INTERNATIONAL MYSTERY
Henning Mankell, although he did not invent “world noir,” demolished the walls between English-language mystery/detective fiction and the rest of the world using the same structure to investigate just about anything dealing with the home society, truth, justice, betrayal — all the great fictional territory. Here we offer a canvas of what we carry from international writers who write mysteries, noir, cozies, historical detectives, and other gems that fit in the wide and glorious category of Mystery. Travel the world!
[Note: Georges Simenon’s works, including all the Maigret mysteries, have moved to a separate page dedicated to their author. Follow the trail!]
A Loyal Character Dancer
A Loyal Character Dancer
Inspector Chen’s mentor in the Shanghai Police Bureau has assigned him to escort U.S. Marshal Catherine Rohn. Her mission is to bring Wen, the wife of a witness in an important criminal trial, to the United States. Inspector Rohn is already en route when Chen learns that Wen has unaccountably vanished from her village in Fujian. Or is this just what he is supposed to believe? Chen resents his role; he would rather investigate the triad killing in Shanghai’s beauteous Bund Park. But his boss insists that saving face with Inspector Rohn has priority. So Chen Cao, the ambitious son of a father who imbued him with Confucian precepts, must tread warily as he tries once again to be a good cop, a good man, and also a loyal Party member.