Review: Inspector Singh Investigates: A CALAMITOUS CHINESE KILLING, Shamini Flint

• this edition published 2013 by Piatkus
  
• ISBN 978-0-7499-5799-7
• 309 pages
• #6 in the Inspector Singh series

 Synopsis (author website)

Inspector Singh is on a mission to China, against his better judgment. The son of a bigwig at the Singapore Embassy has been bludgeoned to death in a back alley in Beijing. The Chinese security insist that he was the victim of a robbery gone wrong, but the young man's mother demands that Singapore's finest (in his own opinion) rides to the rescue.

But solving a murder in a country that practices socialism 'with Chinese characteristics' is a dangerous business. And it soon becomes apparent that getting to the bottom of this calamitous killing will be his toughest case yet.

My Take

Inspector Singh again finds himself with an overseas posting. Not that he will have authority A crime has been committed against a Singaporean national in Beijing and he is being sent to represent Singaporean interests. The First Secretary at the Singapore embassy in Beijing has personally requested him. No one is suggesting that he will be able to solve the crime. In fact he suspects that his superiors are hopeful that his involvement will in some way be terminal and that he will not return to Singapore.

This series is a delightful read and this title is no exception. Throughout the series Singh's character has become stronger and I think he has become a better detective. In Beijing he is given a disgraced retired detective as his offsider and interpreter and between them they actually make a formidable pair. The setting is very topical because it involves land development in Beijing, the removal of century old hutongs and their replacement with modern buildings, but it also involves graft and corruption at the highest level even in the police force. In the background there is the handling of protest through re-education, and a sniff of other forms of corruption.

Singh steams on, sampling local cuisine with gusto, and following his intuition.

Recommended.

My rating: 4.5

I've also read
4.2, INSPECTOR SINGH INVESTIGATES, A Most Peculiar Malaysian Murder
4.5, A BALI CONSPIRACY MOST FOUL
4.5, INSPECTOR SINGH INVESTIGATES: A MOST CURIOUS INDIAN CADAVER
4.6, INSPECTOR SINGH INVESTIGATES: A DEADLY CAMBODIAN CRIME SPREE
INSPECTOR SINGH INVESTIGATES: THE SINGAPORE SCHOOL OF VILLAINY
4.7, INSPECTOR SINGH INVESTIGATES, A FRIGHTFULLY ENGLISH EXECUTION

Review: INSPECTOR SINGH INVESTIGATES: A FRIGHTFULLY ENGLISH EXECTUION, Shamini Flint

• this edition published by Piatkus in 2016
• ISBN 978-0-349-40272-7
• 359 pages
• #7 in the Inspector Singh series
• source: my local library

Synopsis (Amazon)

Inspector Singh is irate. He's been instructed to attend a Commonwealth conference on policing in London: a job for paper pushers, not real cops, as far as he is concerned.

And as if that isn't bad enough, his wife is determined to come along to shop for souvenirs and visit previously unknown relatives.

But it isn't long before the cold case that lands on Singh's ample lap turns into a hot potato and he has to outwit Scotland Yard, his wife and London's finest criminals to prevent more frightful executions from occurring on his watch - or indeed, from being added to their number.

My Take

Inspector Singh is not quite sure why he has been chosen to attend the Commonwealth conference on policing in London, but he expects it to be a waste of time.

On arrival he is dismayed to find he has been assigned to consider the role that community relations played in the investigation of an unsolved cold case five years old. This is particularly because the cold case is not being re-opened, but Singh and an assigned policewoman are only required to present a report on how investigators interacted with the community. From the beginning Inspector Singh protests that there can only be one reason for looking at a cold case - solving it. The case is a gruesome one: a young Indian woman was killed and aspects of the case were not released to the press.

Singh tries to conduct the enquiry as if it is a contemporary case, interviewing relatives, visiting the crime scene and so on. And that is where he is discovered by a policeman looking at a recent murder which has considerable similarity to the cold case.

Mrs Singh has gone to London with him, and, for the first time, decides to  help Singh by following up on leads that he doesn't have time to investigate himself.  She involves a cousin living in London, and eventually disappears.

