Asian Mystery Book List

Enjoy a good Asian mystery? Check out this book list...




1) "The Last Kashmiri Rose" by Barbara Cleverly

In a land of saffron sunsets and blazing summer heat, an Englishwoman has been found dead, her wrists slit, her body floating in a bathtub of blood and water. But is it suicide or murder? The case falls to Scotland Yard inspector Joe Sandilands, who survived the horror of the Western Front and has endured six sultry months in English-ruled Calcutta. Sandilands is ordered to investigate, and soon discovers that there have been other mysterious deaths, hearkening sinister ties to the present case.

Now, as the sovereignty of Britain is in decline and an insurgent India is on the rise, Sandilands must navigate the treacherous corridors of political decorum to bring a cunning killer to justice, knowing the next victim is already marked to die.

2) "Belshazzar's Daughter" by Barbara Nadel

Tourist brochures present Istanbul as a glamorous, modern city, but the brochures don't make much mention of Balat, a decrepit neighborhood of narrow, twisting alleys and crumbling tenements. Until recently it was home to Leonid Meyer, a reclusive elderly Jew who, like many of his neighbors, came here long ago to escape one of Europe's various bloodbaths. But Meyer's refuge ultimately became his coffin, the carnage crowned with a gigantic swastika. Inspector Ikmen begins tracking down the few people who might have known the old man, including a faded prostitute, a shadowy family of Russian emigrs, a despairing rabbi, and a high-strung young Englishman in the throes of erotic obsession.

3) "The Chinese Gold Murders" by Robert Van Gulik

In this, the second book in Robert van Gulik's classic mystery series of ancient China, Judge Dee must look into the murder of his predecessor. His job is complicated by the simultaneous disappearance of his chief clerk and the new bride of a wealthy local shipowner.

Meanwhile, a tiger is terrorizing the district, the ghost of the murdered magistrate stalks the tribunal, a prostitute has a secret message for Dee, and the body of a murdered monk is discovered to be in the wrong grave. In the end, the judge, with his deft powers of deduction, uncovers the one cause for all of these seemingly unrelated events.

4) "Beijing Abduction" by Sha Li

Beijing Abduction grabs attention with suspense. Who is following Mai Martin, an American in Beijing? And why? Ronald Zhao, a retired Hong Kong police commissioner, drops into her life just when she needs someone, and her husband is gone on one of his covert meetings.
Internet treachery slithers between the Chinese authorities she calls The Dage and the American woman, through the spaces in communications between her and her husband. Corruption crosses international borders and threatens sovereign nations. It feeds on trafficking and abduction, murder and loyalty. 

Running away from her problems at home in California seems foolish, especially since it attracts the attention of North Korean agents trying to capture her husband, but not as foolish as hoping for love to appear. But she and Ron want to feel something again, and the spirit of tan [desire] whispers to them in the dark, promising something sweet. 

5) "The Dragon Scroll" by I.J. Parker

In an adventure filled with highway bandits, unscrupulous politicians, and renegade monks, The Dragon Scroll introduces readers to the lively world of eleventh-century Japan and an irrepressible hero—Sugawara Akitada. On his first official assignment, Akitada—an impoverished nobleman and earnest young government clerk in the Ministry of Justice—is sent from the capital city on a nearly impossible mission to the distant province of Kazusa to discover why tax convoys are disappearing. In the politically murky world of the Japanese court, he has been set up to fail. Against the odds, the ever-resourceful Akitada, his elderly servant Seimei, and his impudent bodyguard Tora are determined to fulfill their mission and discover the truth in a town of dangerous secrets.

6) "The Feng Shui Detective" by Nury Vittachi

Feng Shui master C.F. Wong is no fan of the 21st century. It is far too rushed and noisy, a terrible environment for the kind of peaceful contemplation that his work requires. His clients seem to view him as some sort of general problem-solver, as able to find a missing child as he is to correct the pernicious influences that are bringing bad luck to a business. But there is worse. One of Mr. Wong's clients, a client who cannot be offended, has given Mr. Wong a gift. It comes complete with a never-silent cell-phone, an unfortunate wardrobe, and a grating Australian accent. Mr. Wong has an intern.

7) "The Buddha Kiss" by Peter Tasker

Richard Mitchell's boss Yazawa seems set on ruining his career, if he doesn't poison him first, and every time Mori gets anywhere with investigating the death of his friend's daughter, someone tries to kill him. Japan is on the verge of destruction and both men are caught right in the middle.