The Perfect Murder: The First Inspector Ghote Mystery

Oct 30, 2024 5:27 AM

Author:H. R. F. Keating,Alexander McCall-Smith

Introducing Bombay CID's most dogged, dutiful officer, and one of the greatest, most engaging creations in all detective fiction, H.R.F. Keating's The Perfect Murder: The First Inspector Ghote Mystery includes a preface by Alexander McCall Smith, author of The No. 1 Ladies' Detective Agency, in Penguin Modern Classics.

One crime that couldn't have happened, one that probably hasn't. Nothing's ever easy for Inspector Ghote. In the house of Lala Varde, a vast man of even vaster influence, an attack has taken place. Varde's secretary, Mr Perfect, has been struck on his invaluable business head. And try as Inspector Ghote might to remain conscientious and methodical, his investigation is beset on all sides by cunning, disdain and corruption. And then there's another urgent case to be dealt with: the impossible theft of a single rupee . . .

H. R. F. Keating (1926-2011) was born at St Leonards-on-Sea, Sussex. He went to Merchant Taylors, leaving early to work in the engineering department of the BBC. After a period of service in the army, which he describes as 'totally undistinguished', he went to Trinity College, Dublin, where he became a scholar in modern languages. He was also the crime books reviewer for The Times for fifteen years. His first novel about Inspector Ghote, The Perfect Murder, won the Gold Dagger of the Crime Writers Association and an Edgar Allen Poe Special Award. His other works in Penguin Modern Classics include Inspector Ghote Breaks an Egg, Inspector Ghote Trusts the Heart, and Under a Monsoon Cloud: An Inspector Ghote Mystery.

If you enjoyed The Perfect Murder, you might like Keating's Inspector Ghote Breaks an Egg, also available in Penguin Modern Classics.

'May the redoubtable Ghote go on for ever'

Len Deighton

'Beautiful little classics'

Alexander McCall Smith

Reviews

Utterly loveable...Ghote is one of the great creations of detective fiction

—— Alexander McCall Smith

[A] well-balanced combination of instruction, mystification and action ... a very promising debut

—— Literary Review

The highly descriptive passages and the way we are given insight into the mind of Ned and Kate remind me of Chandler and his world-weary detective heroes. By the end of the first page, I was hooked ... Lewis has a way of making his characters interesting and amusing and loveable ... I cared about these people and that is what will make me look out for another book, hopefully another story involving Ned and Kate, by this promising author ... The writing is careful; every word is needed and considered. It is witty without being slick. Not a book to skip through but one to be enjoyed and savoured. I enjoyed every word.

—— Eurocrime

a neat plot, interesting social commentary and compelling writing...Don't miss.

—— Literary Review

[Leon] is a master at weaselling her way into the venal byways of human selfishness and laying them bare. ... There's a quietness to the crimes here that is more powerful than outlandish violence, and which points to the philosophical bedrock from which Leon so effectively works.

—— Scottish Sunday Herald

A new force to reckon with in suspense

—— Donna Anders

a darkly disturbing tale of murder and madness. Lief is a bold new voice in the suspense genre who demonstrates a talent for intricate plotting and ominous atmosphere. Someone to watch!"

—— Romantic Times Magazine

It's something the Americans always used to do slightly better, the escaped maniac who's coming after people, and eventually catching up with them, and this one'sno slouch. Heart-stoppingly entertaining.

—— Books Monthly

Your heart will be pounding long after you've turned the final page

—— LISA GARDNER

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