Allow me to introduce you to a mystery story, unlike any other you have experienced. Not only is The Unexpected Inheritance of Inspector Chopra set in India, the story brings to life the integrated complexities that make India so fascinating with culture, history and societal conventions so different from our own.

Book Review:

I’ll be honest, it was the synopsis and the fact this title was set in India that had me curious: even though I’m not a huge mystery reader I was expecting a twist on the more well-known stories by Alexander McCall Smith and his No. 1 Ladies Detective Agency, rich with the feel, life and people.  And Vaseem Khan completely met and exceeded those expectations with this book.

Oh of course, it is a crime fiction story, and there are moments that hit that disturbing mark of ‘how could anyone do that’, but Chopra is so engaging and likable, flamboyant with a great deal of optimism and hope for good things to happen, it is hard not to be influenced by his manner.  His wife, complete with a subplot of her own, is also fascinating, and the images, scenes and feel of the setting are so vividly presented you can almost scent the breeze on the air.

I don’t believe that anyone can resist a baby elephant, and there are so many sweet (yes – this story is at its heart, incredibly sweet) scenes as Chopra takes this unexpected life into his keeping, and the two travel on to discover the many correlations between them. Oh the mystery was clever, but presented in a way that just felt like days in the life. Lyrical and near poetic, the writing is smooth and the imagery is solid and evocative.  I tend to the lighter side of the mystery genre, it’s often the characters and settings that draw me in and have me returning to an author: I’ll certainly be looking forward to the next from Vaseem Khan.