The Shanghai Union of Industrial Mystics: Feng Shui Detective #3

Feng Shui Detective #4

by Nury Vittachi

Feng shui master C.F. Wong is not what you might call fond of change. The 21st century, with its rush-rush, its chattering technology, it's fusion-food, that's all about change. The eternal truths do not change. And yet it is a contemporary truth that Master Wong has left Singapore for Shanghai. Before long a band of crazed vegan terrorists has taken Shanghai hostage. Only Master Wong can save the city, some visiting foreign dignitaries, and an extremely rare white elephant, from the destructive passions of the ferocious tofu-eaters.

Genres: Fiction, Mystery, China, Asia, Humor, Crime, Asian Literature

256 pages, Paperback

First published January 1, 2006

About the author

Nury Vittachi is a journalist and author based in Hong Kong. His columns are published daily, weekly in a variety of newspapers in Asia as well as on his website. He is best known for the comedy-crime novel series The Feng Shui Detective, published in many languages around the world, but he has also written non-fiction works and novels for children. He is also noted for his role in founding the Asia Literary Review, the Hong Kong International Literary Festival, the Man Asian Literary Prize, and was the chairman of the judges of the inaugural Australia-Asia Literary Award in 2008. Vittachi currently lives in Hong Kong with his English wife Mary-Lacey Vittachi and their three adopted Chinese children. Also writes under the name Sam Jam.

Reviews

[Natalia Pì · Rating 4 out of 5]

In order to like this book, the first thing you should do is stop expecting anything realistic - it is absolutely not realistic. Just try to see it as the literary equivalent of going to a fun fair when you're, say, 7 years old. If you do that, you'll have fun reading this book.

I've read it fast and enjoyed it immensely - I found it hilarious! It's a good story that grips you, but what is even nicer is the author's eye for different people's language quirks, as well as for poking (rather good-natured) fun at the Chinese, at the expat community in Shanghai, at the Americans, at professional mystics, pretty much at everyone, really. I suppose that's why I found it so funny. Funny characters, good use of language and a rather gripping story line - that's just what I needed to get over my reader's block! I'll definitely look for other books by Nury Vittachi.

So if you're about to start this book, please drop any pretensions of realism and boring stuff like that, and enjoy the ride :)

[Liza · Rating 5 out of 5]

4.5
First of all: I absolutely love the cover (I have a different edition), but this one's pretty too!!!
This was very fun to read, loved the chaotic energy!🤌
I do think Vittachi played onto the stereotypes about westerners and asians on purpose and it was a bit too much when the characters' accents were phonetically written...
Overall I found the plot unique and funny.

[Tiina · Rating 2 out of 5]

The promise on the cover - a feng shui detective novel - fell short, because the feng shui master did very little detecting in this story.

The story did begin in an extremely interesting way, but I got tired towards the end, or about halfway through the book, with the looooong run away activity.

[Kkraemer · Rating 3 out of 5]

Like all mysteries, this one is full of information about the place and time in which it is set. In this case, it's modern-day Shanghai, and a series of odd but interrelated incidents occur: an office building is demolished without warning, a child is kidnapped, and a group of dinner guests are imprisoned and tortured. The fengshui master is befuddled for awhile, but by listening carefully and balancing the forces around him, he often provides helpful ideas about how to rescue the heads of state from the bomb inside the elephant.

Yes. The bomb inside the elephant. The heads of state.

The author, a Sri Lankan journalist who is based in Hong Kong, uses his background to blend a fascinating plot line with insights into the nature of power, self, spirituality, feng shui, Chinese politics and history, and the protocols for eating live food. Not to be missed.

[Jane · Rating 2 out of 5]

In general, I would suggest to publisher's marketing departments that describing a book as 'a feel good read' when it involves a scene depicting torture and murder may result in disgruntlement on the part of the reader.

I could've also done without the leaden political satire and over-the-top minor characters, which squeezed out the eccentric charm I enjoyed in other Feng Shui detective novels.