A number of contemporary issues surface in this book: money laundering, jihadist revolutionaries and more. In some ways Singh is as usual, stumbling inadvertently across the truth, but in others he seems a little more assured. I think this series would make the basis of excellent television.

Very enjoyable reading.

I have discovered that I have missed reading #6 in the series,  A CALAMITOUS CHINES KILLING, and really need to catch up there.

My rating: 4.7

I have also read
4.2, A Most Peculiar Malaysian Murder
4.5, A BALI CONSPIRACY MOST FOUL
4.5, A MOST CURIOUS INDIAN CADAVER
4.6, A DEADLY CAMBODIAN CRIME SPREE
 THE SINGAPORE SCHOOL OF VILLAINY

Review: INSPECTOR SINGH INVESTIGATES: THE SINGAPORE SCHOOL OF VILLAINY, Shamini Flint

• Format: Kindle (Amazon)
• File Size: 445 KB
• Print Length: 320 pages
• Publisher: Hachette Digital (April 1, 2010)
• Sold by: Hachette Book Group
• Language: English
• ASIN: B003CUDOU8
• Source: I bought it

Synopsis (Amazon)

Inspector Singh is home - and how he wishes he wasn’t. His wife nags him at breakfast and his superiors are whiling away their time by giving him his usual ‘you’re a disgrace to the Force’ lecture. Fortunately for Singh, there is no rest for the wicked when he is called out to the murder of a senior partner at an international law firm, clubbed to death at his desk.

Unfortunately for Singh, there is no shortage of suspects - from the victim’s fellow partners to his wife and ex-wife - or motives, as many of the lawyers have secrets they would kill to protect. And very soon Singh finds himself heading up an investigation that rips apart the fabric of Singapore society and exposes the rotten core beneath. Perhaps coming home wasn’t such a good idea, after all…?

My Take

This is the only title in the series set in Singh's home city of Singapore.

As background to the murder Flint manages to bring local issues into the novel: the fact there are still hanging offences in Singapore, drug dealing and homosexual activity.

Mrs Singh's status in her local Sikh community, always under threat because of her husband's involvement in the seamier side of life, takes a severe knock when a relative becomes a suspect in the murder investigation.

I thought there was a little less humor in this novel but even so there are glimmers.

Singh's boss Chen is able to interfere a little more than usual with Singh's work as he is right on the spot, that is, Singh is in Singapore not overseas.

If you haven't tackled this series, you are missing a real treat.

My rating: 4.5

I've already reviewed
4.2, INSPECTOR SINGH INVESTIGATES, A Most Peculiar Malaysian Murder
4.5, A BALI CONSPIRACY MOST FOUL
4.5, INSPECTOR SINGH INVESTIGATES: A MOST CURIOUS INDIAN CADAVER

Crime Fiction Alphabet 2013: S is for Shamini Flint

Following a pattern established in 2012, my contributions to the Crime Fiction Alphabet in 2013 will mainly feature authors or books that I have read recently.

This week's choice is INSPECTOR SINGH INVESTIGATES: A DEADLY CAMBODIAN CRIME SPREE by Shamini Flint


Synopsis (Amazon)

Inspector Singh is in Cambodia - wishing he wasn't. He's been sent as an observer to the international war crimes tribunal in Phnom Penh, the latest effort by his superiors to ensure that he is anywhere except in Singapore.

But for the first time the fat Sikh inspector is on the verge of losing his appetite when a key member of the tribunal is murdered in cold blood. The authorities are determined to write off the incident as a random act of violence, but Singh thinks otherwise.

It isn't long before he finds himself caught up in one of the most terrible murder investigations he’s witnessed - the roots of which lie in the dark depths of the Cambodian killing fields. . .  

See my review

See what others have chosen for the letter S.

