Tarquin Hall Books In Order

Publication Order of Vish Puri: Most Private Investigator Books

Publication Order of Non-Fiction Books

Tarquin Hall is one of the popular writers as well as a journalist from The United Kingdom. He was born in the year 1969 to an American mother and an English father. Author Hall has lived out of England during most of his growing years. A few places that he has lived include Pakistan, United States, Turkey, India, and Kenya. He has travelled extensively in the Middle East, South Asia, and Africa. As an author, Hall has penned down a total of 7 novels and a number of articles which have featured in numerous British magazines and newspapers including the Sunday Times, Observer, New Statesman, Times, and the Daily Telegraph. Apart from this, author Hall has also worked in the television news. He is a former bureau chief of the South Asian Associated Press TV. The subject matter that he had chosen has proved to be extraordinarily diverse. Hall has also written several features on a variety of topics like the hunters of Texan rattlesnake, the Urdu poets of British-Asian origin, Wilfred Thesiger, and the Taliban. The exclusive reports of author Hall consist of a profile on the marshes draining of Iraq by Saddam Hussein; an English woman named Emma McCune, who went on to marry the guerrilla commander of Southern Sudan, Riek Machar; as well as a one on one interaction with Abdullah Ocalan, the Kurdish leader of the PKK, in a safe house in Syria. The books written by author Hall have received a lot of praise and appreciations in the English press. His second book titled ‘To the Elephant Graveyard’, was termed as a ‘classic’ by the Daily Mail representative named Christopher Matthew.

Even his third book called ‘Salaam Brick Lane’ was described as an affectionate, impassioned, charming, and brilliant book in the Guardian by Kevin Rushby. In this book, Hall recounts the events in the year that spent living above a Bangladeshi sweatshop located on Brick Lane in the East End of London. In the year 2009, author Hall released his debut mystery novel titled ‘The Case of the Missing Servant’, which introduced the literary character of Punjabi origin named Vish Puri. The book describes Vish Puri as the Most Private Investigator of India. The success of the first book of the Vish Puri mystery series was followed by a three more popular novels, which were released in Canada, U.S.A, and the U.K. As of today, author Tarquin Hall lives in Delhi, India. He is married to a BBC presenter and reporter of the Indian origin named Anu Anand. The couple is blessed with a daughter and a son. The 4th book written by author Hall in the Vish Puri series is based on the lives of the real life heroes known as Love Commandos from India, who volunteer to try and ease the way for the lover of different Hindu classes to get married. They also try to prevent the orthodox beliefs of the society to cause any problems to such couples. The first book of the mystery series was named as ‘Notable Crime Book’ by the New York Times. It also received starred reviews by the Library Journal, Kirkus, and the Booklist. Currently, author Hall divides his time between Delhi and London. He spends most of his time writing fiction books in Delhi, while he goes on to complete his journalist assignments in London.

The four books of the Vish Puri mystery series written by author Tarquin Hall, were released between the years 2003 and 2013. Its first book is titled as ‘The Case of the Missing Servant’, which was published in the year 2003 by the McClelland and Stewart publication. As the novel begins, Vish Puri is introduced as the most accomplished private detective of India, operating from the hot and dusty regions of Delhi. In his own consideration, Puri thinks that he is superior to all the other detectives in the country. He often uses the old fashioned detective skills similar to the likes of Sherlock Holmes. Sometimes, he tends to go out of sync with the modern city’s tempo, but he always makes use of his cleverness and the methods that work. He is nicknamed as Chubby by his friends and works with a team of employees having funny nicknames, such as Flush, Handcream, and Handbrake. At the start of the novel, Puri gets hired for carrying out a couple of investigations. In the first case, he is asked to do a background check of a man who is willing to marry a woman against the wishes of her father. The woman’s father himself hires Puri to carry out the investigation. In the second case, Puri is told to investigate about the missing servant of the house of a young and prominent lawyer from Punjab named Mary. The plot of this book offers a delicious combination of brilliant writing, ingenious story, sharp wit, and an unsentimental and vivid description of the contemporary India. From the first page of the book to the last page, the readers come across an affectionate sense of humor as well as intelligent insights into the mysteries of the human behavior and the subtleties of the Indian culture.

The next installment of the Vish Puri series is titled as ‘The Case of the Man Who Died Laughing’. It was published in the year 2009 by the Simon Schuster publication. In this novel, it is shown that a well known Indian scientist dies due to continuous laughing after a Hindu goddess appears and inserts a sword in his chest. The man who seems to have the last laugh after this incident is the main suspect named Maharaj Swami. He is described as a powerful guru who appears to have gotten rid of his only vocal critic. Vish Puri does not believe that a supernatural occurrence has caused the murder of the scientist. But, in order to prove the fact he is required to take the help of all his earthly faculties. Puri travels to the slums where the local magicians live and is accompanied by his team of undercover employees named Tubelight, Flush, and Facecream. He tries to persuade the magicians into revealing their secrets related to the holy city located on the banks of the Ganges, Haridwar. Vish Puri tries to find out how the murder weapon disappeared miraculously and what has Maharaj Swami to do with the murder of the scientist. In the meantime, he also has to find out why his wife Rumpi running behind petty criminals along with his mother-in-law when has asked to stay at home. In the end, Puri goes on to uncover a web science, sin, and spirituality, which had led to the murder of the prominent scientist named Dr. Suresh Jha.

One Response to “Tarquin Hall”

1. Kay Cox: 4 months ago

   Love his books. I have relatives who were born in India and a cousin who is married to an Indian woman. (In the U.S.) One of my cousins wrote a book about her Indian family…but her father was an American who was working/mining for materials for the a-bomb.
   I love the vivid pictures he creates in my mind. I can see, smell, and feel like I am there.
   A while ago I read a book about a detective in India who had a baby elephant…I was wondering if it was by this author?

   Reply