Inspector Zhang And The Perfect Alibi

Inspector Zhang #5

by Stephen Leather

Inspector Zhang of the Singapore Police Force is called in to what appears to be an open and shut case. A young woman has been killed during a burglary. The fingerprints on the murder weapon point to a well-known house-breaker. And his bite marks are on the victim’s arm. But the burglar has a cast-iron alibi because at the time of the murder he was in police custody.

The Deputy Commissioner wants Inspector Zhang to find out how the burglar managed to get out of the locked cell – but that is easier said than done and the mystery puts the inspector’s deductive skills to the test.

Genres: Mystery

30 pages, Kindle Edition

First published March 9, 2012

About the author

Stephen Leather was a journalist for more than ten years on newspapers such as The Times, the Daily Mail and the South China Morning Post in Hong Kong. His bestsellers have been translated into more than ten languages. He has also written for television shows such as London's Burning, The Knock and the BBC's Murder in Mind series. For much of 2011 his self-published eBooks - including The Bestseller, The Basement, Once Bitten and Dreamer's Cat - dominated the UK eBook bestseller lists and sold more than half a million copies. The Basement topped the Kindle charts in the UK and the US, and in total he has sold more than two million eBooks. His bestselling book The Chinaman was filmed as The Foreigner, starring Jackie Chan and Pierce Brosnan and grossing more than $100 million.

Reviews

[Richard · Rating 3 out of 5]

Maybe it is my familiarity with Inspector Zhang and his methods or that the impossible cases are easier to assume the killer’s identity. Maybe I am just deluding myself and I’m just naming the culprit seconds before the clever plotting reveals the murderer.
Again in the spirit of an Hercule Poirot with his little grey cells Zhang is passed an impossible case by the Deputy Commissioner based on his reputation of solving even the most difficult mysteries. Unless he intervenes there is a belief that the Singapore Police Department will be ridiculed for incompetence and poor forensic skills.
A woman has been murdered. Disturbing a burglar she has been stabbed and in the struggle bitten by her assailant. The knife carries a well known thief’s fingerprints and the bite matches his dental records.
The police go to arrest him only to find he is already in custody, the perfect alibi.

I love these gentle crime mysteries and the prompting of my thought processes.

Could he get out of jail; with the aid of an accomplice?
Is it really the same guy or someone pretending and impersonating him, leaving him free to kill at will?
Has he been framed and the guilty party not realised he would be otherwise detained in jail for a separate crime?
Is it the terrible go to solution, that of a twin with identical DNA and prints?

Zhang has a plan, investigates and then explains how the impossible was achieved. The perfect crime thwarted by the finest detective since Sherlock Holmes or Hercule Poirot. His sidekick DS Lee is always writing in her notebook, maybe like Watson she will write of these cases or as Hastings was apt to do reminisce of a genius at work. A modern day gem suitable for all ages who like crime fiction in small doses.

[Zornitsa Rasim · Rating 4 out of 5]

Страхотни новели за по една чаша кафе 😁

[David Highton · Rating 4 out of 5]

Singapore detective copies his hero Poirot to solve a case where the cast iron suspect was in jail when the crime was committed - great stuff for 30 minutes and a late night close to the day

[FeedMyReads · Rating 5 out of 5]

What would you do if a burglary has occurred and a body been discovered but you find that the prime suspect is already in custody and so has an iron-clad alibi? Inspector Zhang is tasked with uncovering the answer to this mystery in this short story and yet again delivers a story that works well.

[Sha Mohamed · Rating 3 out of 5]

Penyiasatan yang luar biasa.. Bagaimana pembunuh membunuh sedangkan pembunuh sedang berada dalam tahanan polis.. Sempurnakah bukti yang ditemui atau sebenarnya orang lain yang melakukan pembunuhan?

[Nikaty · Rating 2 out of 5]

Short but without substance.

[Midnight · Rating 5 out of 5]

This is another locked room mystery in the author's series of short stories featuring Inspector Zhang and his assistant Sergeant Lee. Based in Singapore, Zhang is called in to solve the impossible mystery of a woman supposedly murdered by Mr Yip, who was incarcerated in a police cell at the time Miss Chau was killed. There is compelling evidence pointing towards Yip's guilt - fingerprints on the murder weapon and his dental records match the bite mark on her arm.

I find Stephen Leather has an amazing skill at capturing the attention of his readers; this tale is, as always, well written and it gently led me to the conclusion of the story as Inspector Zhang came up with the solution to the riddle.

It takes about an hour to read and certainly provided me with an oasis of calm and tranquility. Hopefully there are more in the pipeline.

[Quint · Rating 5 out of 5]

this was a great story. the suspense was just enough without being over powering . a murder of an airline stewardess but the prime suspect was already in jail at the time of the murder. we find that the murderer was in fact...

[❀ Hana · Rating 2 out of 5]

One doesn't have to be a police inspector to tell who is the killer. I'm quite disappointed with this one.

[Ellen · Rating 5 out of 5]

It's always such great fun reading an Inspector Zhang short story from Stephen Leather.

[Iain · Rating 4 out of 5]

A good little story and part of a "box set" I'm reading. Not as good as the previous one I picked up a few weeks ago, but certainly clever in a Miss Marple / Poirot kind of way.