“The Inspector Ghote books … are quite exquisite, gentle novels that should find their place on any list of good crime fiction” – Alexander McCall Smith
Dogged, determined Inspector Ghote of the Bombay Police Crime Branch has been delighting readers since his first outing in the 1960s, and Severn House is thrilled to announce that – starting February 4 – we’ll be republishing 21 of his adventures in digital, many for the first time.
The creation of multi-award-winning author H.R.F. Keating – who in his lifetime held many prestigious roles, including following in the footsteps of Agatha Christie to become President of the Detection Club – Inspector Ghote will delight readers of traditional mysteries that combine both interesting settings and well-drawn characters. Enjoy Alexander McCall Smith’s No. 1 Ladies’ Detective Agency books, Abir Mukherjee’s Sam Wyndham series set in Raj-era India and Vaseem Khan’s Baby Ganesh Detective Agency novels? We think you’ll love the sometimes shy and uncertain, sometimes bumbling Inspector Ghote too.
We’re launching the series with two contrasting reads: a series prequel, A SMALL CASE FOR INSPECTOR GHOTE? – Keating’s last novel before his death in 2011 – and INSPECTOR GHOTE’S GOOD CRUSADE, an early instalment from the 1960s. Paired together, the books provide fascinating insight into the evolution of Keating’s style over his writing career – as well as both being cracking reads.
In A SMALL CASE FOR INSPECTOR GHOTE?, H.R.F. Keating returns to the beginning of Ghote’s career, taking readers on a journey back to Ghote’s first official case as an inspector – which starts with the horrible discovery of a head in his office rubbish bin.
H.R.F. Keating’s wife, the actor Sheila Keating, says of the book:
“After seven Harriet Martens books, Harry decided he had no more to say about his ‘Hard Detective’, but was itching to get back to his beloved Inspector Ghote. The trouble was that he had put all his India research into the black bin as an acknowledgement that he was abandoning India. Then it occurred to him that all he needed to do was to re-read his own books to recapture all those facts which had been in the research files. This he did before embarking on a new series which would start with the very beginning of Ghote’s time as an Inspector.
A SMALL CASE was the second in the new series, but turned out to be Harry writing at his very best. Not only a vivid picture of life working for the prestigious and eclectic Crime Branch, but also Ghote’s home life with Protima, his characterful wife, and very new baby son, Ved, artfully woven into a fast-moving story, as well as a picture of that other India – the slums of Bombay. Sadly, by now in his eighties with heart problems, this was to be the last book he wrote but a truly splendid rounding off of a spectacular career.”
Available UK/US on Feb 4, wherever eBooks are sold. Price: £8.99 / $10.99
In INSPECTOR GHOTE’S GOOD CRUSADE, the good-hearted inspector investigates the murder of an American millionaire and philanthropist, but finds himself at the mercy of a selection of unsavoury, unreliable – and just plain annoying – witnesses, who all seem determined to lead him astray.
Sheila Keating writes:
“THE PERFECT MURDER, in which Ghote first appeared, was intended to be a one-off – India being just one more of the off-beat settings of his earlier crime novels – but when it won the Crime Writer’s Gold Dagger award and furthermore found an American publisher, which the previous novels had not, it became obvious that there would have to be a follow-up. Harry was delighted because he had begun to fall in love with India.
Although he had already done an immense amount of research he realized there was a lot more to do. While he continued amassing Indian facts he wrote another standalone title, but after that he was ready to plunge back into India with INSPECTOR GHOTE’S GOOD CRUSADE. On this, his second outing, the Inspector is established as the endearing, put-upon character who became a favourite with crime book readers.”
Available UK/US on Feb 4, wherever eBooks are sold. Price: £8.99 / $10.99
The editorial team at Severn House are excited to share these gems of detective fiction with you, so you can find out for yourself why Booklist thought Keating was “an immensely talented author” and Ghote “wonderfully witty”; why Publishers Weekly described Ghote as “a most appealing sleuth”; and why the late, great P.D. James thought Ghote was “an enchanting and engaging character”.
FURTHER INFORMATION:
Author bio:
- R. F. Keating, known as Harry to his family and friends, was born in St Leonards-on-Sea, Sussex, in 1926. He was educated at Merchant Taylors School in London and Trinity College, Dublin, before training as a journalist. As well as publishing over sixty books in his lifetime, Keating was the crime fiction reviewer for The Timesfor fifteen years and held many prestigious roles, including Chairman of the Society of Authors and President of the Detection Club.
Keating’s first novel about Inspector Ghote, The Perfect Murder, won the Gold Dagger of the Crime Writers Association and an Edgar Allen Poe Special Award, and was later made into a film by Merchant Ivory. He subsequently won many more awards, including the CWA’s Cartier Diamond Dagger for outstanding services to crime literature. He lived in London with his wife, the actor Sheila Mitchell, until his death in 2011, aged eighty-four.
eBook schedule:
Feb 2020: – A SMALL CASE FOR INSPECTOR GHOTE?
- INSPECTOR GHOTE’S GOOD CRUSADE
Mar 2020: – INSPECTOR GHOTE CAUGHT IN MESHES
- INSPECTOR GHOTE HUNTS THE PEACOCK
Apr 2020: – INSPECTOR GHOTE PLAYS A JOKER
- INSPECTOR GHOTE GOES BY TRAIN
May 2020: – BATS FLY UP FOR INSPECTOR GHOTE
- FILMI, FILMI, INSPECTOR GHOTE
Jun 2020: – INSPECTOR GHOTE DRAWS A LINE
- GO WEST, INSPECTOR GHOTE
Jul 2020: – THE SHERIFF OF BOMBAY
- THE BODY IN THE BILLIARD ROOM
Aug 2020: – DEAD ON TIME
- INSPECTOR GHOTE, HIS LIFE AND CRIMES
Sept 2020: – THE ICIEST SIN
- CHEATING DEATH
Oct 2020: – DOING WRONG
- ASKING QUESTIONS
Nov 2020: – BRIBERY, CORRUPTION ALSO
- BREAKING AND ENTERING
Dec 2020: – INSPECTOR GHOTE’S FIRST CASE
Paperback schedule:
Severn House is also publishing selected titles in high-quality trade paperback editions. Expected to launch in April 2020, with a publishing schedule of one title per month, the initial four books chosen are A SMALL CASE FOR INSPECTOR GHOTE?; INSPECTOR GHOTE’S GOOD CRUSADE; FILMI, FILMI, INSPECTOR GHOTE; and DOING WRONG.
