Inspector Singh Investigates: A Frightfully English Execution by Shamini Flint
| Inspector Singh Investigates: A Frightfully English Execution by Shamini Flint | |
|
| |
| Category: Crime | |
| |
Reviewer: Sue Magee
 | |
| Summary: The seventh book in the series is set in London. It's an good read with plenty of dramatic tension and a good mystery. Oh - and Mrs Singh is there too. | |
| Buy? Yes | Borrow? Yes |
| Pages: 368 | Date: April 2016 |
| Publisher: Piatkus | |
| ISBN: 978-0349402727 | |
|
Share on: | |
|
| |
Inspector Singh wasn't completely insulted when he was told that he was to attend a Commonwealth conference on policing in London, despite the fact that he was of the opinion that this was a job for paper-pushers rather than real policemen. He would go. Then Mrs Singh decided that she too would go to London to visit the legions of unknown relatives who live in the metropolis and to collect yet more essential souvenirs. Things looked up slightly when Singh realised that he would be looking at a cold case - the five-year-old unsolved murder of Fatima Daud - along with an Inspector from the Met. Only - Singh wasn't there to solve or even investigate the case (that was forbidden) - he was there to consider how it could have been handled differently.
Of course you can't tell Inspector Singh not to investigate a murder any more than you could tell him not to breathe or eat curry and it's not long before he and D I Carmen (an able woman, obviously doing this job to get the 'diversity' stamp on her CV) are subtly (well, perhaps not 'subtly') investigating the family of Fatima Daud, her employer, her boyfriend, her would-be-fiance... And then, of course, Mrs Singh has to become involved in the investigation, for where would Singh's cases be without her guidance?
It's a London that's very much of the moment. It's bustling, vibrant and ethnically diverse, but it's also a city which worries about the terrorist threat and immigration. There's more than just curiosity about where a young man might have been when he's been abroad and returns looking tanned and rather thin. No one suggests that it might have been Ibiza - but then few people feel that they're in a position to ask a direct question. And then there's the question of honour and it being dishonourable for a daughter to feel that she's in a position to make her own choice about who she should marry.
The story is a good one too. I worked out whodunnit - for mostly the right reasons - but it didn't spoil the pleasure of the book at all. I wasn't really convinced that I was right until the final few pages, particularly as the dramatic tension was ramped up considerably and, annoying as I might find Mrs Singh, I was desperately worried for her.
There is a theme which has run through all the books in this series which I've read: Inspector Singh might be the person who 'investigates' but he's always working with a strong woman. In other series I might have thought that this was becoming formulaic, but there's a freshness about the stories (perhaps because of the changing locations) which lifts them. I was a little disappointed in the last book in the series which I read as I thought that the title gave away far too much of the story, but this one I thoroughly enjoyed and I'd like to thank the publishers for sending a copy to the Bookbag.
If this story appeals then we think that you might also enjoy The Case of the Deadly Butter Chicken (Vish Puri Mysteries) by Tarquin Hall.
Please share on: 
Facebook, 
Twitter and
Instagram
You can read more book reviews or buy Inspector Singh Investigates: A Frightfully English Execution by Shamini Flint at Amazon.co.uk Amazon currently charges £2.99 for standard delivery for orders under £20, over which delivery is free.
You can read more book reviews or buy Inspector Singh Investigates: A Frightfully English Execution by Shamini Flint at Amazon.com.
Comments
Like to comment on this review?
Just send us an email and we'll put the best up on the site.
