Detective Inspector Chen Novels
5 primary works • 7 total works
Book 1
Introducing Singaporean DI, Wei Chen. "This exotic amalgam of police procedural, SF, comic fantasy, and horror is a delight from start to finish" (Locus).
When the fourteen-year-old daughter of Singapore Three's most prominent industrialist dies of anorexia, her parents assume that Pearl's suffering has come to an end. But somewhere along the way to the Celestial Shores, Pearl's soul is waylaid, lured by an unknown force to the gates of Hell. To save their daughter from eternal banishment, they come to Detective Inspector Wei Chen, whose jurisdiction lies between this world and the next.
A round-faced cop who is as serious as his beat is strange, Chen has a demon for a wife and a comfort with the supernatural that most mortals cannot match. But finding Pearl Tang will take him further into the abyss than ever before-to a mystifying place where he will have to cooperate with a demonic detective if he wants to survive. It's easy, Chen will find, to get into Hell. The hard part is getting out.
Snake Agent is the first of the five Detective Inspector Chen Novels, which continue with The Demon and the City and Precious Dragon.
When the fourteen-year-old daughter of Singapore Three's most prominent industrialist dies of anorexia, her parents assume that Pearl's suffering has come to an end. But somewhere along the way to the Celestial Shores, Pearl's soul is waylaid, lured by an unknown force to the gates of Hell. To save their daughter from eternal banishment, they come to Detective Inspector Wei Chen, whose jurisdiction lies between this world and the next.
A round-faced cop who is as serious as his beat is strange, Chen has a demon for a wife and a comfort with the supernatural that most mortals cannot match. But finding Pearl Tang will take him further into the abyss than ever before-to a mystifying place where he will have to cooperate with a demonic detective if he wants to survive. It's easy, Chen will find, to get into Hell. The hard part is getting out.
Snake Agent is the first of the five Detective Inspector Chen Novels, which continue with The Demon and the City and Precious Dragon.
Book 2
When Detective Inspector Chen goes on holiday, Chen's demonic partner Zhu Irzh finds himself alone in Singapore Three. The missing body of a brutally murdered socialite and the strange experiments of a well-connected, beautiful young heiress leads Zhu into a maze of murder and corruption.Detective Inspector Chen returns to the city just as Zhu's baser instincts seem to be getting the better of him. While the rest of the police department thinks the worst of Zhu, Chen suspects something more malignant, particularly when the forces of Heaven begin manifesting themselves in Singapore Three, taking sides and leaving a trail of death and destruction in their wake.
Book 3
The spell-casting detective and his demonic partner go to Hell on a fact-finding mission in this "pleasantly suspenseful . . . fantastical mystery" (Publishers Weekly).
For years, the embarrassing secret of the Singapore Three police department was Detective Inspector Chen-a specialist in the supernatural whose jurisdiction extended to Heaven and Hell. But when a rampaging goddess nearly destroyed the city, only to be stopped by Chen and his demonic partner, Zhu Irzh, the department was forced to reward them, resulting in the kind of attention that both cops loathe. Their new assignment is an affair of state, escorting the Heavenly functionary Mi Li Qi on a diplomatic mission to the underworld. By the time they're finished, Chen and Zhu Irzh will wish they had remained forgotten.
Soon after they check in to their hellish hotel, Miss Qi vanishes into the abyss. They follow her into the bowels of the demonic bureaucracy, where they will be forced to dodge all manner of otherworldly dangers if they wish to avoid a political incident with apocalyptic implications.
Precious Dragon is the third of the five Detective Inspector Chen Novels, which begin with Snake Agent and The Demon and the City.
For years, the embarrassing secret of the Singapore Three police department was Detective Inspector Chen-a specialist in the supernatural whose jurisdiction extended to Heaven and Hell. But when a rampaging goddess nearly destroyed the city, only to be stopped by Chen and his demonic partner, Zhu Irzh, the department was forced to reward them, resulting in the kind of attention that both cops loathe. Their new assignment is an affair of state, escorting the Heavenly functionary Mi Li Qi on a diplomatic mission to the underworld. By the time they're finished, Chen and Zhu Irzh will wish they had remained forgotten.
