Published: March 30, 2011
H. R. F. Keating, the prolific British crime novelist who created Ganesh Ghote, the humble Indian police inspector in Bombay, died on Sunday in London. He was 84.
The British author H. R. F. Keating, in an undated photo, wrote classic detective fiction, planting clues for readers to pursue.
The cause was heart failure, his wife, Sheila Mitchell, said in an e-mail.
Mr. Keating’s literary life was saturated in crime. He wrote more than 40 books of crime fiction, he reviewed crime fiction for The Times of London, and he wrote nonfiction about crime, including a character study of Sherlock Holmes, a guide to writing crime fiction and a list, accompanied by essays, of what he considered the 100 greatest crime novels.
More than 20 of his novels (as well as many short stories) featured Inspector Ghote (pronounced GO-tay), a man of peculiar charm in detectivedom. Shy and self-questioning and more benignly disposed toward humankind than the Sam Spades or Philip Marlowes of the world, Ghote is not especially tough or especially insightful in the ways of the criminal mind. He is, however, possessed of unassailable integrity, and he’s one of those stick-to-it guys who just can’t be put off the case.
The Inspector Ghote novels were frequently praised for their accurate portrayal of life in Bombay, now known as Mumbai, though Mr. Keating wrote several of them before he had ever visited India. They were narrated with an affectionate touch of humor.
Full piece at New York Times.
No comments:
Post a Comment