Reading the Detectives discussion

2019 will see us starting some new crime series as buddy reads, both for old members and for new ones, who may be entering some of the (many) buddy read series we have started quite a few books in.

As such, one of our Jan/Feb buddy read books is the first in the Baby Ganesh Agency Investigation series.

On the day he retires, Inspector Ashwin Chopra discovers that he has inherited an elephant: an unlikely gift that could not be more inconvenient. For Chopra has one last case to solve...

But as his murder investigation leads him across Mumbai - from its richest mansions to its murky underworld - he quickly discovers that a baby elephant may be exactly what an honest man needs.

So begins the start of a quite unexpected partnership, and an utterly delightful new series.

Please feel free to post spoilers in this thread.

Why do we think Inspector Chopra (I'll call him that, as he was obviously unwilling to let go of his title!) wants to combine a restaurant for the police (fairly niche) with his new detective agency?

He wants to stay in the loop. He can’t imagine not being involved somehow so this way he can run his restaurant and detective agency and keep his elephant...

Some parts were far fetched obviously. The elephant walked and found him...

I felt sorry for Poppy, shame he wouldn’t consider adoption as having children is obviously very important to her.

I’m forgetting exactly why Santosh died but the case was very dark. The inspector going to a prostitute for information and being tied up..

I do have book two- I might give it a go.

I've finished reading this now and really enjoyed it overall, but I didn't actually find the mystery part of the book very interesting - I enjoyed the whole atmosphere, and the characters of Chopra and Poppy, much more. I will probably read on in the series.

I agree with you that Chopra wants the restaurant to keep in the loop, Farrah - it looks like a good setting for the future books, and it means Poppy now has a hopefully more enjoyable role too. Plus there's a nice enclosure for the elephant, as you say.

The edition I was reading includes some questions for reading groups - I've just found them online, on the Waterstones site, and will copy them here in case anyone has thoughts on them?

1. A baby elephant is not the most common thing to find in a
crime novel. The author Vaseem Khan says he gatecrashed
the book! What mechanisms does the author use to weave
Ganesha’s inclusion into the story? Does it work for you?

2. In what ways does the book bring Mumbai or India to life?
Did it make you want to visit?

3. Do you think its setting in any way ensures that the book is
different from British-set crime novels? If so, how?

4. Chopra is very aware of the inequalities and corruption
endemic to Indian society and uncovers evidence of murder
and scandal – do you think the darker elements of the novel
work with the quirkier aspects?

5. The book has a strong cast of ancillary characters, particularly Chopra’s wife Poppy. In what ways does this relationship
impact upon Chopra’s actions in the novel?

6. The book is about a murder investigation, among other
things – does that automatically make it a crime novel or
would you describe it as something else?

7. Do crime novels have rules, and does this book follow them
or break them?

8. Chopra is an honest man in a sometimes dishonest world.
What do you think drives this sense of integrity? How is it
manifested in the book?

I'll start off by replying to question 4: Chopra is very aware of the inequalities and corruption endemic to Indian society and uncovers evidence of murder and scandal – do you think the darker elements of the novel work with the quirkier aspects?

I have somewhat mixed feelings on this - although I think it was good to see Chopra overturning corruption, I didn't think the really dark aspects like the people trafficking and the young boys being tied up worked well with the quirky aspects, like the baby elephant eating Dairy Milk chocolate!

I'm hoping for somewhat lighter, cosier plot material in the future books - I see from the extract at the end of the paperback that the second one is about Crown Jewels being stolen.

Hi Judy,

I did feel the dark moments clashed slightly with the lighter moments. I think I wanted it to be more ‘cosier’ but as i said, the crime is quite dark so it sometimes takes you out of it.
Possibly, because it was the first book, it needed a seedy nasty crime to hook you in. Maybe something gentle wouldn’t have worked for the publishers.

I think the author did a good job of bringing India to life. With the heat and the noise and smells, sights and inserting Hindi words into the mix all added to the flavour.

The characters and the moustaches and Bollywood and saris are also great in creating vivid images. I’ve watched enough asian dramas and been to enough asian weddings to picture the characters. I would love to go to India- always have wanted to.

Inspector Chopra is quite straight down the line. Honourable, man of few words. The job has been such a huge amount part of him and I think the book did a good job of showing us how he was forced into retirement because of his health but he is a creature of habit and routine so his retirement scenario will be just as hectic.

As the book is set in India, I think it was always going to have Gods/faith/deities as part of the characters lives. Ganesha adds the extra instinct, wisdom needed to solve the case though I did think he was reaching in parts of it!

Some great thoughts there, Farrah. I agree the book really has a strong flavour of India and some vivid images - sadly, realistically I don't think I am ever likely to visit, but I will be watching some more Indian films in the wake of reading this.

I had to look up quite a few of the Hindi words online!

I liked a couple of elements in this book but overall didn't care for it much.

