The best of the shorter adventures of Inspector Ghote, 'one of the great creations of detective fiction' (Alexander McCall Smith), are brought together in this page-turning collection of short stories - with a brand-new introduction by bestselling author Vaseem Khan. Inspector Ganesh Ghote of the Bombay CID stands alongside Hercule Poirot and Sherlock Holmes as one of the best-loved of fictional detectives. Mild mannered, often hamstrung by his refusal to accept bribes or force false confessions, but unparalleled in his determination to catch his killer, Ghote has delighted readers since his first appearance in print in 1967. This collection of short stories brings together some of the best of Ghote's shorter adventures. From 'The All-Bat Hat' to 'Murder Mustn't At All Advertise, Isn't It?', these stories celebrate Ghote and his painstaking investigative powers. Plus, an introduction by H. R. F. Keating himself gives a fascinating insight into the creation of the good detective, and how his life as a policewalla changed and evolved over the years to reflect real-life police work in the contemporary Bombay of the past.
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H. R. F Keating. Inspector Ghote, His Life and Crimes
INSPECTOR GHOTE, HIS LIFE AND CRIMES. H. R. F. Keating
INTRODUCTION
AUTHOR’S NOTE. His Life and Crimes
ONE. The Test
TWO. The Miracle Baby
THREE. The Not So Fly Fisherman
FOUR. The River Man
FIVE. Inspector Ghote and the Noted British Author
SIX. The Wicked Lady
SEVEN. The Cruel Inspector Ghote
EIGHT. Murder Must Not At All Advertise, Isn’t It?
NINE. The All-Bad Hat
TEN. Hello, Hello, Inspector Ghote
ELEVEN. Nil By Mouth
TWELVE. A Present for Santa Sahib
THIRTEEN. The Purloined Parvati and Other Artefacts
FOURTEEN. Light Coming
Отрывок из книги
Cover
Title Page
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At much this time, too, I transcribed one of my old radio plays into short-story form, making The All-Bad Man into ‘The All-Bad Hat’. The story sums up, I think, where Ghote had got to by 1984. I also contrived, when the Police Review asked members of the Crime Writers Association for stories with a police setting, to get into words a small project I had long meditated – a story to be told purely in telephone conversations. ‘Hello, Hello, Inspector Ghote’ is my tribute to the magnificent imperfections of the Bombay telephone system, now considerably improved as Ghote notes in his 1988appearance, Dead on Time.
In 1986 Ghote experienced existence in what, I suppose, has been his most comprehensive coming-to-life yet. In Under A Monsoon Cloud, I set out to consider the theme of anger, a quality which, looking back, I see was something in others which Ghote had singularly failed to come to terms with. But anger had also given him on more than one occasion an impetus helping an essentially nice man to take the sharp action which often brings about success in an ugly world.
