Ghote is defined by his obedience to rules, whether it be his superior at work or his own strict moral code.  Inspector Ghote Trusts the Heart, eighth in the Ghote series, is the story of when these two motivators are at loggerheads with one another.

The book opens showing Ghote’s soft heart grudgingly giving alms to a smug crippled boy who knows that he is playing the policeman’s heartstrings.  This soft touch, observed by the Police Commissioner, is just what is needed for Ghote’s next assignment.

The crime this time has been the accidental abduction of a poor tailor’s only child instead of the son of Mr. Desai, a vitamin billionaire, who was the target.  The kidnappers decide to roll with their mistake, still demanding their ransom even though they have the wrong child.  Ghote must try to council Mr. Desai, torn between his relief at his own son’s safety and his recognition of the similarities between his situation and that of the poor tailor, who could never pay the ransom for his son.  Working against Ghote’s words of trying to cautiously tease out the kidnappers, are the second wife of Mr. Desai, step-mother to his son, and Superintendent Karandikar, who is willing to sacrifice the tailor’s son if it will flush out the kidnappers.  Ghote’s deference to his betters directly conflicts his instincts and what he knows to be the best way to protect the child, which is not the heavy-handed, high-profile approach of the Superintendent Karandikar.

This book lost the whimsy of the previous books, one of the biggest strengths of the Inspector Ghote series, perhaps because child abduction, complete with dismembered body parts, just doesn’t hold much space for whimsy.  While it isn’t a bad story, and as a Ghote book, obviously has a happy ending, but this tale of Ghote feels more grounded in a Slumdog Millionaire-sort of India, rather than the usual happy-go-lucky, slightly absurd atmosphere of the previous books, which is something to keep in mind before picking it up.

Bookmark to