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The Misadventures of Inspector Digby
It all started with the dropping of a tray of drinks on a tropical island in the Indian Ocean, which eventually leads to repercussions as far away as Sri Lanka. Arriving at a tropical holiday resort, Digby ffotherington-Woo is wrongly assumed to be a police Inspector. Following two suspicious deaths on the island, Digby is persuaded to investigate, incurring the displeasure of the local police Inspector, but somehow arriving at the correct conclusion.
In the process, we meet a pair of illegal immigrant twins who were wrongly accused of being thieves, typical holidaymakers and staff of the resort. Eventually, after a number of humorous adventures, Digby is regarded as a hero.
He arrives home in Peckham, London, and is in the process of getting some sparkle back into his ailing marriage, when a young girl turns up on his doorstep saying that he had promised to take her as his wife. The consequences of this are potentially devastating, particularly to his wife and colleagues in the bus depot in Peckham, however, following the advice of the local Imam, plans to return the girl to her island home are put in place.
On the return journey, Digby and the girl are stranded in Sri Lanka as the airline company goes into administration. Luckily, Digby has a voucher for the Hotel Splendid View in Colombo, a thank-you gift from the resort island Manager, and it is while staying at the hotel awaiting an onward flight that Digby is taken hostage by three Sri Lankan youths on their first, abortive bank raid.
After a chaotic chase through the streets in a stolen tuk-tuk, Digby is imprisoned deep in the forest. Negotiations with the bandits, the Galle Gorillas, about a ransom take place and eventually a drop-off is arranged. At the same time, the girl’s father turns up in Sri Lanka to interfere and steal the ransom money before the Gorillas can collect it.
Digby has only one friend in his captivity, a young elephant, which likes to play games with Digby, and it is Trunky who provides the key to resolving the situation to the satisfaction of all concerned. Once again, Digby is feted as a hero. Meanwhile, back in Peckham, Digby’s wife, Chantelle, becomes a media icon.
During the unravelling of the plot, with its sometimes amusing and sometimes cynical views of modern society, the story gives a good insight into life on islands in the Indian Ocean, both holiday resorts and inhabited ones, and also life in Sri Lanka.
In the process, we meet a pair of illegal immigrant twins who were wrongly accused of being thieves, typical holidaymakers and staff of the resort. Eventually, after a number of humorous adventures, Digby is regarded as a hero.
He arrives home in Peckham, London, and is in the process of getting some sparkle back into his ailing marriage, when a young girl turns up on his doorstep saying that he had promised to take her as his wife. The consequences of this are potentially devastating, particularly to his wife and colleagues in the bus depot in Peckham, however, following the advice of the local Imam, plans to return the girl to her island home are put in place.
On the return journey, Digby and the girl are stranded in Sri Lanka as the airline company goes into administration. Luckily, Digby has a voucher for the Hotel Splendid View in Colombo, a thank-you gift from the resort island Manager, and it is while staying at the hotel awaiting an onward flight that Digby is taken hostage by three Sri Lankan youths on their first, abortive bank raid.
After a chaotic chase through the streets in a stolen tuk-tuk, Digby is imprisoned deep in the forest. Negotiations with the bandits, the Galle Gorillas, about a ransom take place and eventually a drop-off is arranged. At the same time, the girl’s father turns up in Sri Lanka to interfere and steal the ransom money before the Gorillas can collect it.
Digby has only one friend in his captivity, a young elephant, which likes to play games with Digby, and it is Trunky who provides the key to resolving the situation to the satisfaction of all concerned. Once again, Digby is feted as a hero. Meanwhile, back in Peckham, Digby’s wife, Chantelle, becomes a media icon.
During the unravelling of the plot, with its sometimes amusing and sometimes cynical views of modern society, the story gives a good insight into life on islands in the Indian Ocean, both holiday resorts and inhabited ones, and also life in Sri Lanka.
399 pages, Kindle Edition
Published November 5, 2015
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March 31, 2019
Part of me is not sure this gem is really a "murder mystery", or even "crime fiction". Although, it is still a charming book that begins with an identity misunderstanding and continues with amusing misadventures that include unexpected deaths, a robbery and a kidnapping. All quite PG.
Digby is a mild-mannered, unassuming Englishman who just wants a relaxing 2 week holiday on a tropical island. He chooses Maadafushi in the Lactivian Islands. (I googled Lactivian Islands and found nothing but Maadafushi is a island in the Maldives. I am not sure if the former is a made-up name or a old fashion name of the Maldives. The story-line has a feel of post British Rule. 1960s)?
It is there he encounters one misadventure after another. These misadventures and misunderstanding are quite amusing and kept me wanting to continue. It also helped the settings are in both the Maldives(?) and Sri Lanka make the story interesting. There is one on-going fault: the author depicts the natives as simple, fawning and greedy. That made me a little uncomfortable.
Digby is a mild-mannered, unassuming Englishman who just wants a relaxing 2 week holiday on a tropical island. He chooses Maadafushi in the Lactivian Islands. (I googled Lactivian Islands and found nothing but Maadafushi is a island in the Maldives. I am not sure if the former is a made-up name or a old fashion name of the Maldives. The story-line has a feel of post British Rule. 1960s)?
It is there he encounters one misadventure after another. These misadventures and misunderstanding are quite amusing and kept me wanting to continue. It also helped the settings are in both the Maldives(?) and Sri Lanka make the story interesting. There is one on-going fault: the author depicts the natives as simple, fawning and greedy. That made me a little uncomfortable.
Displaying 1 of 1 review