Inspector Ghote mystery series

This long running series was respected and enjoyed in its day but now has been largely forgotten. 

Inspector Ghote is a humble, unpretentious police detective in Bombay. His murder investigations take him to every range of society and culture in and around Bombay. He's often up against the frustrations of the Indian criminal justice system as well as those of every-day India. His determination, tenacity, and integrity keep him on track because he loves being a police officer and what it stands for. 

I enjoy these mysteries which are somewhat like an ancestor to my favorite modern Indian detective, Vish Puri. I will have to cover that series soon. Each of these mysteries focuses on an aspect of Indian society that rings really true thanks to the many Indian movies we have watched.

Sam Dastor's reading of the audiobooks bring these to life in a way that the print versions don't for me. In each, the importance of Ghote's solution is perfectly presented in a way that has me listening to the last couple of hours at a fever pitch of impatience to see what will happen. 

Often there aren't a lot of suspects and the mystery may be not about who did the crime as much as how on earth one will get the evidence to prove it. As with the Brother Cadfael mysteries, I don't care about the actual solution as much as I do the setting and the protagonist. I care about Inspector Ghote's adventures in getting the final proof, saving the innocent, catching the criminal — always against overwhelming odds. It's Ghote's resourcefulness and unwavering tenacity that carry the story.

Interestingly London-based author H.R.F Keating wrote the first novels without ever visiting India. He did copious research and eavesdropped on Indians speaking amongst themselves to pick up the patois used. I've seen moderns complaining that the patois is demeaning but, once again informed by the almost 300 Indian movies we've seen, this is spot on. In fact the Indians themselves appreciated these mysteries so much that Air India gave him a three week trip to Bombay so he could see what he wrote about so well.