Asking Questions

Inspector Ghote #22

by H.R.F. Keating

At the Mira Behn Institute for Medical Research someone is smuggling out a dangerous drug, made from the venom of poisonous snakes. Inspector Ghote's suspect is the snake-handler Chandra Chagoo, but Chagoo's now lying dead on the floor of the Reptile Room, a viper slithering across his back.

Genres: Mystery

288 pages, Paperback

First published January 1, 1996

About the author

Henry Reymond Fitzwalter Keating was an English writer of crime fiction most notable for his series of novels featuring Inspector Ghote of the Bombay CID.

H. R. F. KEATING was well versed in the worlds of crime, fiction and nonfiction. He was the crime books reviewer for The Times for fifteen years, as well as serving as the chairman of the Crime Writers Association and the Society of Authors. He won the CWA Gold Dagger Award twice, and in 1996 was awarded the CWA Cartier Diamond Dagger for outstanding service to crime fiction.

Series:
. Inspector Ghote
. Harriet Martens

Series contributed to:
. Malice Domestic
. Perfectly Criminal

Reviews

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ASKING QUESTIONS: An Inspector Ghote Mystery, Keating, H.R.F. was the first book among several in the Inspector Ghote Mystery series I've read, having only recently discovered the author. It's a good discovery as my point-of-convergence has been the murder mystery genre (especially less recent books; golden age of murder mystery 1920-1930). Certainly, ASKING QUESTIONS does not fall in this era, but it has some of the same "Who Done It" type of elements I've grown to enjoy about that era. Namely a kindly, dogged, basically honest, Detective/Detective Inspector/Special investigator who, although perplexed about an (initially) simple case, is resolved to solve the case - regardless of outside pressures. What I found most interesting about ASKING QUESTIONS is that Inspector Ghote is an Indian Detective - which understandably brings not only some of the physical location (India) into the book, also comes a bit of local color, customs, weather, prejudices, politics and (thankfully) cultural perspective. I loved the book for this reason! As well Inspector Ghote like some of my other favorite (literary) Detectives/Inspectors Napoleon Bonaparte, Ian Rutledge, Vera Stanhope, Inspector Alleyn, Kinsey Millhone, Kurt Wallander, Hermes Diaktoros, Inspector Gamache, Poirot, Ms.Marple, Sherlock Holmes, and on and on brings his own unique "inside-my-head" character complexity and mental chatter to the murder mystery. Moreover, like the Inspector Napoleon (Boney) Bonaparte (Arthur Upfield, author), I found issues of class/race a clever color-board for helping paint a diverse picture of the main character, as well as other characters and the framework characterization of An Inspector Ghote Mystery. As far as the actual murder mystery, you know the drill…some body DEAD...some body OFFICIAL (detective called in)...some body THE MURDER must be DISCOVERED, CAUGHT and PUNISHED...usually in that order. ASKING QUESTIONS is a good way to uncover Ghote.

[Graeme Waymark · Rating 4 out of 5]

Excellent novel; a great alternative to Agatha Christie or PDJames, perhaps more like a Bollywood Sherlock Holmes. I would recommend this to anyone who would like a comedic serious crime-stopper with cultural twists one could not find easily in comparative contemporary fiction.

[Jazzy B. · Rating 5 out of 5]

Asking Questions is one of my favorite books to read. At first, it was boring, and then it got interesting. This book will make you jump out of your seat. The chapters are long, but awesome. I hope you like this book more than I do. I loved it and I hope you do too. I would suggest this to kids who like mystery and crime. I hope you get the chance to read it like I did. While I was reading it, I felt like it was pulling me into the book and made me connected to it. I hope you like it!