Books: The Mysteries of Jaipur
After a trip to the remote Andaman Islands in Bharti Kirchner’s last novel, Maya Mallick, the Indian American sleuth of Detectives Unlimited in Seattle, heads to the historic Pink City in Rajasthan to solve a new mystery.
Reviewed by GIRIJA SANKAR
MURDER AT JAIPUR – by Bharti Kirchner. Camel Press, 2023.
Maya Mallick is a 35-year-old detective from Seattle visiting friends and family in India. She is the manager of the Seattle office of Detectives Unlimited, a private investigating agency headquartered in Kolkata. Maya, following in the footsteps of her father, the late Subir Mallick, a great police detective, is called on to investigate the strange disappearance of a ruby stone, a priced possession of Rana Adani, a wealthy businessperson in Jaipur.
Neel Saha, life partner of Maya’s mother Uma, is arrested under suspicion of theft even though he is a well-regarded gemologist who served as Adani’s gem advisor. Maya drops her planned vacation in Kolkata with her best friend, and jet sets to Jaipur. Hank, Maya’s Seattle-based assistant, and his girlfriend Sophie also fly down to Jaipur to help the protagonist with her investigations.
A bevy of colorful characters waltz through this heist-murder mystery, keeping the reader’s attention and intrigue levels high. There is Sam, Uma’s erstwhile cook and a kiter who has been asked to take a leave of absence for a hefty payoff. There is Anita auntie, Rana’s gem-crazy aunt and family matriarch, Bea, Rana’s ex-wife, and Mohan Dev, the inspector who set Maya up for the whole jaunt by warning her about her mother’s partner. There’s Gordon, a shady lurker who might be a journalist. A visually impaired street vendor who may neither be a street vendor nor visually impaired. And Alain, her estranged partner who shows up in Jaipur after six months of ghosting Maya. And Bedi, Rana’s housekeeper, and Boman, a taxi driver who whisks Maya from intrigue to intrigue.
Soon, there is a death by kite. Bea dies from a seemingly accidental hit to the head by an errant kite. Kite flying, we learn, is a popular sport in Jaipur and Sam, a competitive kite flyer. The author weaves little nuggets of detail through memorable cameos—the taxi driver who drives Maya to Bea’s place enlightens her about Jaipur’s history and neighborhoods. We learn about the magical power of gems like rubies and sapphires and their symbolisms. We learn, for example, that Ruby stands for royalty and is often called Ratna raj, the king of gemstones.
As Maya and her band of trusted colleagues and helpers navigate one twist after another, the city of Jaipur and its cuisine come alive in the story. Here comes an undhiyu, or a daal baati churma, or a rajbhog. Then there are the bottomless cups of aromatic desi chai shared before, during, and after meals, calming Maya’s frayed nerves after yet another jaunt through the city chasing leads. If the sweet meats make you lunge for a treat as you follow Maya’s trail, descriptions of Uma’s creamy chiffon and parrot green georgette saris and the mojaris that Maya chances upon in a street stall are enough to fill you up with nostalgia for all things embellished and Indian.
While the writing at times skirts on the edges of the expository, the storytelling makes up for it with a curious and curiosity-inducing list of characters.
There are moments when conversations between characters seem forced, like when Maya stages a spontaneous first encounter with Rana at a park and Rana expounds on the devolution of his marriage to a complete stranger. It is always a struggle for the reader familiar with Indian languages and variations in regional English to accept the standard English that is spoken by all the characters. So, for example, when a character says, drat it, or beyond doubt, they somehow sound strange. Is it the author or is it the character?
Three quarters of the way into the story and the reader continues to get introduced to new twists in the plot line. Like when Hank’s mother falls sick and needs to rush into the ICU, eventually prompting Hank and Sophie’s hasty departure back to Seattle.
Lovers of light-hearted mysteries such as the Number One Ladies Detective Agency series or the Sunday Philosophy Club series will find in Maya Mallick a suitable Indian sleuth standing head-to-head with Mma Ramotswe or the philosopher Isabel Dalhousie. Murder at Jaipur is an entertaining mystery set in a delightful city whose people are connected in the uniquely Indian way of tradition, mythology, planetary signs, and aromatic desi chai.
Girija Sankar, a freelance writer based in the Atlanta metro area, works in Global Health.
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