with Ian Simpson
We are delighted to welcome back mystery author Ian Simpson to Omnimystery News.
Last week Ian provided us with an excerpt from his second mystery to feature newly promoted DI Flick Fortune and DS Bagawath "Baggo" Chandavarkar, Murder on the Second Tee (Matador; June 2014 trade paperback and ebook formats) and in his guest post today he interviews the Detective Sergeant.
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Ian Simpson: Do you mind if I call you Baggo?
Photo provided courtesy of
Ian Simpson
Bagwath Chandavarkar: Why should I? Everyone else does. Well, nearly everyone.
IS: You're thinking of Detective Inspector Fortune?
BC: Of course. She has a distinct tendency towards iron knickers.
IS: But you get on well, and work well together, don't you?
BC: You know that from the two books you have written about our cases. Although we are very different I hold her in high regard and I believe she respects me.
IS: I get the impression that you deliberately wind her up with puerile jokes?
BC: Well, her lack of humour makes that irresistible. If she relaxed a bit the temptation would be reduced.
IS: What are her strong points?
BC: She is clever and brave, very determined and principled. Her principles can sometimes get in the way of bringing a criminal to justice.
IS: Unlike Inspector No?
BC: Absolutely. They are chalk and cheese. There were days in Wimbledon CID when you could cut the atmosphere with a knife. She was just a sergeant then and he made her life hell. She complained, but he continued to irritate her any way he could.
IS: How did you get on with Inspector No?
BC: Not badly. I could see that there was sometimes a need for what he called "old-fashioned methods" and he relied on me for IT. He was a complete dinosaur and could do almost nothing on a computer.
IS: So you use the odd irregular tactic as a policeman?
BC: As we say in Mumbai, you cannot clean the streets and keep your hands squeaky-clean. I will tell the odd white lie. But I have never planted evidence.
IS: It must have been a shock when No turned up in St Andrews as a private eye?
BC: It certainly was! But not half as much of a shock for me as it was for Flick Fortune.
IS: She was probably surprised when you turned up?
BC: Yes, but the fraud angle to the investigation cannot have been unexpected.
IS: How are you enjoying the Serious Fraud Office?
BC: A lot. It is most stimulating and I am learning a good deal. My IT background comes in handy.
IS: You came to Britain from Mumbai in your teens when your father was appointed a consultant urologist. Do you miss India?
BC: At times a lot, but mostly it is a bundle of nice memories. My life is here. That is how it is. My mum and dad live in Bedford. My dad will retire soon but plans to stay.
IS: Are you working on anything interesting at the moment?
BC: You should know. You are the writer!
IS: Thank you, Baggo.
BC: Thank you. And please can I have a really nice, sexy girl in the next book?
IS: We'll see.
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Ian Simpson was brought up in St Andrews and played the Old Course many times. His lowest handicap was three. After fourteen years at the Scottish bar he was appointed to the bench where his workload covered the spectrum from brutal homicides to a youth who rode round Airdrie housing estates on a bike, stealing garden gnomes. When he retired, unable to spend all day on the golf course, he wrote crime fiction as well as light-hearted newspaper articles on legal topics.
He lives in Edinburgh with his long-suffering wife, Annie. They have two sons.
For more information about the author, please visit his website at IanSimpsonAuthor.co.uk or find him on Twitter.
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Murder on the Second Tee
Ian Simpson
A Flick Fortune and Bagawath Chandavarkar Mystery
The first blow took Hugh Parsley by surprise. It fractured his right temporal bone and tore the middle meningeal artery. He stumbled and fell face down on the grass. A blow to the back of his neck cracked the occipital bone at the base of his skull. He was struck several times about the left temporal area. His brain ceased to function. Hugh Parsley was dead.
The directors of the niche Bucephalus Bank are meeting in a St Andrews hotel. One of them is found dead on the golf course. It is Flick Fortune's first case as a detective inspector. As she struggles to uncover the murderer behind the bank's respectable façade, she receives unexpected help from Detective Sergeant Bagawath "Baggo" Chandavarkar, who is investigating a multi-million pound money laundering scam.
Another murder follows and Flick's old boss and tormentor, ex-Inspector No, makes an unwelcome intrusion before the truth is revealed …
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