The Case of the Love Commandos by Tarquin Hall

Published by Simon & Schuster on October 8, 2013

The Love Commandos are determined to change India's caste system. Believing that the custom of arranged marriages is detrimental to India, the Love Commandos facilitate marriages between members of disparate classes and religions. Although (as Tarquin Hall points out) India's hierarchy of class is slowly being replaced by a hierarchy of wealth that gives a rich Dalit more clout than a poor Brahmin, arranged marriages within castes continue to thrive -- much to the dismay of the Love Commandos.

Vishnu Mishra, a Thakur (or "lord"), has threatened to kill Ram, a Dalit (the lowest caste), if he comes near Vishnu's daughter Tulsi. With the assistance of the Love Commandos, Tulsi and Ram are preparing to elope. When Ram is kidnapped, Love Commando Laxmi, who is also an operative for Most Private Investigators Ltd, turns to her boss, Vish Puri, for help. The story becomes a murder mystery when Puri's investigation leads him to Ram's murdered mother. The killing implicates Mishra -- but could it be that easy? Puri has his doubts. His investigation is complicated by the appearance of his archrival, Hari Kumar of Spycatcher Private Investigators, and by the murder of a second woman, a researcher in a genetics lab.

Puri is rather impressed with himself and a bit of a braggart (he is, he says, "the best detective in all India"), an amusing trait that Hall milks for all its comic potential. If pride goes before a fall, poor Puri's ego is in for a battering. Puri is affectionately known as "Chubby" to his wife Rumpi. Puri's employees also have descriptive names -- Handbrake, Door Stop, Tubelight, Facecream (a/k/a Laxmi) -- but not much personality. The most memorable supporting character is Puri's mother (Mummy), who lives by the motto "old is gold" and (to Puri's chagrin) is a better detective than her son. A subplot has Mummy sneaking around hoping to catch a devious man who is either a pickpocket (the police don't believe her) or planning to murder his wife (the police don't believe her) or otherwise up to no good (the police would like her just to go home). The story follows three parallel tracks as Puri investigates the disappearance of Ram while his mother pursues her suspicions and Facecream (in the weakest part of the novel) takes an undercover job as a teacher.

Hall's prose reflects the lilting rhythms of Indian English. He takes the reader on a tour of India, from populous Jammar to the small villages where caste segregation is still blatant. You can almost taste the golguppas and smell the rajma chamal as characters visit food stalls. (Oddly enough, a number of recipes are appended to the novel as an extra treat for readers with culinary talent.)

The novel's laughter cloaks a serious theme: changing life in India. From imported shirts to "swanky" houses, India is becoming less parochial. Yet (as Facecream and a researcher in genetics opine) the hierarchy imposed by the caste system continues to be an impediment to national progress.

The Case of the Love Commandos isn't a novel that will leave a lasting impression on me, but it is a novel that provoked a smile on nearly every page. I enjoyed it enough to spark my interest in the first three novels in the series.

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