‘Bloody Foreigners’ by Neil Humphreys

Published by Muswell Press London,
31 March 2022. 
ISBN: 978-1-83834-013-1 (PB)

The third book of the DI Low series is set in London.  In an effort to get rid of the brilliant, but irascible, detective, the Singapore government has sent Low to lecture on criminology at the London School of Economics - the college where he had studied several years previously.

Low hasn’t been in London long before he becomes embroiled in the murder of a young Muslim foreign student, Mohamed Kamel. The crime is investigated by DI Ramilla Mistry. Low and Mistry have history. When they were students, they were a loving couple. Later, when Ramilla saw how unstable Low was and how cruelly he could treat suspects if they didn’t tell him what he wanted to know, she had deserted Low. Ramilla is now happily married with a young son. Low still loves her.

Because the initials MEGA - Make England Great Again - were left on a wall near Mohamed’s body it was assumed that the murder was linked to a wave of xenophobia and racism currently being encouraged by far-right fanatics including the polarizing political leader Billy Evans. The situation becomes more complicated when Mohamed’s girlfriend, Zhang Jun Li, a young Chinese doctor, posts a savage rebuttal of MEGA’s behaviour on Facebook. She suffers a terrible fate.

Low can’t help interfering in the investigation. Apart from anything else, he is terrified that the wrath of MEGA’s campaign will be turned against DI Mistry - a young Indian woman – and her family.  He’s not wrong. But the police in London regard Low as a cross between an enigmatic Chinaman with a gift for criminal mind games and a bipolar sociopath and are, not surprisingly, reluctant to accept his help.

The story charges along at a great rate before it ends with a couple of devastating twists in the tale and Low heads back to Singapore. In spite of Low’s extraordinarily unpredictable and bad behaviour you can’t help but admire his detecting skills and wish that he could sort out his mental problems and get himself a better life. I have no idea what the future holds for this unfathomable detective, but if Neil Humphreys plans to write any more books in the series, then I’d certainly be interested in finding out.
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Reviewer: Angela Crowther.

Neil Humphreys  grew up in Dagenham Essex and went to university in Manchester. He now lives in Singapore where he writes for various publications and broadcasts on TV and radio. He is one of the bestselling authors in Asia.

 

Angela Crowther is a retired scientist.  She has published many scientific papers but, as yet no crime fiction.  In her spare time Angela belongs to a Handbell Ringing group, goes country dancing and enjoys listening to music, particularly the operas of Verdi and Wagner.