Some misinformed copywriter produced promotional copy for this novel comparing it to the gentle tales of the #1 Ladies Detective Agency. But it’s nothing of the sort. Shamini Flint’s clever cop, Inspector Singh of the Singapore Police Force, comes across as a comical figure, to be sure. But this story of A Most Peculiar Malaysian Murder relates a high-pressure homicide investigation that is anything but comical despite its, yes, peculiar resolution. The book is a worthy inaugural effort in a series that is now seven strong. The plot is ingenious, and Flint deftly introduces us to Kuala Lumpur, a city of nearly nine million people that serves as Malaysia’s capital and financial center.
An impossible assignment for a clever cop
A young former top model from Singapore, Chelsea Liew, is convicted in a Malaysian court of murdering her ex-husband, Alan Lee, a recent Muslim convert. Officials in Singapore want to ensure that she receives fair treatment—and, if possible, is released into their custody. They appoint Inspector Singh to look into the matter. Which the Malaysian police, unsurprisingly, regard as both unnecessary and unwelcome. They’ve already solved the case. A slam-dunk. Chelsea Lieu is guilty. Singh is not welcome in Kuala Lumpur.
Thus the disheveled Singapore police Inspector regards the assignment as hopeless. “If he managed to find a way through the thicket of politics overwhelming the case, they would claim the credit. If he failed, they would hang him out to dry, pleased to get rid of one of the last mavericks in the Singapore police. His was not an organisation that appreciated instinct over method, results over means, footwork over paperwork. He was the elephant in the room that no one talked about but everyone hoped would do the decent thing and take early retirement.” But all he can do is try. And the more deeply he digs into the facts, he becomes more and more perplexed. This is one murder investigation that will not be easily explained.
Inspector Singh Investigates: A Most Peculiar Malaysian Murder (Inspector Singh #1) by Shamini Flint (2010) 302 pages ★★★★☆
Here’s the scoop
First, the convicted woman refuses to speak with him. When she finally consents to do so, what she tells him is not helpful. Then somebody else—Jasper Lee, a former brother-in-law—confesses to the murder. But he’s not talking, either. He resolutely refuses to explain why he killed his brother. Then things only become still more complicated. It turns out that there are three brothers. Jasper is the eldest, regarded as the black sheep in the family. He has refused to work for the forestry empire his father has built. So, his younger brother, Alan, the murdered husband, inherited the leadership of the company. However, Alan was a playboy, and the third brother, Kian Min, actually runs the company. Which, it turns out, is now engaged in illegal logging in Borneo in a protected forest, displacing an indigenous tribe.
There are complications galore. But amid the details of the investigation Flint does an admiral job of portraying the practice of illegal logging that is now denuding forests throughout Malaysia and Indonesia. And there’s nothing comical about that.
About the author
Shamini Flint was born in Kuala Lumpur, Malaysia, in 1969. She has been writing full-time since 2004 and is the author of children’s books as well as the seven novels to date in the Inspector Singh series. Before 2004, she studied at the University of Cambridge and practiced as a lawyer with Linklaters, an international firm. She is widely known for her work promoting fair trade products. Flint now lives in Singapore with her English husband and their two children
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