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Inspector Singh Investigates: A Most Peculiar Malaysian Murder

Shamini Flint
Piatkus (2010)
ISBN 9780749929756
Reviewed by Narayan for RebeccasReads.com (06/2010)


What does a thriller or a mystery mean to an average Asian? Its often chills, thrills, some sex, written by a western author (read as US author) and of course a somber title. Asia is the largest market for American thrillers and mysteries; but we relegate to second class our own mystery and thriller writers, who write superior fiction. It might be because there is a latent hesitation on the part of the Asian reader to accept crime thrillers as a part of our popular reading culture.

Readers who enjoy Grisham, Sheldon and Tom Clancy are actually seeking fantasy.Maybe the whole charm of the thriller genre is that American setting, those foreign characters and lifestyle, that whole ‘other world’ that one loses oneself in for a few entertaining hours. Maybe by bringing it down, to everyday reality, it robs the whole motivation of reading a thriller. Though this seems to be the general trend, occasionally and very rarely some crime fiction books written in English by Asian authors make it big in the bestseller charts. One such author is Singapore lawyer Shamini Flint. With a surname like Flint, we expect sophisticated, action filled suspense fare from this author. But Inspector Singh is anything but Flintish in character. Middle aged, and pot bellied- lazy and grumbling prone- Inspector Singh is a person who does not win friends easily. His stature and big turban often causes others to be wary of him.

We are first introduced to Inspector Singh in the work “A Most Peculiar Malaysian Murder”. A super model by name Chelsea Liew has been accused of murder. The victim is her husband and she is accused of killing him at pointblank range. The motive and evidence points to Liew, and Singh grudgingly accepts this assignment. However, he falls for the charm of Chelsea and he desperately wants to save her. But the deeper Singh investigates; he finds that the deeper are Chelsea’s troubles. With suspense, subtle humor and action at its sublime best, “A Most Peculiar Malaysian Murder” is the perfect vehicle for the launch of Inspector Singh series.

In the second book of the series, “A Bali Conspiracy Most Foul”, Singh’s deduction skills are called on in a case involving a bomb explosion in Bali. Bombs, terrorism and anti-terror squads are all Greek to this almost retired Inspector. But there is a juicy murder also involved in this case. Apparently a person was shot dead moments before the bomb explosion. How Singh saves the day is the plot of this novel.

The best and obviously the masterpiece is the third work in the series- “The Singapore School of Villainy”.  This time Singh is back home in Singapore and taking it easy. However with a nagging wife, and even more nagging colleagues at the force, Singh desperately wants to escape. And the murder of a senior lawyer of Singapore is just what Singh needs to put the little grey cells into action. However, the problem is that many wanted the lawyer dead. The motives are immense and so are the suspects. How Singh solves the confusion is the heart of this novel.

Inspector Singh is a welcome addition to the world of fictional detectives. Part Hercule Piorot, and part Rumpole, I sure am going to be a regular reader of the future books in this series.