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Index Interviews: Elfrieda Abbe Adam Connell Mothers Who Write: Tessa Hadley Doorways to Intellectual Property In Authors' Minds Return to This Issue's Index Return to Homepage Subscribe
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Mystery/Thriller Book ReviewsPage One of FourThe Feng Shui Detective by Nury VittachiThomas Dunne Books, January, 2004Hardcover, 279 pages ISBN: 0312320590 Ordering information: Amazon.com | Amazon.co.uk 
Singapore resident C.F. Wong is a feng shui master who
is greatly respeted within his field. But the order and neatness
which calms his soul is in short supply at his office, which is
constantly disrupted by his harridan of an office manager and his
new, Australian teenaged intern, Joyce Mquinnie. While
inspecting the apartment of Dr. and Mrs. Tsai-Leibler, a fire breaks out
which nearly kills Mr. Wong and clients. To make things worse, a ghost is
haunting Dr. Leibler's dental offices. The ghost's antics are quite disturbing
to his patients and his business partner. Then Wong is called in by his two
psychic friends to consult on the case of a missing girl (his friends have
been hired by a Malaysian witch doctor). Now Fong's hunt for the missing girl will
take him from the hip nightclub scene to the shores of Australia -- with
the irrepressible and loud Joyce right by his side.
American readers are in for a welcome case of culture shock with The Feng Shui Detective. The worldview of the characters (with the exception of Joyce) is so different from the American one that reading the story really is like taking a trip across the globe. Wong, who would love to spend his time quietly writing his opus Some Gleanings of Oriental Wisdom, is constantly dragged out into the real, noisy world by his bubbly intern, Joyce -- with hilarious results. Joyce, a typical Western teen, is appalled by Wong's culinary habits. He finds her Starbucks lattes to be equally foul. Along the way, readers will learn many helpful feng shui tips -- the explanation of why one should clean up one's office is especially enlightening. This is a wonderful, wise and very funny mystery which will appeal to a broad range of readers. C.F. Wong is a hit. --Claire E. White The Haunted Abbot by Peter TremayneSt. Martin's Minotaur, May, 2004Hardcover, 298 pages ISBN: 0312287690 Ordering information: Amazon.com | Amazon.co.uk 
Sister Fidelma of Cashel and her husband of one year, Brother Eadolf,
are on their way home from Britain when they decide to stop to see
Eadulf's childhood friend, Brother Botulf. Brother Botulf lives
at Aldred's Abbey and wrote Eadulf a cryptic letter begging him to visit.
When the arrive, they find that the Abbey's evil reputation is well-deserved.
Abbot Cild won't allow women on the premises of the Abbey and
is fanatical about women knowing their place and about keeping the
rules of Rome. When the pair discover that Brother Botulf was murdered
just that morning and then the Abbot sees the ghost of his dead wife,
he accuses Fidelma of being a witch and imprisons her to await trial for
witchcraft. The penalty for a witchcraft conviction is death.
Fidelma has come down with a respiratory infection and is quite ill, so
Eadulf is on his own for much of the investigation to find Botulf's
murderer and save Fidelma. Politics intervenes as well, giving new
urgency to the investigation as civil war is about to break out.
Seventh century Britain is not an easy place to be a woman. Fidelma, as a brehon or magistrate, is used to having authority over legal proceedings in Ireland and having her opinions taken seriously. To be stuck in the seventh century with a group of men who look upon women as chattel is intolerable. (One wonders what effect this will have on her marriage.) Peter Tremayne continues to delight readers with his mastery of historical detail, intricate plotting and vivid characterizations. --Claire E. White Mystery/Thriller Book Reviews Page One | Page Two | Page Three | Page Four Click Here to Return to the Book Reviews Index ** To visit the archives of mystery books reviewed in The IWJ, please click here. |