Review: INSPECTOR SINGH INVESTIGATES: A DEADLY CAMBODIAN CRIME SPREE, Shamini Flint

• Format: Kindle (Amazon)
• File Size: 413 KB
• Print Length: 317 pages
• Page Numbers Source ISBN: 0749953470
• Publisher: Hachette Digital (April 7, 2011)
• Sold by: Hachette Book Group
• Language: English
• ASIN: B004O0U566
• Source: I bought it

Synopsis (Amazon)

Inspector Singh is in Cambodia - wishing he wasn't. He's been sent as an observer to the international war crimes tribunal in Phnom Penh, the latest effort by his superiors to ensure that he is anywhere except in Singapore.

But for the first time the fat Sikh inspector is on the verge of losing his appetite when a key member of the tribunal is murdered in cold blood. The authorities are determined to write off the incident as a random act of violence, but Singh thinks otherwise.

It isn't long before he finds himself caught up in one of the most terrible murder investigations he’s witnessed - the roots of which lie in the dark depths of the Cambodian killing fields. . .

My Take

When a witness at the international war crimes tribunal is murdered Inspector Singh, who had been attending the hearings as an ASEAN observer, is appointed as an investigator, jointly in charge with a local Cambodian police inspector. His "sidekick" is a rather taciturn Cambodian translator, herself an orphan as a result of the Cambodian killing fields.

Inspector Singh notes that, for the first time he can remember, the murder under investigation has its roots in the past.

He was investigating a murder in the early twenty-first century. But every aspect of the killing indicated that it was a crime born of events thirty years ago. It was probably the first time in his life that an investigation of his had invoked history in this way. In a sense, he supposed, it wasn’t history at all – what was that expression, the past is prologue?

Singh is not happy with his role as an ASEAN observer and fervently wishes he was anywhere but in Cambodia.

Singh was slumped in an armchair in his hotel room contemplating the day’s testimony. He cast his mind back to when he had investigated a murder in the aftermath of the terrorist bombings in Bali. At the time, it had seemed that the callous snatching of life in a terrorist attack, without any nexus between murderer and victim, was the most grievous expression of cold-blooded murder possible. He would have to revise that thought. The murder of innocents without malice aforethought but with a cynical, clinical cruelty over a period of months and years, that was worse. Kill or be killed, torture or be tortured, follow orders or have the same fate befall one as the would-be victims.

I enjoyed CAMBODIAN CRIME SPREE even more than the earlier titles that I have read. I feel as if Inspector Singh has become even more tangible and I think Shamini Flint does an excellent job in her character development both of Singh and the other characters in the novel.
.
The other thing that is excellent about this novel is the historical detail relating to the war crimes in Cambodia. (You'll see that I am listing it in the Historical Fiction Challenge).

My Rating: 4.6

I've also reviewed
4.2, INSPECTOR SINGH INVESTIGATES, A Most Peculiar Malaysian Murder
4.5, A BALI CONSPIRACY MOST FOUL
4.5, INSPECTOR SINGH INVESTIGATES: A MOST CURIOUS INDIAN CADAVER

Shamini Flint's website

Review: INSPECTOR SINGH INVESTIGATES: A CURIOUS INDIAN CADAVER, Shamini Flint

• published by Piatkus 2012
• ISBN 978-0-7499-5342-3
• 308 pages
• #5 in the Inspector Singh series
• Source: my local library

Synopsis (Amazon)

Inspector Singh is sick of sick leave, so when Mrs Singh suggests they attend a family wedding in Mumbai, he grudgingly agrees - hoping that the spicy Indian curries will make up for extended exposure to his wife's relatives.

Unfortunately, the beautiful bride-to-be disappears on the eve of her wedding - did she run away to avoid an arranged marriage, or is there something more sinister afoot?

When a corpse is found, the fat inspector is soon dragged into a curious murder investigation with very firm instructions from Mrs Singh to exonerate her family. But as he uncovers layer upon layer of deceit, he knows it isn't going to be that easy...

My Take

I have now read three in this series, and enjoyed this one even more than INSPECTOR SINGH INVESTIGATES: A BALI CONSPIRACY MOST FOUL which I read earlier this year.

Just as she did with that title, Flint has taken a catastrophic event and placed Inspector Singh in the middle of it. This time the event is an act of terrorism in Mumbai, bombings of a mosque and market place, based loosely on what happened in Mumbai in 2008 and 2011.

