Inspector Singh and his murder investigations
Author Shamini Flint We are familiar with the fictional detectives of the West. Sherlock Holmes remains the all time favourite, followed closely by Agatha Christie’s finicky Belgian detective, Hercule Poirot. There are several others. For some reason, women writers in the UK seem to have particular affinity towards detective fiction; the names of Agatha Christie, Dorothy Sayers and P D James come readily to mind. Bengalis also have their own homegrown pantheon of detectives, chief among whom are, of course, Byomkesh Bakshi and the beloved Feluda. However among Asian writers writing in English, there appeared to be a singular dearth of fictional detectives, at least I cannot recall anyone offhand. This appears to have been remedied now by the advent of Inspector Singh. This typical, yet atypical, sardar does not live in his native Punjab, or even in Delhi. He lives in Singapore where he is not the favourite of his senior officers, However they are forced to put up with him and his idios...