Tarquin Hall is a writer and journalist who has lived and worked in much of South Asia, the Middle East, Africa and the US. He is the author of Mercenaries, Missionaries and Misfits: Adventures of an Under-age Journalist; To the Elephant Graveyard; and Salaam Brick Lane: A Year in the New East End. He is married to the journalist Anu Anand and lives in Delhi.
"So brilliantly does Tarquin hall capture the sights, smells, sounds and foibles of modern India, not to mention the nuances of English-Indian speech, that it is hard to believe he is not himself Indian. He also serves up fabulous descriptions of the Indian cuisine much favoured by Puri, a sort of Indian Poirot whose lunch will always come before his crime-solving. * Daily Mail * The novel is an entertaining yarn about the apparent murder of a well-known religious sceptic by an apparition of the Goddess Kali and a ripe comedy of Indian manners, brimming with well-observed detail. * Mail on Sunday * Vish Puri - ""Most Private Investigator"", according to his card - is large, constantly hungry, a perpetual victim of Delhi's traffic congestion, and a wonderfully engaging PI . . . the characters - including Puri's complicated family - are splendid, and it's a joy to read * The Times * A funny, entertaining novel [with a] wonderfully engaging Private Investigator . . the characters - including Vish Puri's complicated family - are splendid, and it's a joy to read. -- Marcel Berlins * The Times * Sweet-natured and hilarious * Financial Tiimes Summer Reads *"