This time Inspector Singh is accompanied by Mrs Singh who drags her husband to Mumbai for a family wedding. The Prologue, which you can read in the Amazon sample, describes what happened to the family in the Sikh victimisation that followed the assassination of Indira Ghandi in 1984.

The wedding the Singhs are to attend is an arranged one, just as the Singhs' own marriage was. But when the bride to be disappears the head of the family asks Inspector Singh to investigate, rather than approach the police.

What I like about these novels is the grounding in real events. In A CURIOUS INDIAN CADAVER the terrorism in Mumbai is combined with the environmental degradation and human exploitation caused by a chemicals factory.

I also love the quirky humour. This time Mrs Singh is the Inspector's sounding board as well as being his biggest critic. Mrs Singh is a very astute observer.

Shamini Flint also seems to capture the essence of Indian English, even Mrs Singh speaks an English that seems to leave out prepositions and the like. And then there is the Inspector's own sense of humour.

They both looked out at the churning sea, the harbour littered with small boats and large ferries. In the foreground, right on the waterfront, was a massive pastel yellow arch - the Gateway of India.

'It was built to welcome King George V when he visited India', explained his well-briefed, Google-friendly wife.

'Didn't they think a bunch of flowers would do?' asked Singh.   

'Anyway it was only completed twelve years after the visit.'   

Singh grinned. That was the sort of managerial incompetence that he found amusing.

Most enjoyable. I'll be going back to read #3 and #4.

My rating: 4.5

I have also reviewed
4.2, INSPECTOR SINGH INVESTIGATES: A Most Peculiar Malaysian Murder #1
4.5, INSPECTOR SINGH INVESTIGATES: A BALI CONSPIRACY MOST FOUL #2

See also: Shamini Flint's website

Crime Fiction Alphabet 2012: S is for Shamini Flint and Inspector Singh

This year for the Crime Fiction Alphabet Community meme I've decided to highlight titles that I've read this year.

I met Inspector Singh last year when I read the first in the series INSPECTOR SINGH INVESTIGATES, A Most Peculiar Malaysian Murder.
Inspector Singh is a Singaporean policeman, known really as a bumbler, and someone whom his bosses are glad to send to faraway places, without much expectation that he will be successful.
Piatkus Books, 2009, ISBN 978-0-7499-2975-6, 295 pages.

I was just a little underwhelmed by this first offering but decided I would tackle the second, INSPECTOR SINGH INVESTIGATES: A Bali Conspiracy Most Foul.
This one is of particular interest to Australian readers because it is set at the time of the Bali bombings, in which a number of Australian tourists were killed.
I thought the setting and the murder mystery were handled very well.

There are now 3 more books in the series that I am watching out for.
3. Singapore School of Villainy (2010)
4. A Deadly Cambodian Crime Spree (2011)
5. A Curious Indian Cadaver (2012)

Review: A BALI CONSPIRACY MOST FOUL, Shamini Flint - audio book

Audio book available from Audible.com
Narrator: Jonathan Keeble

Length: 8 hours 32 mins
Format: Paperback 304 pages
Date of publication: 03/09/2009
Publisher: Piatkus Books
ISBN-10: 0749929766
ISBN-13: 978-0749929763
#2 in the Inspector Singh series
Also available on Amazon (including Kindle) - click on the link to read a sample of the text.
Source: I bought it.

Synopsis (from author's site)

Inspector Singh is back, but this time on secondment to Bali. A bomb has exploded and Singh has been sent to help with anti-terrorism efforts. But there's a slight problem: he knows squat about hunting terrorists. He's much better suited to solving murder!

So when a body is discovered in the wreckage, killed by a bullet before the bomb went off, Singh should be the one to find the answers - especially with the help of a wily Australian copper by his side. But simple murders are never as simple as they seem - and this one has far-reaching global consequences ...

My Take

This book is of special interest to Australians because it is based around the Bali bombings of October 2002 when 202 people, (including 88 Australians, and 38 Indonesian citizens) were killed when 3 bombs were detonated, two at Kuta and one in Denpasar.

