Ban de moordenaar

Inhoud

Op een eenzame, stoffige weg van Bombay naar Poona sterft een Amerikaanse atoomgeleerde. Een man die zijn eigen ideeen had over de bewapeningswedloop. Maar hij zal zijn denkbeelden niet verder kunnen uitdragen. De kogels in zijn lichaam hebben daar voorgoed een eind aan gemaakt.
Inspecteur Ghote gaat op zoek naar de moordenaar en stuit op een komplot dat reikt tot in de hoogste kringen van Bombay.

Bespreking

Too much like a comic book

On the lonely and dusty road between Bombay and Poona, Hector, the brother of the famous American hydrology professor Gregory Strongbow, drives his car like he is fleeing for someone. At a bend a farmer is blocking the road with his oxcart. When Hector, ignorant of any danger, steps out of is car to urge the farmer on, a few shots are fired from the bushes. Hector dies instantly. When Inspector Ghote arrives on the scene he quickly gets acquainted with the stubborn professor Gregory Strongbow, who refuses to tell what his brother was up to. It is the task of Ghote to find out what is happening before someone tries to kill the professor. It doesn't take the inspector a lot of time to stumble upon a complot that goes up the the highest ranks of Indian politics.
This crime novel has a lot in common with some Tintin comics: the antagonist gets into trouble but is each time saved miraculously as by some godly intervention, the characters are as flat as flat can be and the story line goes straight from one action scene to the next, without seeming to pay attention to reality. If this was a comic it could have been forgiven, but you won't get away with this in a novel. At least the story has some nice cliffhangers that made reading the story bearable, but nevertheless it was only mildly entertaining.