The Case of the Elusive Bombay Duck


Book Description

Portly, perceptive and spectacularly moustachioed, India’s finest private detective, Vish Puri, tackles his most difficult case to date in the long-awaited return of Tarquin Hall’s delightful humorous whodunit series set in New Delhi. “Vish Puri is the Indian Poirot” Financial Times “A wonderfully engaging PI” The Times “Vish Puri [is] a Punjabi Sherlock Holmes” The Guardian When Vish Puri, India’s Most Private Detective, learns he’s won the long-coveted International Detective of the Year award, it’s supposed to be a secret. But within hours, it seems all of Delhi knows – and his indomitable Mummy-ji announces she’ll be coming with him to the ceremony in London, never mind that she’s not been invited. To add to his woes, a senior government bureaucrat gives him an undercover mission he can’t refuse. Puri is tasked with tracking down India’s most-wanted fugitive: a billionaire pharmaceutical fraudster codenamed Bombay Duck, who’s rumoured to be hiding in the British capital. Puri’s only spending a week in London . . . and he’s already promised his wife he won’t work during their once-in-a-lifetime trip. In desperation, he enlists the help of his reluctant nephew Jags and dives headfirst into the case. But can Puri hook the Bombay Duck and bring him to justice – all the while keeping his investigations secret from his wife and meddling mother? Packed with the sights, sounds and flavours of both New Delhi and London, author Tarquin Hall – who divides his time between India and the UK – delivers an irresistible read for fans of Alexander McCall Smith, Harini Nagendra and Jesse Sutanto.




The Case of the Elusive Bombay Duck


Book Description

Portly, perceptive and spectacularly moustachioed, India's finest private detective, Vish Puri, tackles his most difficult case to date in the long-awaited return of Tarquin Hall's delightful humorous whodunit series set in New Delhi. "Vish Puri is the Indian Poirot" Financial Times "A wonderfully engaging PI" The Times "Vish Puri [is] a Punjabi Sherlock Holmes" The Guardian For Vish Puri, India's Most Private Detective, the news that he has won the long-coveted International Detective of the Year award, to be presented in a glitzy ceremony in London, makes this the best day of his life. But to his deep dismay, a senior bureaucrat from the Ministry of Finance gives him a secret mission he can't refuse: to track down India's most-wanted fugitive. Dr Bhatt's medicines caused the deaths of hundreds, and the billionaire fraudster - code named the Bombay Duck - fled for the UK before he could be arrested. Puri's only spending a week in London. He's never set foot in the UK before. And most important of all, he's already promised his wife he won't do any work while they're away. There's only one solution: lie, lie, lie. Puri dives headfirst into the case, in between visiting all the tourist sites, aided and abetted by his formidable, meddling Mummy-ji, who Puri definitely didn't invite to join them. But can Puri hook the Bombay Duck and bring him to justice before the fugitive's many enemies get to him first? Packed with the sights, sounds and flavours of both New Delhi and London, author Tarquin Hall - who divides his time between India and the UK - delivers an irresistible read for fans of Alexander McCall Smith, Harini Nagendra and Jesse Sutanto.




The Diving Bell and the Butterfly


Book Description

A triumphant memoir by the former editor-in-chief of French Elle that reveals an indomitable spirit and celebrates the liberating power of consciousness. In 1995, Jean-Dominique Bauby was the editor-in-chief of French Elle, the father of two young children, a 44-year-old man known and loved for his wit, his style, and his impassioned approach to life. By the end of the year he was also the victim of a rare kind of stroke to the brainstem. After 20 days in a coma, Bauby awoke into a body which had all but stopped working: only his left eye functioned, allowing him to see and, by blinking it, to make clear that his mind was unimpaired. Almost miraculously, he was soon able to express himself in the richest detail: dictating a word at a time, blinking to select each letter as the alphabet was recited to him slowly, over and over again. In the same way, he was able eventually to compose this extraordinary book. By turns wistful, mischievous, angry, and witty, Bauby bears witness to his determination to live as fully in his mind as he had been able to do in his body. He explains the joy, and deep sadness, of seeing his children and of hearing his aged father's voice on the phone. In magical sequences, he imagines traveling to other places and times and of lying next to the woman he loves. Fed only intravenously, he imagines preparing and tasting the full flavor of delectable dishes. Again and again he returns to an "inexhaustible reservoir of sensations," keeping in touch with himself and the life around him. Jean-Dominique Bauby died two days after the French publication of The Diving Bell and the Butterfly. This book is a lasting testament to his life.




