A Word With an Author
Continuing our series of features on Singapore-based writers, here we chat with best-selling author NEIL HUMPHREYS about his newest book, Bloody Foreigners, the third in his series featuring Singaporean detective Inspector Stanley Low.
Who’ll enjoy this instalment of the Inspector Low series and why?
What Casino Royale did for James Bond, Bloody Foreigners does for Inspector Low. The novel is a recalibration, a reset, a chance for loyal readers to enjoy his return, but also written for new readers discovering him for the first time in the UK and elsewhere. It’s also the most topical, focusing on the impact of populist, nativist politics and the dangers of pandering to xenophobia and isolationist policies. In other words, Inspector Low takes his big mouth to Brexit.
Why did you decide to set this one in London?
This novel was two years in the writing and 20 years in the making. I had always hoped to bring my two worlds together – Singapore and London – in a novel that examines why we are behaving the way we are at the moment. Low is my most autobiographical character. After Brexit but before COVID, obviously, I’d visit family in England and walk around in a daze, struggling with all these existential questions. How? Why? Who? How did tolerance become intolerance? Why is there so much fear of foreigners? Who is feeding this and what are their motives? I didn’t have the answers. But Low always has the answers. And, my god, he doesn’t hold back. Low unleashed is a treat, like taking my laptop on a roller-coaster.
What’s easier to write: murder mysteries, travel memoirs or children’s books?
I treat them all the same. An authentic voice is all that matters. Readers can smell bullshit a mile away. I’m currently writing my sixth book in my Princess Incognito series. This is a middlegrade series for kids and I’ve lost count of the times that my daughter has said, “Nope, don’t believe that. She wouldn’t do that. She wouldn’t say that.” That’s what every writer is working with, that instinctive antenna, that gut feeling of knowing if a voice feels genuine or not. To me, the rule is simple, whatever the genre. Adhering to the rule is the tricky bit!
First place you’d like to head to when travel is a thing again?
An overseas bookstore with my own book on the shelf! You have no idea. I’ve waited my entire professional life for a UK book launch with a UK publisher and when I finally get one – after 24 previous books – I can’t physically attend my own launch! It’s like watching a great party through a closed window.
How can readers get their hands on Bloody Foreigners?
A lot easier than I can, with a bit of luck. There are still signed copies of the limited edition hardback in Singapore. Copies are also available on shelves in the UK, the US and Australia. And the usual online retailers will happily supply everywhere else. And yes, the title is both literal and ironic. If anyone of a far-right persuasion reads this novel, they’re going to be very disappointed and, hopefully, a tad emasculated.