A excursion through the dark side of Asia through seven award winning crime novels.
Death of a Red Heroine by Qiu Xiaolong (Chen Cao #1) set in Shanghai China. The shady past of a popular party member comes to light after she is found dead. Winner of the Anthony prize 464pgs
Out by Natsuo Kirino set in Japan. A woman working graveyard in a Bento factory murders her abusive husband and enlists the help of her coworkers to cover it up. Winner of Best Novel by the Japan Mystery Writers and nominated for Best Novel by the 2004 Edgar Awards. 388pgs
Smaller and Smaller Circles by F. H. Batacan set in the Philippines. A pair of Jesuit priests try to solve a string of murders of young boys. Winner of the Carlos Palanca Grand Prize in 1999, the National Book Award in 2002 and others. 368pgs
The Investigation by J. M. Lee set in South Korea. A young guard is assigned to investigate the murder of a brutal fellow guard in a Japanese prison camp just after the second world war, and finds the guard was not who he appeared to be. Nominated for Foreign Fiction Prize. 336pgs
The Devotion of Suspect X by Keigo Higashino set in Japan. A detective trying to solve the murder of an abusive husband is thwarted by a mathematics teacher helping the abused wife. Winner of the 2006 Naoki prize, nominee for Best Novel, 2006 Edgar Awards and many others. (Detective Galileo #3) 352pgs
Skull Mantra by Eliot Pattison (Inspector Shan #1) set in Tibet. Inspector Shan is released temporarily from a prison camp to try to solve the murder of a headless corpse and quickly realizes powerful forces are involved. Winner of British Golden Dagger award, and Edgar Award for Best First Novel 428pgs
A Corpse in the Koryo by James Church set in North Korea. Inspector O given a simple assignment to photograph a car soon realizes things in North Korea can get very complicated very quickly. One of Publisher Weekly's Top 100 of 2006. 288pgs
Week 1 Death of a Red Heroine
Week 2 Death of a Red Heroine
Week 3 Out
Week 4 Out
Week 5 Smaller and Smaller Circles
Week 6 Smaller and Smaller Circles
Week 7 The Investigation
Week 8 The Investigation
Week 9 The Devotion of Suspect X
Week 10 The Devotion of Suspect X
Week 11 Skull Mantra
Week 12 Skull Mantra
Week 13 A Corpse in the Koryo
Week 14 A Corpse in the Koryo
Same as above