Marina Bay Sins

I LOVED THIS. For me, it was my introduction to detective inspector low/ah lian.

Gritty, engaging, and though I so wanted to finish it in one sitting, I had to restrain myself as I didn't want it to end.

The plot twist at the end, damn son!

Absolutely brilliant Neil... love love love it

P.s. each time I read it, I drank out of my exclusive Marina Bay Sands cup 😆

Really good mystery with great hard-boiled detective dialogue, an intriguing lead detective with interesting sidekicks snd a real sense of modern day Singapore expertly conveyed. The twist at the end is a whopper!

4/5 - Very Good.

The first book and introduction to Detective Stanley Low of the CIPB in Singapore is a great read.

A story that really opens up the culture and way of life of Singapore. How they do business, the corruption, the illusion and what’s behind that.

With Murder and Prostitution, Gambling and big money, an entertaining cast and a peculiar yet likeable protagonist, this is a fine start to a series with a big twist that’s very well concealed until the reveal.

I really felt like I was there at times, with the authentic language, the food, the hawkers and the hotels.

It’s a fine effort and I’m lucky enough to have the 2nd book from NetGalley and have purchased the 3rd, so much did I enjoy this one.

Detective Inspector Stanley Low of the Singaporean Police is mad,bad and dangerous to know. Months of working undercover during a very successful operation against a major Gangster has left with him with his undercover persona, ruthless Gangster Ah Lian constantly resurfacing as his "Mr Hyde". Low is not so much a loose cannon as a full 21 gun salute as he snarls,threatens and smashes his way through the rule book and anyone who gets in his way be they criminals ,colleagues,superiors or even prominent politicians,

An Australian is found dead in a hotel room, further investigation shows that there is also a dead prostitute in the room in what appears,literally,to be an open and shut case. Low investigates like a Bull in a china shop upsetting and abusing all who are unlucky enough to cross his path as the ripples from the murder spread further and further .

Low is a great character whose finer points could be listed on the back of a postage stamp with plenty of room to spare. He's been diagnosed as bipolar and there are some very touching moments when he's in a very dark place. Author Neil Humphreys manages the fine line between Low's mental illness being exploitative as a story-line and the explanation for some pretty horrendous behaviour. In his calmer moments Low is a simple man looking at Singapore's rise to the "Monaco of Asia" and wistfully looking back to simpler times..

I really enjoyed this book,as well as an entertaining crime thriller it's also a good look into the underbelly of Singapore,the side most don't see behind the fancy malls,the clean streets and the rush traffic where a Bentley or Ferrari is no big deal. Behind the slick facade there are the little people, wherever there's money there's corruption and this is Low's Singapore.

It's not for everyone,it's very violent and very sweary. My only problem was that some of the dialogue is in "Singlish" and there were acronyms that non-Singaporeans might have to Google. There is a glossary at the end,which I'd prefer to have been at the beginning of the book as reading on a Kindle I only found after I'd finished the story.
That aside I loved it and I'm looking forward to reading the next in the Stanley Low series.

It took me a little while to get into this book, but I ended up enjoying it.
I really liked the use of the characters speaking 'Singlish', although sometimes it was hard to know what some words meant - a lot of them you could kind of guess, but ended up Googling some of them. I found this quite interesting and really made me more interested in the story.
I also found that I could really picture the characters because of the way they talk.
Like I said, it took me a while to settle into the story but it was interesting and it's fascinating to see the difference in police procedures in other countries.
Overall I'd give it 4 stars as it kept my interest throughout the book and was interesting.