Singapore writer, Shamini Flint's sleuth in Inspector Singh Investigates... plot descriptions for 2 out of 3 thrillers (2009)

November 10, 2008

by Suzan Abrams

Short Introduction

Here are the short plots for Singapore writer, Shamini-Mahadevan Flint's 2 thrillers (2 out of 3) due out by the Piatkus Imprint from Little Brown UK, next year in 2009. The first one you may have read already but the second one, is just out on the web.

I had announced her publishing story in earlier months from Publishing News, but the plots have only just been released after the Franfkurt Book Fair. Flint is also on the US rights list.

35-year old Flint, a former lawyer born in Malaysia now turned writer, is a Singapore National and officially, a Singapore writer. She was introduced at the Singapore Writer's festival last year as a writer from their country. Both the National Library Board and National Heritage Board in Singapore describe her as a local writer, which means as one pertaining to their own.

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The three thrillers to be published by Little Brown UK from next year were originally published in Singapore. The third plot description has its setting in Singapore.

Anyway, the first thriller by Shamini Flint due out by Piatkus, UK in May 2009, and part of a Sikh Inspector sleuth series in different cities. The first is called A Peculiar Malaysian Mystery... Inspector Singh investigates.

The plot talks about a beautiful Singaporean model, Chelsea Liew who is on death row for the murder of her ex-husband., Alan Lee, a Malaysian heir to a timber fortune.

When Inspector Singh is sent from Singapore to Kuala Lumpur to investigate the crime, he knocks badly against a wall of religious and cultural conflicts within Liew's family that will test his judgement to the limits, even if his instincts tell him that the model is innocent. Plus, with the Malaysian police glad to see the back of Singh, how will he find out who the real murder is?

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The second plot description has just been released on the Web and the book is titled Inspector Singh Investigates... A Bali Conspiracy Most Foul. It is to be published in October 2009.

I'll just replay the standard plot description for you here.

Inspector Singh is back, but this time on secondment to Bali. A bomb had been let off in the most touristy part of the island and Singh has been sent to help with security and anti-terrorist measures. But very soon the Bali police realise Singh has little to offer them in terms of experience in this field. He?s much better suited to doing what he?s good at - solving murder. Simple! So when a body is discovered in the wreckage, killed by a bullet before the bomb went off, Singh should be the one to find the answers. But simple murders are never as simple as they seem ? and this one has far-reaching political consequences?