PimPage: An Occasional Feature in Which I Call Interesting Books to Your Attention

Last year about this time I reviewed an earlier novel about the chubby, chain-smoking Inspector Singh, one that I liked a lot. Now comes a new one with Singh, who's unappreciated by his superiors despite his considerable crime-solving skills, getting shunted off to Cambodia for a war crimes tribunal. He's just an observer, but when one of the witnesses meets an unexpected demise, Singh is put in charge of the investigation by the UN liaison.

Singh's at a big disadvantage, being in a strange country and not knowing the language, but he sets to work and uncovers things that a lot of people would rather keep secret. It's tough to write about a crime on the scale of genocide, but Shamini Flint does it with skill and compassion, and she even manages to keep the low-key humor that's a hallmark of the series. Check it out.