The Case of the Reincarnated Client

The Case of the Reincarnated Client

Tarquin Hall

2 out of 5

Synopsis
A client claiming she was murdered in a past life is a novel dilemma even for Vish Puri, India's Most Private Investigator. When a young woman comes forward claiming to be the reincarnation of Riya Kaur, a wife and mother who vanished during the bloody 1984 anti-Sikh riots, Puri is dismissive. He's busy enough dealing with an irate matrimonial client whose daughter is complaining about her groom's thunderous snoring. Puri's indomitable Mummy-ji however is adamant the client is genuine. How else could she so accurately describe under hypnosis Riya Kaur's life and final hours? Driven by a sense of duty - the original case was his late father's - Puri manages to acquire the police file only to find that someone powerful has orchestrated a cover-up. Forced into an alliance with his mother that tests his beliefs and high blood pressure as never before, it's only by delving into the past the help of his reincarnated client that Puri can hope to unlock the truth.



Review
Vish Puri finds himself in the middle of an unbelievable case of a murdered woman being reborn. Is she telling the truth, or is there something more sinister at play?

I received a free copy from Netgalley, in exchange for an honest review.
This is the first book I have read in the Vish Puri series. It kinda reads as a stand-alone, but I would have benefited knowing more of the history.

Puri - aka "Chubby" - is a middle-aged, overweight private detective. His company is busy with several small cases, when something a little more personal drops into his lap. The murder of Riya Kaur nearly forty years ago, is one of Puri's late-father's unsolved cases.
Driven by the relentlessly-well-meaning Mummy-ji, new evidence comes to light. A young woman believes that she is the reincarnated Riya.
Puri has to uncover the truth behind the young woman's visions, to get to the bottom of this case.

It was interesting to read of this story set in India, getting a feel for the daily life, and the corruption that Puri is aware of all around him.
I like how it wove together the languages, making it feel very authentic.

The not-so-good
I did not like Puri.  Our main character has all the arrogance of a big fish in a small pond. He's dismissive of all the work his colleagues and employees do.  He treats women like second-class citizens. His wife is only appreciated as far as she's providing food; and Puri cares more about food than anything else.
This could be a cookbook, as Puri salivates over his various meals, replaying them in his mind in such detail; compared to the rushed "plot".
It would be OK if Puri being unlikeable was the point, but everyone treats him with deference.

There was a lot of posturing over previous cases. If I'd read the rest of the series, I might have appreciated these little nods. As I've come in at this point, it felt pretentious.
There were loads of annotations, linking to explanations at the back of the book. A few of these explained phrases, but they mostly echoed back to Puri's previous successes, with a similar smugness.

The book was not for me, and I'm not in a rush to read other books by this author.

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