The Unexpected Inheritance of Inspector Chopra - Vaseem Khan

 

Although I'm reading more in the cozy mystery genre these days than ever before, I still do not consider myself to be much of a regular fan of the style. It's books like Vassem Khan's The Unexpected Inheritance of Inspector Chopra, however, that are steadily starting to change my mind about that.

The Unexpected Inheritance of Inspector Chopra, unbeknownst to me when I took it home from the library, is actually the first book in Khan's "Baby Ganesh Agency Investigations" series. And it is a fun introduction to Inspector Chopra, his wife Poppy, the inspector's pain of a mother-in-law, and perhaps best of all, to the baby elephant called Ganesh. It is not an exceptionally long series, but I do have four more novels and two novellas to look forward to reading, all written between 2015 and 2019. Khan began publishing his now four-book-long "Malabar House" series in 2020. 

"In a country where thieves and crooks were becoming ever more commonplace, particularly in the highest offices in the land, where people openly applauded those who managed to hoodwink millions and get away with it, Chopra was a man who stood for everything that was right and good about India."

As the novel opens, Chopra is enduring his final day as a Mumbai policeman. The inspector has recently recovered from a heart attack, but he's nonetheless being forced to retire some 10-15 years earlier than he had planned. But ever the vigilant cop, Chopra is going to work on the final case to hit his desk until the very last minute of his very last day on the job. And that's exactly what he does before returning home to Poppy and the baby elephant that had unexpectedly arrived on his doorstep that morning.  

No surprise to anyone who knows anything at all about Chopra's dedication to fighting crime in his city, it will not be easy for him to step away. Chopra realizes that the case of the young man whose drowning seems so suspicious to him will be quickly closed because the man had no clout in life - and he certainly will not be granted clout in death. After visiting the man's elderly father and promising to find out what really happened to him, Chopra goes rogue and begins his own private investigation.

The Unexpected Inheritance of Inspector Chopra, simply put, is fun. It's fun to watch Chopra try to figure out why his baby elephant is so depressed that he refuses to eat anything; it's fun to watch Chopra call for the help of the same cops who previously reported directly to him; and its fun to watch Chopra verbally spar with his wicked mother-in-law, among others. But most of all, it's both fun and rewarding, to watch the relationship between Chopra and Ganesh the elephant develop into what it turns out to be, a partnership of two equals in the fight against crime. 

If you have room in your reading world for another series, you could do a whole lot worse than the "Baby Ganesh Agency" series. Give it a look.

British Author Vaseem Khan