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kalkie 's review for:
The Unexpected Inheritance of Inspector Chopra
by Vaseem Khan
This book is very similar to Alexander McCall Smith's series, The No. 1 Ladies Detective Agency. There are numerous parallels between the two books, and the main characters are very similar. However, while the McCall Smith books are engaging, well written and good page-turners; Khan's book falls short on a number of levels.
The book starts off promisingly, and the notion of a baby elephant being sent to live in downtown Mumbai is an interesting start. However the book kind of doesn't really go anywhere from here, and meanders around until it limps towards a conclusion. There are lots of descriptions of Mumbai and the surrounding areas - from wealthy mansions to the poorest slums. But even then it didn't really evoke a sense of the noise and colour of these Indian cities. The characters were OK, but I found Poppy, Inspector Chopra's wife, to be annoying and insignificant. Without wishing to add a spoiler, something does happen with Poppy in the book which is just left hanging at the end - which was not just irritating, but was downright pointless in the story.
By the end, the book really dragged and it took me a couple of days to limp through the last 80 pages or so. I was reaching the point where I wasn't really looking forward to reading it, which is bad news indeed!
The series has potential. But Khan needs to sharpen up his writing and bring more life to his surroundings and his characters before I'll return to the Baby Ganesh Agency series.
This review was originally posted on Babs' Bookshelf
The book starts off promisingly, and the notion of a baby elephant being sent to live in downtown Mumbai is an interesting start. However the book kind of doesn't really go anywhere from here, and meanders around until it limps towards a conclusion. There are lots of descriptions of Mumbai and the surrounding areas - from wealthy mansions to the poorest slums. But even then it didn't really evoke a sense of the noise and colour of these Indian cities. The characters were OK, but I found Poppy, Inspector Chopra's wife, to be annoying and insignificant. Without wishing to add a spoiler, something does happen with Poppy in the book which is just left hanging at the end - which was not just irritating, but was downright pointless in the story.
By the end, the book really dragged and it took me a couple of days to limp through the last 80 pages or so. I was reaching the point where I wasn't really looking forward to reading it, which is bad news indeed!
The series has potential. But Khan needs to sharpen up his writing and bring more life to his surroundings and his characters before I'll return to the Baby Ganesh Agency series.
This review was originally posted on Babs' Bookshelf