The Feng Shui Detective - Softcover

Softcover

ISBN 10: 1741755379 ISBN 13: 9781741755374

Publisher: Allen & Unwin

Synopsis

CF Wong is not quite a private eye, nor exactly a Zen sage. He is a feng shui master, a geomancer who consults to people who want to optimise the energy flow of their buildings. But his work has a habit of presenting him with problems of a less mystical, even criminal, nature.This summer he has been saddled with a favour for his boss: to supervise a young Australian woman on work experience. Riotous cultural confusion results as the unlikely pair travel across Asia solving mysteries in a style reminiscent of Sherlock Holmes. A delightful combination of crafty plotting, quirky humour and Asian philosophy, the Feng Shui Detective is an investigator like no other.

About this title

About the Author:

Nury Vittachi was born in Ceylon and now lives with his English wife and three Chinese children in Hong Kong, where he has published many books including the Feng Shui Detective series that has been translated into several languages. He has had regular columns in more than a dozen publications and regular slots on several television channels. He is also noted for playing a key role in founding the Asia Literary Review, the Hong Kong International Literary Festival, the Man Asia Literary Prize, and is advisor to a number of other literary festivals in Asia.

From Publishers Weekly:

A bestselling English-language author based in Hong Kong, Vittachi stands to become a lot better known in the U.S. with this soft-boiled mystery peopled by quirky, engaging characters, the first in a new crime series. Set in Singapore and featuring C.F. Wong, a "geomancer" or feng shui master, this lighthearted novel blends, blurs and contrasts the three main ethnic groups of the Asian city-state-Chinese, Malays and Indians. Along with his cohorts, Madame Xu and Dilip Kenneth Sinha (both psychics), the gifted, if often reluctant, detective gets drawn into a plot to save a young girl who has an extraordinarily bleak future, psychically speaking. Wong is dragged to Australia to solve the case by his intern, Joyce McQuinnie, a British-Australian teenager forced on him by a valued client. McQuinnie makes a great foil for his crankiness and obsession with order. The author, unfortunately, sometimes vies for the big laugh with groan-worthy broad humor, usually revolving around someone's accent or lack of understanding of English. Overall, however, his love for Singapore and its distinctive internationalism shines through. Vittachi's unique worldview infuses his writing with vitality and gives his characters a charming believability. American readers should enjoy the virtual vacation this book provides.
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About this edition

• Publisher: Allen & Unwin
• ISBN 10: 1741755379
• ISBN 13: 9781741755374
• Binding: Paperback