Too much telling, not showing - & done repetitively. A couple of things the proofreader should have picked up. The feeling that this wasn't written by a native born Indian (& I was right) The idea that an Inspector who had retired from the police force through ill health would decide that chasing after underworld figures was a way to restore himself to good health. The feeble way the baby sub plot was resolved.

I did like Chopra himself.

But the only thing I really loved was Ganesha. The scene where Chopra has Ganesha on a lead & starts to follow the goondah - that made me laugh till I cried.

My library does have The Perplexing Theft of the Jewel in the Crown I may try that to see if the author does resolve the problems with his writing style - which I did find very amateurish.

2★, bumped up to 2.5 for Ganesha.

The problem with so many cosy type mysteries, is that the characters become more important than the actual mystery. The author relies upon us becoming involved in their lives and I did not find the setup particularly interesting. I doubt I will read on, but am happy to add the next book to the Buddy Reads is anyone else wishes to continue?

Susan wrote: "The problem with so many cosy type mysteries, is that the characters become more important than the actual mystery. The author relies upon us becoming involved in their lives and I did not find the..."
Don't add on my account Susan!
I'm not much of a cosy reader.

We do have a LOT of Buddy Series, so let's only continue with those that really interest us.

At the moment, our series include:

Nigel Strangeways
Inspector Appleby
Josephine Tey (Nicola Upson)
Campion
Bobby Owen
Angela Marchmont
Jackson Lamb
Flaxborough
Baby Ganesh Agency
Clara Vine
Mystery of 1920’s Bombay
Inspector Dalgliesh
Inspector Barnaby

Some of which we are obviously going to carry on (Campion, Nigel Strangeways, Jackson Lamb) but others are less popular and some we haven't tried yet - Clara Vine, Inspector Dalgliesh, 1920's Bombay.

However, if anyone wants to continue this series, I am happy to add the book, so say now, or it may get dropped :)

We haven't had many people commenting as yet, but of course the read has only been going for a few days so there may be more who are tempted to give it a try.

But, anyway, I agree, leave it at just the one buddy read for this series for now. :)

Yes, let's see at the end of the month. We need two interested members to make it work and, as you say, more people might be interested to join in.

I do agree with you that we want to speed up series we are most interested in - Campion, for example, who I am warming to as time goes on.

That's music to my ears - he's my favourite. :)

I read this some time ago and enjoyed it. Personally, I liked the mix of light and dark, I think it would be very difficult to make a pure cosy work in a setting like this. I agree the writing was a bit choppy, but hopefully it will improve in later Books.

I'll probably read on in the series, but not particularly fussed about it being as a Buddy Read, we have lots of other series to keep our attention! (Another Campion admirer here!)

Susan wrote: "The problem with so many cosy type mysteries, is that the characters become more important than the actual mystery. The author relies upon us becoming involved in their lives and I did not find the..."

I do enjoy the occasional cosy mystery,and I understand what you are saying . However, I do think it is the clever, quirky Poirot and the interfering Miss Marple that appeal in Christie's books that attract the reader. But I don't class those as cosy, but I do think a lot of people do.
(A definite Campion admirer here)

I did not enjoy this book enough to continue with the series. There were many attractions, Ganesh notably, but I have a lot of series in progress and need to show some restraint.

Quite unfair to this author, but I was hoping for a replacement for another series that has stopped after 4 - 5 books: The Case of the Missing Servant by Tarquin Hall. Similar setting but I found the cast of characters more interesting.

My review:

Rather odd mix of cozy mystery and dark crime, with an addition of a mystic elephant. An interesting premise and later books may hang together better. Great scene with the hero tailing a criminal while his elephant follows, reluctantly, on a leash.

I read this some time ago - perhaps when it was on special offer? - and thought that the whimsy of the elephant child didn't mix well with the unpleasant crime. Which is a common problem with 'cosy' mysteries, solved by a clever cat, or a middle-aged refugee from the Great British Bake Off. I have read another one, with a more standard crime, but I think I'll only follow them if they are an Amazon deal.

Sandy wrote: "I did not enjoy this book enough to continue with the series. There were many attractions, Ganesh notably, but I have a lot of series in progress and need to show some restraint.

Quite unfair to ..."

We do have The Widows of Malabar Hill coming up. Hopefully that will be a more successful Indian mystery. I did love the setting, but I agree that the crime didn't match the feel of the book.

Sandy wrote: "I did not enjoy this book enough to continue with the series. There were many attractions, Ganesh notably, but I have a lot of series in progress and need to show some restraint.

Quite unfair to ..."

That’s what I was thinking, too - reminds me of Vish Puri! I enjoyed that series and wondered if there would be further books.

As for this series, I have the books at my library and will probably read at least one more in the series, especially since it seems Tarquin Hall isn’t writing any more Vis Puri books! But I am also a Campion fan and look forward to further reading in that series.