John Ball: Singapore (USA 2014)

From the Publisher:
"John Ball knows how to run with a good plot-and this is one of his best." -- Kirkus Reviews
When Madame Motamboru, SINGAPORE widow of the assassinated President of Bakara, is framed for murder in Singapore, she requests that her old friend Virgil Tibbs take part in the investigation. Because of U.S. interests in the area, Tibbs is cleared for passage.

Upon arrival, Tibbs finds that the police there are convinced of Madame Motamboru's guilt. All the evidence says that only she could have shot the man who visited her hotel suite. It's up to Tibbs to save her from hanging by uncovering the truth and outwitting the sinister organization that wants her dead.

And when Tibbs gets involved in another more bizarre murder case, it will take all of his legendary intelligence and cool-headed sawy to find the answers to two deadly and. apparently, unsolvable puzzles.

The son of a scientist, John Ball was born in Schenectady, New York, and grew up In Milwaukee. He attended Carroll College in Wisconsin. He subsequently worked as a science staff writer on Fortune, a music critic and feature writer for the Brooklyn Eagle, a daily columnist on the New York World-Telegram & Sun, a broadcaster for a Washington radio station, and a Director of Public Relations for the institute of Aerospace Sciences. His In the Heat of the Night was awarded a Mystery Writers of America "Edgar' for the Best First Mystery Novel of the Year, and since had been followed by The Cool Cottontail, also featuring his African-American detective, Virgil Tibbs. Mr. Ball has also authored a number of notable young adult books.

John Ball: Singapore. A Virgil Tibbs Mystery. Speaking Volumes, ISBN: 9781612329826 (June, 2014), 236 p., $14.95, eBook $.9.99.

John Ball: Singapore (USA 1986)

From the Publisher:
A BAFFLING CASE OF MURDER AND INTERNATIONAL INTRIGUE SUMMONS THE BRILLIANT BLACK DETECTIVE FROM THE STREETS OF PASADENA TO THE SORDID UNDERWORLD OF THE FAR EAST.

When Madame Motamboru, widow of the assassinated President of Bakara, is framed for murder in Singapore, she requests that her old friend Virgil Tibbs take part in the investigation. Because of US. interests in the area, Tibbs is cleared for passage. Upon arrival, Tibbs finds that the police there are convinced of Madame Motamboru's guilt. All the evidence says that only she could have shot the man who visited her hotel suite. It's up to Tibbs to save her from hanging by uncovering the truth and outwitting the sinister organization that wants her dead. And when Tibbs gets involved in another more bizarre murder case, it will take all of his legendary intelligence and cool-headed savyy to find the answers to two deadly and, apparently, unsolvable puzzles.

John Ball: Singapore. A Virgil Tibbs Novel. PaperJacks, ISBN: 0770105092 (Februray, 1987), 229 p., $3.50.

John Ball: Singapore (USA 1986)

From the Publisher:
President Motamboru of Bakara, one of the most respected leaders in Africa, was assassinated and his powerful political enemies ordered that his wife also be destroyed. Tricked into going to Singapore, Madame Motamboru is framed almost immediately on a murder charge. If she is found guilty, she will be hanged. Frightened, she requests that her friend Virgil Tibbs, the famous black homicide detective, take part in the investigation. Partly because it is in the national interests of the United States that she be cleared of the crime, arrangements are made for Tibbs to go to Singapore.

The police there are not encouraging about Madame Motamboru's chances. All the evidence seemed to prove that only she could have shot and killed the male visitor to her hotel suite. According to the police, she had told an impossible story, one that could not be believed. Tibbs knew that it was up to him to uncover the truth, to save her if he could. He has to find a way to outwit the hostile organization that wants her dead.

At the same time Tibbs becomes involved in another baffling case. A child is found dead in its bed. Then in spite of the precautions of the parents and the police, a second child in the family is murdered. There is no motive, no clue to the merciless killer.

John Ball: Singapore. A Virgil Tibbs Mystery Novel. New York: Dodd, Mead, & Co., 1986, ISBN: 0396087639, 239 p., $14.95.