Murder at the Grand Raj Palace, by Vaseem Khan (2018)
Ashwin Chopra is a retired police inspector who has started his own investigation agency. Somehow, after his retirement, he was gifted with a baby elephant that he named Ganesha. Ganesha follows wither Chopra or his wife, Poppy, everywhere … even to the posh Grand Raj Palace.
The novel begins when art collector Hollis Burbank was found dead in his hotel room with a knife in his chest. He had just outbid a rival collector for a painting by one of India’s most famous artists. The police commissioner is ready to call Burbank’s death a suicide, but the officer in charge thinks otherwise so calls Chopra to assist with the investigation. When the commissioner learns that Chopra has been called in to assist, he quickly tells him to back off the official investigation.
Lisa Taylor, the art broker who convinced Burbank to go to Mumbai for the auction, then hires Chopra to continue with the murder investigation. Lisa is a sexy young British woman who always seems to pop into Chopra’s investigation when Poppy is around. Poppy, who has trying to plan a special 25th wedding anniversary, begins to get jealous.
While Chopra is looking into the potential murder of Burbank, Poppy becomes involved in the wedding plans of two aristocratic families with a decades-long family feud. The two families are ostensibly marrying to protect one family from the brink of bankruptcy. Poppy’s advice to the young bride to follow her heart, leading the bride-to-be to vanish without a trace.
Meanwhile, Burbank, it seems, was a very unpleasant man. No one liked him and he made enemies everywhere he went. Thus, Chopra quickly comes up with a long list of potential killers. The list grows longer when Chopra learned that 30 years earlier, Burbank was known as Roger Penzance and was a chemical engineer at a company involved with a chemical leak. The chemical disaster had been covered up, but some survivors continued to harbor guilt.
This mystery was light-hearted and fun to read. The solution came with a twist, but was very satisfying. This is a delightful little “cozy mystery” that takes place mostly at the Grand Raj Palace Hotel in Mumbai, India. It’s the fourth mystery in the Baby Ganesh Agency Investigation series, although it’s the first one I read. I will definitely go back and read this series from the beginning.
Read: May 18, 2021
5 Stars
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