5 STARS

The Ravi PI series is just about as fun as a mystery series can get without being comical or silly. While cozy mysteries certainly have their laugh-a-minute place, Tantimedh’s characters are quirky but still serious, as are the crimes themselves. While sometimes far-fetched…wait, so what? Who cares if it’s far-fetched, it’s a work of FICTION!

What really makes this book so captivating is the fact that the characters are a diverse bunch, but there’s nothing stereotypical about each person represented. Ravi Chandra Singh happens to be Indian, happens to be a seminary dropout–okay, not a Christian seminary, but so what–happens to have left his job as a high school teacher, and now happens to be a private investigator for a high-dollar London firm. All very ordinary, right? Of course not. But the fact that he’s Indian isn’t a big deal to the story, it’s just another interesting facet to the overall appeal of the book.

What I especially enjoyed what the “vignette” aspect to the stories. One mystery gets solved, another one crops up. That’s the beauty of working for a good-sized investigative firm: there is always another case. So instead of being bogged down in a chapter-by-chapter saga where clues and red herrings are doled out from start to finish, there’s the satisfaction of watch Ravi solve one case before diving headlong into another, all while the colorful people around him make their appearances.

Take a look at Book One in the series on Amazon by clicking here.