inspector singh investigates book cover 200709 book review 'Inspector Singh investigates: A most peculiar Malaysian murder' by Shamini Flint

After finishing the book, I must say that I felt sad! Sad because I had finished one of the best whodunits I've ever read in long, long time. And sadder because I wish I had written it! Every journalist and lawyer dreams of writing the great Malaysian novel at some point.

Flint presents one of the most delectable and lovable heroes to come by in a long while and you can't help falling in love with his character from the first time you meet him...waiting in a cattle class lounge in Changi Airport.

The plot, at first seems simple enough with all the ingredients you would get in a good detective story....a beautiful girl, a murder, a lover on the side and enough twists and turns to make this an instant page turner.

But this is more than just a whodunit. Flint is a Cambridge-trained lawyer who worked in Kuala Lumpur and now resides with her husband in Singapore. She gave up her law practice to be a full time mother and is an environmental activist.

The book, has part of the plot, a very serious environmental issue, rape of the forests, illegal timber logging and the dispossession of land belonging to the Penans in East Malaysia.

inspector singh investigates book lauch 200709 04 Flint (right in photo) manages quite easily to bring the issue close and up front with her deft handling of the language.

In fact, in 'Inspector Singh investigates', you will find some of the finest prose in the detective genre, and I am talking about the likes of Arthur Conan Doyle, James Hadley Chase and even Agatha Christie!

And to top it off, the cover design is reminiscent of the great detective novels of the 50s and 60s like Earl Stanley Gardner ('Perry Mason' series) and Lesley Charteris ('The Saint'), who by the way wrote from Singapore!

I couldn't help but just reread some of her wonderful descriptions of the various characters who find themselves gravitating to Singh's simple but razor sharp mind.

But repeating it here would do it no justice because it has a contextual character and can only be appreciated when read in the novel.

inspector singh investigates book lauch 200709 01 Dickensian in description, she is able to weave these very real characters around her plot which gives the novel an uncanny and frightening reality and relevance to today's newspaper headlines.

While Malaysia's diversity of culture, ethnicity and religion gives it a unique place in the world, it's also a source of potential powder keg for conflict.

A slice of life

In the novel, the author makes religious conversion of one spouse (read husband) to Islam an issue and the resultant legal and religious wrangles a big part of her plot and motive for murder.

Being a lawyer at heart, she presents the legal arguments and conundrums in easily understood prose, in the dialogue of the various legal personae, portrayed in their full regal regalia and garbs.

inspector singh investigates book lauch 200709 02 Yet, Inspector Singh is not a stereotypical tough guy. He is a complex, sometimes sentimental man of few friends.

You get glimpses of Singh's past and bit about his wife and a lot about him from his sister who stays in Kuala Lumpur.

Almost like TV's 'Columbo', you never get to meet the wife but you can get a vague picture that there is a long-suffering Mrs Singh and is probably the best friend he has.

But the cake must surely go to the two Malaysian police officers. Sergeant Shukor and Inspector Mohammad.

These two officers are the paragon of the force. Intelligent, caring, compassionate and beyond corruption! Subtle humour?

inspector singh investigates book lauch 200709 03 Flint is a master of her craft. While John Milton used his poetry as a vehicle for his religion, Flint uses the detective genre as a vehicle for her political ethos.

And the issues are relevant in today's context. She uses today's newspaper headlines for her material while spinning a tale that grabs you by the neck and shakes you up.

Issues that have been long pushed under the carpet of political correctness, are brought to the surface, raw and examined with the frankness of a fair legal treatise...almost!

All said and done, Flint is not unlike Stephen King, a chronicler of the times.

You get a critical slice of the unreported and unsaid Malaysian condition which you wished could be discussed freely without fear of being in contempt of the sedition laws.

The book had its Malaysian launch yesterday, fittingly in Bangsar, one of the scenes in the novel's actions.

If you only have time for one piece of fiction, 'Inspector Singh investigates a most peculiar Malaysian murder' has to be it.

DON AMECHIE is a freelance writer who has a doctrate in mass communications and a law degree.