"Mrs. Sidhu's Dead and Scone" by Suk Pannu

I came to Mrs. Sidhu’s Dead and Scone by Suk Pannu courtesy of television, Acorn TV via Amazon Prime, to be precise.  

“Mrs. Sidhu Investigates” is a light mystery series, not unlike Midsomer Murders, Father Brown, and a few others that avoid the gore and (most of the) blood common to police and detective. shows. Mrs. Sidhu (Meera Syal) is a caterer who finds herself involved in murder investigations. She shows up to cater an event, and people die (but not because of her food). Her police counterpart is Detective hief Inspector Burton (Craig Parkinson), recently widowed and often feeling cursed by having to deal with this nosy caterer. The third main character is Tez (Gurjeet Singh), Mrs. Sidhu’s son, who patiently suffers her quirks, sudden upsets, and murder investigations, not to mention the shrine to her dead husband and father in the house (Tez calls it the “cabinet of death”). 

 

The series is written by Suk Pannu, who has a considerable number of British television shows to his writing credit. He’s also the author of this first published book about the intrepid caterer. (Note: I ordered the book from Amazon, but it had to be shipped from the U.K., but with no shipping charge.)

 

Mrs. Sidhu’s Dead and Scone takes place in a small, upscale village not far from the caterer’s home base of Slough, outside London. In addition to its (expensive) thatched-roof homes, the village is host to a retreat home run by a popular self-help guru. Mrs. Sidhu is called to provide catering, and sure enough, here come the bodies.

 

The first is a licensed therapist working for the center; she’s found dead in her home. Others follow. The readers know more than the characters of what’s going on, because they follow the murderer at work; what we don’t know is the identity of the perpetrator. We do know the motive is buried 20 years in the past, the deaths of a couple in what looked initially like a joint suicide. DCI Burton is investigating, and he’s not exactly thrilled to find Mrs. Sidhu popping up everywhere he goes.

 

Suk Pannu

It's a good story, if not quite as light as the television series. What is decidedly different is how Mrs. Sidhu come to figure out the case. In the series it’s largely observation (including spying on people); in the book, she had temporary trances, during which things get clarified. The book also introduced us to Mrs. Sidhu’s “respected sister-in-law,” who arrives from India for a visit and drives Mrs. Sidhu to hiding out in her bathroom. 

 

The second series of “Mrs. Sidhu Investigates” is scheduled for later this year. And here’s hoping for another novel-length story from Mr. Pannu.

 

Some Thursday Readings

 

Don Winslow Reflects on Writing His Final Novel – Nick Kolakowski at CrimeReads.

 

Cruikshank’s London Almanack, 1835 – Spitalfields Life.

 

King Eadwig’s Short and Ill-Fated Reign – Annie Whitehead at Casting Light upon the Shadow.