I stumbled across the Inspector O series of books in the library a couple of weeks ago. They're written by James Church, which, the book jacket informs us, is a pseudonym, because Mr. Church is (and I quote) "a former Western intelligence officer with decades of experience in Asia".
The Inspector O novels are set in North Korea. O is a fascinating character, one of the most engaging detectives I've run across in a while, in one of the most unusual settings.
I've quickly become a fan -- so much so that as soon as I finished the first book ("A Corpse in the Koryo") I immediately grabbed the second book ("Hidden Moon"), and I've got the third one ("Bamboo and Blood") on hold.
I ran across this passage last night, and realize it's just one of the many reasons why I've quickly become a fan of Inspector O. O is assigned to accompany a Scottish policeman sent to Pyongyang to provide security for a visiting British official:
I grinned. "Yeah. Get in. Let's not stand here all the dooh-dah day."
Boswell looked surprised. "Where the hell did you learn that, Inspector? Did you know it's from an old American song?"
"I know where it's from. I have a degree from the University of Karaoke."
Love it.
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