Death of a Diplomat, B.M. Allsopp

The sixth novel now in the Fiji Islands Mystery series, DEATH OF A DIPLOMAT has a lot of twists and turns in the personal sides of the lives of DI Joe Horseman and his team. Because of that you really would be best to dip into the series a tad earlier than this one, just to get a taste for the day to day life of a Fijian Police DI, and the sorts of cases that he and his team have to deal with. To say nothing of an unsupportive, mildly bats boss, and Horseman's beloved Junior Shiners rugby team.

Rugby looms largish in these storylines as Horseman was a very famous Fijian rugby player before injury put pay to that career and saw him return to the islands, taking up a career in the police force. I say largish in that his fame is a way into a lot of situations, but the "rugby" talk itself is mostly confined to the recognition and accolades heaped on Horseman by the people he encounters. He is also supported by a close and hardworking team of police colleagues, and a close relationship with many people who form the periphery of lots of his investigations.

It is one of those series that has been building a world in which it inhabits, and the sense of place, and culture is strong in these. The food descriptions are all too frequently mouth watering, the locations for some of the cases glorious, and the culture, and way of the people shines through. There is a bit of Fijian language dotted throughout the dialogue (with a glossary helpfully included), but there is never anything that can't be sussed from the context, and somehow those greetings, and exclamations make the feel of the novels even more authentic.

This time around there's a weaving in of Horseman's extracurricular activities - a rugby team made up of street kids in dire need of support and guidance - and the untimely murder of the Australian High Commissioner to Fiji, Her Excellency Helen Armstrong, who was immediately noticed as missing when she didn't arrive to open a hostel built for the street kids with her assistance. This makes Horseman's investigation doubly personal, not only did he know this victim, he admired her and he would always be grateful for her support to help his beloved Shiner kids (many of whom earn a paltry living on the streets, shining shoes for people). (There is an amusing aside about the number of homeless shoeshine boys in a country where most people wear sandals at the most...)

The resolution of the case, as is often the way with this series, comes down to excellent forensic work, dogged ticking off of investigative points, and a sixth sense about what is and isn't right about all of this. (And a lot of tea drinking!) There's also a subthread here on the smuggling of drugs which serves as a great way to bring team member, now promoted and working on another island, Susila Singh back into the action, and into the world of favourite coffee shops, food and the team.

I've been a fan of this series since the early novels and it's always improved with each new book. DEATH OF A DIPLOMAT is a complex investigation, combining the complications of dealing with diplomatic restrictions and relationships between countries, but always pulling everything back to the lowest common denominator. What people do when they believe they have no choice. On the other hand, it looks like Horseman and Singh have some big decisions to make - some of which they do, some of which make you wonder what next.