The Gentleman from Japan

Starred review from October 10, 2016
A complex mystery involving seven deaths in one night kicks off Church’s excellent sixth novel featuring enigmatic North Korean intelligence operative Inspector O (after 2012’s A Drop of Chinese Blood). O has been living in exile in Yanji, China, with his cynical nephew, Major Bing, who heads that city’s office of the Ministry of State Security. Bing doesn’t want any part in the investigation of the unexplained deaths of three elderly men at a noodle shop, two prostitutes behind a dim sum joint, a female tourist in a new Mongolian tearoom, and a well-dressed man in an upscale hotel restaurant. Contrary to Bing’s wishes, police reports of the eatery-related fatalities have reached his ministry’s headquarters in Beijing, forcing him to take a role. Bing must also fend off Yanji’s corrupt mayor, who hopes to use Bing’s failure to solve the case to get rid of him. Some unexpected turns lead to O taking part in an operation in Europe. The pseudonymous Church, himself a former spy, makes all the plot developments chillingly plausible.

October 1, 2016
A Chinese State Security officer follows a tantalizing trail to neutralize a devastating menace.The town of Yanji is hit with a bizarre rash of noodle shop poisonings, seven in one day. To Maj. Bing Zong-yuan, the eloquent narrator, its a clear if bizarre case of multiple murders. But the mayor, whos recently gotten an earful from Beijing, is convinced that this is an act of terrorism and presses the unflappable Bing to investigate. He dutifully visits the restaurants and consults his uncle, the legendary retired Inspector O (A Drop of Chinese Blood, 2012, etc.), who now has his own detective agency just across the border in North Korea. Indeed, O is two steps ahead of his nephew with news that a dangerous ex-triad chief known as Mike is back in the city and that the blonde wife of the owner of a huge local manufacturing plant was one of the victims. After learning Mikes recent whereabouts, Bing follows up on his instinct about Beijing bigwigs by visiting the houses of prostitution on Dooran Street, where the tea is regularly spilled. Meanwhile, in his subtle way, Inspector O continues to ferret out significant evidence, like a Portuguese connection to the crimes, while Bings contact takes him to Barcelona. Layer upon worldwide layer must be unpeeled to reach the solution. The sixth outing for Churchs wise inspector creates an intriguing synergy, with many insights into international culture and a complex plot.

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November 15, 2016
Inspector O and his nephew Major Bing, last seen in A Drop of Chinese Blood (2012), are still living together in a remote city in far-northeast China near the North Korean border. And they're still getting on each other's nerves. Bing, in charge of the local Ministry of State Security headquarters, is perplexed by the deaths of seven people in local noodle shops and some other unlikely events. O has abandoned being a private eye because profit leads to corruption. He's at loose ends until he meets an old colleague, Luis, a Chinese-Portuguese cop from Macao who asks him to travel to Portugal. As always, O isn't told exactly what is going on, but he is sure that Luis is representing Beijing and that it has something to do with a machine and a major shift from noodles to dumplings. In Lisbon, and then Barcelona, everyone O encounters seems to be a spook, and they all seem to know more than he does. But O abides, and fans of this fascinating series won't be disappointed.(Reprinted with permission of Booklist, copyright 2016, American Library Association.)