The Case of the Missing Servant


Book Description

The first in a detective series that “immediately joins the No. 1 Ladies’ Detective Agency as representing the best in international cozies” (Booklist, starred review). Meet Vish Puri, India’s most private investigator. Portly, persistent, and unmistakably Punjabi, he cuts a determined swath through modern India’s swindlers, cheats, and murderers. In hot and dusty Delhi, where call centers and malls are changing the ancient fabric of Indian life, Puri’s main work comes from screening prospective marriage partners, a job once the preserve of aunties and family priests. But when an honest public litigator is accused of murdering his maidservant, it takes all of Puri’s resources to investigate. With his team of undercover operatives—Tubelight, Flush, and Facecream—Puri combines modern techniques with principles of detection established in India more than two thousand years ago, and reveals modern India in all its seething complexity.




Grimm Up North


Book Description

Edinburgh has Rebus.The Highlands have Logan.Now Yorkshire has Grimm ...Welcome to Wensleydale, where the cheese is famous, the scenery beautiful, and the locals have murder on their minds ...Detective Chief Inspector Harry Grimm is forced to take leave from Bristol's Major Investigations Team when his boss, tired of Harry chasing the ghost of his murderous father, sends him north on secondment.Used to city life and high stress, Harry fears his life will now be spent handing out speeding tickets, finding lost sheep, and directing tourists. But when a local teenager runs away, Harry finds himself pulled into an investigation much worse than anyone could have ever expected.The nicer the place, the darker the secrets. Wensleydale is beautiful, everyone is friendly and welcoming, and people just don't get murdered ... do they?A classic fish-out-of-water crime mystery set in the stunning and evocative scenery of Wensleydale in North Yorkshire.Grimm up North is the terrific debut crime novel from award-winning author David J. Gatward. Perfect for fans of L. J. Ross, J. D. Kirk, Simon McCleave, Alex Smith, J. M. Dalgliesh, J. E. Mayhew, and J. R. Ellis.




Semantics


Book Description

Introduces the major elements of semantics in a simple, step-by-step fashion. Sections of explanation and examples are followed by practice exercises with answers and comment provided.




The Case of the Deadly Butter Chicken


Book Description

Mustachioed sleuth Vish Puri tackles his greatest fears in a case involving the poisoning death of the elderly father of a leading Pakistani cricketer, whose demise is linked to the Indian and Pakistani mafias and the violent 1947 partition of India.




The Oxford Circus


Book Description

"The Oxford Circus" by Raymond Mortimer is a novel about Oxford and youth, originally by Alfred Budd. Its sparkling epigrams, and its vivid portrayal of life in many different strata of our modern society, seem almost unexpected from one who lived so quietly as Mr. Budd. Yet somehow his originality of invention leaves no room for doubt: Budd was perhaps the first novelist to introduce the London and North Western Railway station into a novel.




The Case of the Reincarnated Client


Book Description

"Hilarious ... Hall’s plot is filled with engaging twists. Vish is a wonderfully realized character ... You can dive in anywhere in this series and be rewarded with a rich experience" – Booklist Starred Review A client claiming she was murdered in a past life is a novel dilemma even for Vish Puri, India's Most Private Investigator. When a young woman comes forward claiming to be the reincarnation of Riya Kaur, a wife and mother who vanished during the bloody 1984 anti-Sikh riots, Puri is dismissive. He's busy enough dealing with an irate matrimonial client whose daughter is complaining about her groom’s thunderous snoring. Puri's indomitable Mummy-ji however is adamant the client is genuine. How else could she so accurately describe under hypnosis Riya Kaur's life and final hours? Driven by a sense of duty - the original case was his late father’s - Puri manages to acquire the police file only to find that someone powerful has orchestrated a cover-up. Forced into an alliance with his mother that tests his beliefs and high blood pressure as never before, it’s only by delving into the past the help of his reincarnated client that Puri can hope to unlock the truth.




The End of Poverty


Book Description

"Book and man are brilliant, passionate, optimistic and impatient . . . Outstanding." —The Economist The landmark exploration of economic prosperity and how the world can escape from extreme poverty for the world's poorest citizens, from one of the world's most renowned economists Hailed by Time as one of the world's hundred most influential people, Jeffrey D. Sachs is renowned for his work around the globe advising economies in crisis. Now a classic of its genre, The End of Poverty distills more than thirty years of experience to offer a uniquely informed vision of the steps that can transform impoverished countries into prosperous ones. Marrying vivid storytelling with rigorous analysis, Sachs lays out a clear conceptual map of the world economy. Explaining his own work in Bolivia, Russia, India, China, and Africa, he offers an integrated set of solutions to the interwoven economic, political, environmental, and social problems that challenge the world's poorest countries. Ten years after its initial publication, The End of Poverty remains an indispensible and influential work. In this 10th anniversary edition, Sachs presents an extensive new foreword assessing the progress of the past decade, the work that remains to be done, and how each of us can help. He also looks ahead across the next fifteen years to 2030, the United Nations' target date for ending extreme poverty, offering new insights and recommendations.