This was the first case for Bombay CID Inspector Ghote and has just been reissued by Penguin Modern Classics, alongside three other novels in the long lasting series. Sadly the books appeared just a few days following veteran British author Keating's death. Ghote is a unique creation, with a complicated family life and a deferential attitude which also means he is terribly underrated by his superiors, criminals but also the readers. Gentle sleuthing with terribly ingenious plots and a great, colourful background, and endearing characters. Deservedly classics.
The Perfect Murder: The First Inspector Ghote Mystery Synopsis
In the house of Lala Varde, a vast man of even greater 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 the impossible theft of a single rupee to be dealt with ... The Perfect Murder introduced Inspector Ghote: Bombay CID's most dutiful officer, and one of the greatest, most engaging creations in all detective fiction.
H. R. F. Keating, Alexander McCall Smith Press Reviews
'Utterly loveable...Ghote is one of the great creations of detective fiction' Alexander McCall Smith
Author
About H. R. F. Keating, Alexander McCall Smith
H. R. F. Keating was born at St Leonards-on-Sea, Sussex, in 1926. 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. He died in London in March 2011 at the age of 84. He is survived by his wife, the actress Sheila Mitchell, and his three sons and a daughter.
Alexander McCall Smith is an internationally bestselling Scottish writer, most widely known as the creator of the No. 1 Ladies' Detective Agency series of novels.