The irony of the story is that while the police are hunting down those responsible for mass murder, Inspector Singh and Bronwyn Taylor, an Australian Federal Policewoman, are deployed to hunt down someone who used the bombing to cover up a homicide. No-one expects Singh and his offsider to succeed for both are held in pretty low regard by their colleagues.

The plot is a clever mix of fact and fiction, with some of the characters' names resembling those eventually convicted of the bombings. The author does a good job of describing why the bombings happened, how ordinary people were caught up in them: the bombers themselves, the ex-pat community, the Balinese economy and people. I liked the fleshing out of Inspector Singh much better than in #1 in the series. Bronwyn Taylor, the Australian policewoman, comes over well as both compassionate and conscientious, and she and Singh make a good team.

I thought too that the author captured the flavour of Bali very well, although I have to admit it is 35 years since I was there. Time for another holiday I reckon.

Narrator Jonathan Keeble does a good job with a range of accents including some dreadfully flat Australian ones.

My rating: 4.5

See my review of INSPECTOR SINGH INVESTIGATES, A Most Peculiar Malaysian Murder

About the author

Shamini Flint is an established writer of children's books, living in Singapore, and has a background in international law. Her website makes interesting reading

There are now 3 more books in the series
3. Singapore School of Villainy (2010)
4. A Deadly Cambodian Crime Spree (2011)
5. A Curious Indian Cadaver (2012)

Review: INSPECTOR SINGH INVESTIGATES: A Most Peculiar Malaysian Murder, Shamini Flint

Piatkus Books, 2009, ISBN 978-0-7499-2975-6, 295 pages.

Chelsea Liew, mother of three, Singaporean ex-model, is in custody in Kuala Lumpur, remanded on the charge of murdering her ex-husband Alan Lee, business magnate, head of Lee Timber, a firm rumoured to be plundering and laying waste to Borneo's reamining natural rainforest. Alan Lee and his wife had been in a very public custody battle for their 3 boys, complicated by the fact that he had recently converted to Islam, thus shifting the jurisdiction of which court would decide on the custody. Alan Lee was shot just a week before on a deserted street two hundred yards from his front gate and his ex-wife was arrested within hours and charged with his murder.

Enter Inspector Singh, sent from Singapore, to ensure that Chelsea who has retained her Singaporean citizenship despite twenty years of marriage and residency in KL, gets a fair trial. A problem arises when Singh becomes convinced that Chelsea Liew is not guilty. It becomes even more complicated when Jasper Lee, Alan Lee's elder brother, and self declared nature activist, walks into the Bukit Aman police station and declares that he in fact murdered Alan.

Inspector Singh has not been sent to KL because he is a brilliant detective ensured of success. In fact quite the opposite. he has been handed a "poisoned chalice". The case is surrounded by politics and he is one of the last mavericks in the Singapore police force, "the elephant in the room that noone talked about but everyone hoped would do the decent thing and take early retirement". And rather conveniently he has a sister in KL so he can stay with her if needed.

INSPECTOR SINGH INVESTIGATES: A Most Peculiar Malaysian Murder is Shamini Flint's debut crime novel, the first of a promised series of 3, and I find myself quite willing to read the second. This is despite the fact that there were times when I almost lost interest in this one.
It is hard to put my finger on what went wrong for me, but I suspect that at times there was just too much detail provided and some of it was repetitious. I understand though the author's desire to make sure the reader understands the cultural context of the novel's setting. She also picks up on internationally sensitive topics such as the pollution caused annually by the burning of Indonesian rainforests. The custody battle reminded me a little of the case of Shahira Gillespie, particularly of some of the issues that surfaced there.

I liked the character of Inspector Singh and I think Flint has created a protagonist with possibilities. Despite the fact that INSPECTOR SINGH INVESTIGATES: A Most Peculiar Malaysian Murder is a relatively short novel, I think it possibly needed a bit more editing, to get more "show" and less "tell" into it.

My rating: 4.2

Shamini Flint is an established writer of children's books, living in Singapore, and has a background in international law. Her website makes interesting reading.

The second in the series INSPECTOR SINGH INVESTIGATES: A Bali Conspiracy Most Foul has recently been published.