In the title story, Inspector Dreadlock Holmes and his sidekick Rudeyard Fly are sent for by the Criminal Investigation Department of Middleham-by-Sea - a little town known for tea shops, pet shops, and florists - in short, a rustic retreat for naughty weekends. Keen to kick-start their diversity policy, the Department sends for two Black cops who see this as a chance to prove their cross-cultural mettle and solve the brutal attack on Lord Montagu, a controversial political figure found unconscious with a courgette by his side. In other stories, an Anansi spider stows away on the Windrush, Cod and Chips are usurped by Chicken Tikka Marsala, and a white landscape gardener who admires Capability Brown has a mixed-race child, Cosmopolitan Brown, who is dispossessed by voices from history, including that of Martin Luther King. Surreal and playful, John Agard's stories reveal hidden truths that subtly change our view of who we are and where we come from.

The first work of fiction from the poet legend John Agard

About the Author
Poet, performer, anthologist and prose writer, John Agard was born in Guyana in 1949 and came to Britain with his partner, Guyanese poet Grace Nichols, in 1977. His collections of poetry include Man to Pan, I Din do Nuttin', Mangoes and Bullets, We Brits, and Travel Light Travel Dark. John Agard's awards include the Casas de las Americas Prize (Cuba), the 1997 Paul Hamlyn Award for Poetry, and the Queen's Gold Medal for Poetry in 2012. In 2021, John Agard was the first poet to be awarded the BookTrust Lifetime Achievement Award. Inspector Dreadlock Holmes and other stories is his first collection of fiction for adults.

Reviews
'... If Agard had not already been forged in the roller-coaster aftermath of empire, there would be an urgent need for society to invent someone like him' FINANCIAL TIMES



Book Information
ISBN 9781913109875
Author JOHN AGARD
Format Paperback
Page Count 272
Imprint Small Axes
Publisher HopeRoad Publishing Ltd