Inspector Mislan

21 Immortals introduces an exciting new voice in international noir-for readers of Jo Nesbø, Keigo Higashino, and John Burdett. Inspector Mislan's final case after a long night's shift could be his last. Called to a wealthy neighborhood of Kuala Lumpur, he finds a crime scene unlike any he has encountered before: pristine, the victims a family seated at dinner, Mona Lisa smiles fixed to their faces, frozen mid-gesture around the traditional Chinese New Year dish of yee sang, signifying prosperity, longevity, many good things-though it's not that time of year-an eerie, chilling tableau, of death, but signifying what? The celebrity of the father, fashion magnate Robert Tham, has already drawn a media throng, and soon the upper echelons of the police have taken an interest, bringing pressure to solve the crime quickly. But every clue points to another unknown. This isn't the primary scene: where is it? What are the motives of Tham's younger business partner, the attractive Miss Irene? What of his connections to an old-school criminal gang and the triads? With rival units of the police seeking to co-opt and, he suspects, bury the case, Inspector Mislan's investigation takes him to every level of this modern, multi-ethnic, American-pop-culture-influenced society, to where moneyed power and influence demand their say. Maverick, hard-boiled yet tender, a single father raising a young child, Mislan must rely of his team-and the politically savvy woman leading Major Crimes who is his boss-to support, protect him from the corruption above, and help find a way to ensure the course of justice.

For fans of Jo Nesbø, Ian Rankin, and John Burdett, a gripping crime thriller that is steeped in the grit and feel of the street. In the run-up to the Eid holiday, the police department is drained of staff and the DUKE expressway jammed with vehicles, as many in Kuala Lumpur leave the capital to join their extended families and celebrate the end of Ramadan. In the slow lane, a Mercedes E200 suddenly veers to the right after several bright flashes and comes to rest against the guardrail. When the highway patrol arrives, what looked like a traffic accident turns out to be an apparent murder-suicide of the driver and his female passenger, both having suffered gunshot wounds. Yet, called to lend a hand with the investigation, Inspector Mislan finds something else again. The dead man and woman, a wealthy, politically connected entrepreneur and his business associate, were by all appearances engaged in a long-term affair, seemingly in love, and the crime scene doesn't add up for suicide. But then, if these two successful people were murdered, why? And how, when the car was locked from the inside? And why does the political establishment want the case closed in such an awful hurry? Once again, Mislan must find a way-with the help of his team and his politically savvy boss-to withstand the pressure from above, solve an impossible mystery, and ensure that justice prevails.

For fans of Jo Nesbo, Ian Rankin, and Michael Connelly, the third Inspector Mislan thriller takes the inspector to a netherworld of vicious sex crimes. In this new thriller, Mislan and his assistant, Detective Sergeant Johan, are called to the scene of an ongoing investigation by D11, the Sexual & Child Abuse Investigation Division, that involves a series of rapes of successful young women. What immediately jumps out in the first case D11's Inspector Sherry Azlina Syed Abdullah investigates is that the attack was filmed with a videocam. The perpetrator, gloved and masked, had gained access to the victim's apartment and was there with a cameraman, standing over her, when she woke in her bedroom. When the video appears on UTube with the legend that it is her "Salvation," the shame of it drives her to suicide. The second case involving the same M.O. has left a friend of the rape victim murdered at the scene, and that brings in the team from Special Investigations. Forced by their superiors to combine efforts, with Sherry in the lead, Mislan struggles to rein in his maverick methods. But the video of the second assault is posted and then still another rape makes the news, leading to mounting public alarm. With pressure from above to close the case quickly, the two inspectors have no choice but to find the way to be effective together in order to track the source of the posts, identify what unites the victims, and discover the trail that will lead them to the shadowy figure who calls himself the Emancipator.

A death no one should suffer and an investigator, who won't give up-for fans of John Burdett, Ian Rankin, and Michael Connelly. Early morning in Jalan Alor, one of the city's red light and tourist hotspots controlled by the Triads. A junkie's scream of horror and the commotion that follows brings down the police, first a patrol car, and then, after what the officers see, Inspector Mislan and Detective Sergeant Johan from Special Investigations. The body in the duffle bag had been dumped in a back alley. The junkie who found the bag thought he'd hit the jackpot. The rats probably thought the same. But, it was acid that took the young woman's face and burned the flesh on her fingers, and something unknown caused the marks on her skin of what appears to be torture. With no papers, no fingerprints, no face, and a body removed from the original crime scene, Mislan must build his case and find who committed this atrocity. The woman's body seems to have been a message. But, by whom? For whom? This unsettling case will take Inspector Mislan and his team from Kuala Lumpur to the Land of Smiles, and from a dark alley to the dark web and a place where humans are made soulless.