"You stole a one-rupee note from the Minister's desk yesterday?" Ghote asked implacably. ...
"No, no, no, no. I never took that bloody damned one-rupee note."
Axel Svensson gripped Inspector Ghote's knobby elbow.
"Is he saying he didn't?" he asked passionately.
Inspector Ghote relaxed. He turned to the bear-like Swede.
"Yes," he answered, "that's just what he is saying."
"But is it true?"
"Yes," said Inspector Ghote, "it's true. You heard him. He said 'no' four times at least. That means 'no.' If he'd said it once it would have meant 'yes.' Twice would have meant 'perhaps.' Three times 'no.' And he said it four times or more."
"So it's 'no'," said the Swede.
When I started this blog I assumed that no one would read my posts. I started with 3 followers and still have only 3 followers. Even though the blog reached 40,000+ page hits last night, I've always assumed people came across my site by accident, realized their mistake, and went on about their business. Granted, I have done things to increase my readership, posting some of my entries to social media sites, but I still feel isolated. But recently I was in Stuttgart, Arkansas, for the holidays and a friend of mine recommended my blog to her daughter. I was stunned. I have a reader! (Thanks, Denni!)
I am reading quite a bit, but have a habit of starting books and not finishing them. Lying in bed the other night I glanced at my night stand where most of the partially read books are and was taken aback by all the bookmarks sticking out of the pages at various stages of completion. Usually this time of year I make a 'run for the border' and try to finish up some books to post, but no, not this year. In fact, I started yet another book today without finishing another one first. I have finished only one book during my Christmas travel.
I bought "The Perfect Murder" by Keating some time ago based on the recommendation in a list of police procedurals set in other countries. Inspector Ganesh Ghote works for the Bombay CID, and the book was written and set in the 60s. I am disappointed to find that Keating had not visited India until 10 years after he wrote "The Perfect Murder," but sometimes I just need to get down off of my high horse and accept fiction as fiction.
Of course, there are the crimes: an attempted murder of a secretary in a private residence and the theft of money from the office of the Minister of Police Affairs and the Arts, both of which the Deputy Superintendent has assigned as a number one priority for Ghote. Not to mention the visiting Swedish UNESCO observer, Axel Svensson, who is also one of Ghote's number one priorities. The members of the household where the attack occurred are not cooperating, the theft has to be handled with utmost discretion and Svensson is adept at the cultural faux pas. So, nothing makes Ghote's job easy.
We instantly have sympathy for Ghote as the DSP and his wife put pressure on him and he tries to slip away from Svensson. Ghote is not bumbling, but he has difficulty thinking about many details at once and writes numerous reports, by hand, to organize his thoughts. His reliance on a text, Gross's "Criminal Investigation," is reused by Alexander McCall Smith in his "No. 1 Ladies' Detective Agency" series. The device of having a foreign observer makes it easy for Keating to introduce cultural issues and differences.
I read this in the car while He-who-caters-to-me was driving, and I had to read many passages out loud. The story and social setting reminded me in some ways of James McClure's Kramer and Zondi mysteries set in South Africa. As my friend Jamae says, this was holiday mind candy. While I have too much on my reading list now to go out and search for another Inspector Ghote book, I will happily buy another one when I get the chance.
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