Breakaway Books

Authored by S.J. Rozan and John Shen Yen Nee; Published April 2024; Mystery

⭐️⭐️⭐️ / 🏖️🏖️🏖️🏖️

The word that first occurs to me when I try to describe The Murder of Mr. Ma is charming. It’s from another era, one more scandalized by drug use and sex than the one we live in today. It feels pure in that way, in spite of the sheer amount of murders that take place in the book.

While not a particularly complex mystery, it’s easy to sink into, told from the singular point of view of a Chinese immigrant, Lao, in early twentieth-century England. Constantly fighting against prejudice, despite having fought on the side of the British in World War I, the reader can’t help but feel sympathy toward Lao, as he is dragged somewhat unwillingly into the investigation of several murders. 

Judge Dee, who must be described as the true hero of the story, is a skilled kung fu fighter–although I’m sure that I missed the nuances of the intricately described fight scenes. There is certainly more to the judge than meets the eye, or at least, I infer that there is, from the deep respect that he is shown from those who have heard of his travails. Throughout the novel, I couldn’t help but wish that I knew a little more about why others were quite so full of awe of the judge.

Nevertheless, amateur detective Lao’s perspective had me chuckling as he stumbled into more and more dangerous situations. The slightly slapstick nature of it all made me think a little of the Phryne Fisher mysteries, another delightful historical series. 

The Murder of Mr. Ma is a great escape when you want to stop considering twenty-first century problems and clamber into something a little bit simpler.