Detective Low! Brilliant!

Lost Women (Inspector Low #4) by Neil Humphreys  

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A lorry driver is found dead in his van on a lonely stretch of road in Essex at Rainham Marshes. It’s near abandoned warehouses and industrial parks. Ideal for drug deals and the like. That the driver is Chinese is highly unusual. Even more puzzling is that inside are twelve young Asian women. Only one who’s older speaks english. All she will say is that she will only talk to Detective Inspector Stanley Low of the Singapore Police force.

Detective Inspector Mistry Ramila is an old friend of Low’s. Mistry is a British-Indian. Despite her impressive résumé, acceptance from the ranks is tough. She and Low have history. She’s assigned to Low whilst he’s in London. The case leads to Singapore. Her boss can’t authorise travel there but he can give her a week’s leave.

Low is a man who’s somewhat old style, understands people and obligation, and on saving face. His methods are unusual, frowned upon by his peers, but he gets results. Lately he’s been demoted back to raiding brothels, closed down during the pandemic. Now he’s caught up in an international trafficking ring.

Low and Mistry thread their way through the puzzle that this case brings, from London to Singapore, from self made millionaires, the effects of Brexit on the trucking industry, the need for foreign workers, and trafficking.

Timely, complicated and intriguing. I loved it!

A Muswell Press ARC via NetGalley.                                              

Many thanks to the author and publisher.