What do you think?
Rate this book
Inspector Ghote #5
Inspector Ghote Plays a Joker
Inspector Ghote embarks on one of his strangest cases when he is ordered to prevent a murder - the killing of a precious flamingo in the Bombay zoo. And then there is the racehorse fancied to win the local Derby, which gets replaced by a donkey... Ghote finds things going disastrously as bit by bit he unearths the traces of a monstrous practical joker. But then the fun stops - and Inspector Ghote has a more serious murder on his hands.
189 pages, Paperback
First published January 1, 1969
1 person is currently reading
78 people want to read
About the author
H.R.F. Keating
157 books54 followersHenry 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
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
Ratings & Reviews
Friends & Following
Create a free account to discover what your friends think of this book!
Community Reviews
Displaying 1 - 9 of 9 reviews
January 23, 2020
Not my cup of tea. Full review at classicmystery.blog
June 22, 2018
A pleasantly insubstantial old-fashioned mystery. Inspector Ghote operates mostly by hunches and intuition, not police procedure or ratiocination. A good book for a day when you don't want to work very hard.
May 31, 2011
Not the best mystery I've ever read, and not nearly as good as the Vish Puri books, but not bad. The mystery is interesting, the characters are a little shallow but not horribly so, and the plot moves along at a decent pace. Overall, I'd say it's worth a read, but only if you're looking for a mystery taking place in India and have exhausted the Vish Puri books first.
October 23, 2020
Ganesh Ghote is sent by his boss to find out who is shooting the Flamingos that were given to the Bombay Zoo by the US Ambassador. Three of them have been killed by rifle shot, and the fourth is killed while he is there. It turns out that someone in Bombay has been enjoying himself by making a mess out of nationally reported events.
On the morning of the India Derby, when his handlers go to get the favorite, their is a donkey in his stall, and he is found hours away in his owner's training center in the country to late to run in the race. This joker has also messed up an experiment for desalinization of ocean water, and of a famous hathayogi to walk on water.
Who is it, who is able to be involved in these disparate situation. To assist him in this endeavor, his boss has given Ghote a sergeant, who turns out to have been shuffled among the different Police sections because of his consistent incompetency. He is not only of little use but most of the time he is off trying to place or take bets to support his family.
We all know that Ganesh will overcome all obstacles and solve the problem.
On the morning of the India Derby, when his handlers go to get the favorite, their is a donkey in his stall, and he is found hours away in his owner's training center in the country to late to run in the race. This joker has also messed up an experiment for desalinization of ocean water, and of a famous hathayogi to walk on water.
Who is it, who is able to be involved in these disparate situation. To assist him in this endeavor, his boss has given Ghote a sergeant, who turns out to have been shuffled among the different Police sections because of his consistent incompetency. He is not only of little use but most of the time he is off trying to place or take bets to support his family.
We all know that Ganesh will overcome all obstacles and solve the problem.
July 12, 2022
set in (the then) Bombay, India where this dimwit detective can't understand his superiors, can't follow directions, can't keep a thought. He is such an idiot that story is frustrating to follow in the beginning. But we soon find that the citizens have more authority than the police, and no one is in charge. Turned out to be great, Fun Read.
February 28, 2015
Set a few years after Independence, Inspector Ghote's pursuits of criminals gives us readers a view of India that we do not have the chance to encounter even if Keating only went to India 10 years after he started to write the series.
This particular inquiry starts with a bang and a truly strange victim but soon we are following Ghote through the maze of suspects and are given a satisfying solution.
This particular inquiry starts with a bang and a truly strange victim but soon we are following Ghote through the maze of suspects and are given a satisfying solution.
November 1, 2010
fun, though the ending felt a bit abrupt.This is the first I have tried in the series and I will try more
March 20, 2014
Story is dumb, but I listened to the audiobook, and the reader is excellent.
March 8, 2016
I wanted a good detective novel set in India but this was pretty stupid really.
Displaying 1 - 9 of 9 reviews