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THE FENG SHUI DETECTIVE
by Nury Vittachi
St Martin's Minotaur, January 2004
277 pages
$23.95
ISBN: 0312320590


Buy in the UK | Buy in Canada

This is one of the funniest books I've read in years, a screwball comedy of a mystery. The setting is Singapore, the main character is CF Wong, a practitioner of feng shui. He first appears while evaluating a house for a client. Something is wrong, but he can't figure out what. He finally figures out what: a bad smell . . . the house is on fire!

Wong saves the day by finding the water pipes through feng shui and taking a hammer to them. A few days later the wife of the family calls him to say she knows who committed the arson: a ghost. She wants Wong to use his feng shui to get rid of the ghost, which is now in her husband's dental office.

Mr Wong also has an assistant, a young woman of British-Australian background, who speaks a version of English mostly incomprehensible to him. She is, however, useful when one young woman she knows is kidnapped. Then another acquaintance of hers is a subject of much concern because numerous psychics, astrologers, and Mr. Wong all agree something very bad is about to happen to her.

The writing becomes more serious as the subjects do, but still screwball events occur, such as several characters winding up on the roof of the Sydney Opera House. The characters are excellently drawn, and the plot follows its own weird logic. The settings are well depicted with the added spice of whether or not they follow the principles of good feng shui. Altogether a unique book, highly recommended.

Reviewed by Mary A. Axford, February 2004

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Contact: Yvonne Klein (ymk@reviewingtheevidence.com)


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