Soon after they check in to their hellish hotel, Miss Qi vanishes into the abyss. They follow her into the bowels of the demonic bureaucracy, where they will be forced to dodge all manner of otherworldly dangers if they wish to avoid a political incident with apocalyptic implications.
Precious Dragon is the third of the five Detective Inspector Chen Novels, which begin with Snake Agent and The Demon and the City.
Book 4
A supernatural detective in Singapore tries to save his wife-and the universe-in this "thoroughly original fantasy" by the author of Snake Agent (Publishers Weekly).
Detective Inspector Chen is getting used to visiting Heaven. It is a peaceful place, but the eerie calm and ever-present scent of peaches make him yearn for the chaos of Singapore Three. He has come to visit Mhara, the Emperor of Heaven, who ascended to the celestial throne after his father went mad and launched an ill-advised invasion of Hell. Order has been restored to the cosmos, and Mhara is characteristically serene, but trouble is lurking for this handsome young god.
Someone is trying to kill the Emperor of Heaven, and Chen does not have his demonic partner, Zhu Irzh, to fall back on. Zhu Irzh has vanished, Chen's wife is in danger, and a psychotic Bollywood star is on the warpath. It's another day in the office for the occult detective-a day that, if he doesn't restore order quickly, could be the universe's last.
The Shadow Pavilion is the fourth of the five Detective Inspector Chen Novels, which begin with Snake Agent and The Demon and the City.
Detective Inspector Chen is getting used to visiting Heaven. It is a peaceful place, but the eerie calm and ever-present scent of peaches make him yearn for the chaos of Singapore Three. He has come to visit Mhara, the Emperor of Heaven, who ascended to the celestial throne after his father went mad and launched an ill-advised invasion of Hell. Order has been restored to the cosmos, and Mhara is characteristically serene, but trouble is lurking for this handsome young god.
Someone is trying to kill the Emperor of Heaven, and Chen does not have his demonic partner, Zhu Irzh, to fall back on. Zhu Irzh has vanished, Chen's wife is in danger, and a psychotic Bollywood star is on the warpath. It's another day in the office for the occult detective-a day that, if he doesn't restore order quickly, could be the universe's last.
The Shadow Pavilion is the fourth of the five Detective Inspector Chen Novels, which begin with Snake Agent and The Demon and the City.
Book 5
A supernatural mystery set in Singapore featuring a "detective whose beat reaches to the fringes of Heaven and Hell," by the author of Snake Agent (Booklist).
No mortal has ever heard of the Book, and few in Heaven even believe it is real. Instead, they regard the stories of a bound volume older than time itself as something of a creation myth. But Mhara, the Emperor of Heaven, knows the Book is very real, very powerful, and very much missing. It has a mind of its own, and it appears to have wandered off-taking the secrets of the universe with it.
To find it, Mhara calls Detective Inspector Chen, a supernatural sleuth with previous experience in saving the universe. Chen has a lot on his plate at the moment: His wife is pregnant, his demonic partner is tracking the movement of an immortal horde, and he hasn't had a vacation in years. But for the sake of the Emperor, he'll do his best to return order to the cosmos. If he doesn't, who will?
The Iron Khan is the final volume of the Detective Inspector Chen Novels, which begin with Snake Agent and The Demon and the City.
No mortal has ever heard of the Book, and few in Heaven even believe it is real. Instead, they regard the stories of a bound volume older than time itself as something of a creation myth. But Mhara, the Emperor of Heaven, knows the Book is very real, very powerful, and very much missing. It has a mind of its own, and it appears to have wandered off-taking the secrets of the universe with it.
To find it, Mhara calls Detective Inspector Chen, a supernatural sleuth with previous experience in saving the universe. Chen has a lot on his plate at the moment: His wife is pregnant, his demonic partner is tracking the movement of an immortal horde, and he hasn't had a vacation in years. But for the sake of the Emperor, he'll do his best to return order to the cosmos. If he doesn't, who will?
The Iron Khan is the final volume of the Detective Inspector Chen Novels, which begin with Snake Agent and The Demon and the City.
