Death by Duck

A case of murder without a corpse. A murder takes place in the dean’s office of a law school, and the perpetrator, wearing a Donald Duck mask, flees after throwing his pistol to Dean Ansari. When the dean’s secretary walks into the office, she sees Ansari standing over the body, gun in hand, and accuses him of murder. Giving a flimsy excuse, the dean vanishes. After a fruitless search for him, his secretary returns to discover that the body is gone. Only blood on the carpet remains. In a matter of minutes, three people have disappeared.

Thinking he might be wrongly convicted of a heinous crime, Dean Ansari escapes, panic-stricken, to India – the farthest place in his imagination. However, he leaves careless clues, and Detective Joe Walsh is able to trace him to Mumbai. He and the dean meet there and, not recognising each other, become friends.

During this time, Ansari falls in love with a Chinese courtesan who steals his money on orders from her pimp, Raji Rau. When the penniless dean realises he must leave again, he turns to her for help. They flee together, Ansari clueless that her generous offer to pay for their expenses is actually with his own money. Their escape is hardly the end of the dean’s troubles. Other mishaps occur, and perplexing questions remain: Who was the person in the Donald Duck mask? Was there a murder? If so, what happened to the body? Does Joe Walsh ever catch up with Dean Ansari? And, of course, what becomes of the budding romance between him and the Chinese courtesan?

“I very much enjoy the craft and process of writing. I’ve travelled widely, lived in sub-Saharan Africa and visited the Far East. I’m acquainted with heat, jostling crowds, and numbing poverty. In my work and travels, I’ve met a raft of fascinating characters, some good and some bad,” says John, of his inspiration for the book.