken, "the last installment in the Vish Puri mystery series, as Tarquin Hall s best yet, saying that each book has raised the stakes subtly ("The Huffington Post"). Now, once again, India s Most Private Investigator solves his case with panache ("Kirkus Reviews")."