Luckily Vittachi's playful and astute way with the English language continues to delight, as does his vivid sketches of Shanghai.

[Miles Osei · Rating 5 out of 5]

super intriguing and a movie worthy Story

[Vagabonde · Rating 3 out of 5]

Interesting set-up but a fairly dissapointing overall due to how fun the plot initially seemed. The premise is extremely fun and, to be completely fair, very wacky. However, as the plot is unveiled, the whimsy is lost and the absurdity of the scenario becomes difficult to accept. The book, for the most part, pokes fun at its characters and the institutions it describes - the chinese and american goverments, the military staff of both countries, feng shui, vegetarians and vegans... the list goes on. This is mostly well executed with a good use of satire and pointed critiques. However, to do so, all the characters must be stereotypes and caricatures which at times makes them insufferable due to how absurd their thinking and acting is. This is obviously the point, but it doesn't make it any less annoying. On the positive side, the written humour is highly enjoyable and while highly fictionalised, the setting of the story led me down some very interesting research rabbit holes. However, I expect that someone with more knowledge of China and Shanghai during the late 2000s would probably be less entertained.

[Tracy · Rating 4 out of 5]

Nury Vittachi’s adventurous romp of wild bizarreness could be the love child of Ben Elton and Robert Llewellyn but set in China. Readers will encounter vigilant vegans of villainy (and best of luck to anyone who chooses to eat meat after the description of animal torture to make a meal—shudder), a scheduled meeting of the President of the United States and the President of China, a time-bomb ticking pachyderm, and the Union of Industrial Mystics comprised of feng shui masters, as just a few of the wonderful wacky personalities in this page-turner. Readers who can ignore the few dated allusions to George W. will enjoy this adventure/mystery/romance. If Shanghai is anywhere half as fun as the novel makes it out to be, readers will be challenged to not want to visit.

[Susanna Horn · Rating 4 out of 5]

Fun book. Worth the time for a quick read! Love the elephant!

[Mary · Rating 2 out of 5]

Did not enjoy this one.

[Sunday Hollis · Rating 3 out of 5]

Weird humor but kind of fun overall

[Cheryl Hamblyn · Rating 3 out of 5]

My latest cafe book. A fun romp of a book with interesting characters. Only jarring chord is the scene in the This Is Living restaurant which I found distasteful.

[Endah · Rating 3 out of 5]

C.F. Wong kembali beraksi. Kali ini melaksanakan misi khusus dari The Big Boss, Mr. Pun, untuk memberikan layanan pembacaan feng shui kepada para anggota dewan direksi East Trade Industries yang tersebar di beberapa negara : Filipina, Thailand, India, Hongkong, dan Australia. Maka, dengan ditemani asisten bulenya, Joyce McQuinnie, ia mendatangi tempat tinggal mereka satu persatu.
Dan sekali lagi, kedua pasangan unik ini harus mengalami peristiwa-peristiwa tak terduga selama menjalankan tugas mereka.

Pertama adalah kasus flat bau amis milik Mr. Tik. Kedua, pembunuhan di pusat kebugaran. Ketiga, pencurian mobil-mobil antik. Keempat, terbunuhnya seorang spammer di India. Kelima, asmara segitiga di sebuah sekolah menengah. Keenam, penculikan aktor di Thailand, dan terakhir misteri kematian seorang penulis kolom surat kabar plus kasus harimau di super market sebagai bonus pembuka.


Seluruh kasus dalam buku ini tidak saling berhubungan satu sama lain, jadi kita boleh membacanya dari mana saja. Masih tetap dengan gaya penulisan yang kocak seperti dua buku sebelumnya. C.F. Wong masih tetap kesulitan memahami bahasa gaul asistennya itu yang memunculkan kelucuan-kelucuan segar menerbitkan senyum pembacanya.

Sebagai sebuah novel detektif, buku ini enak dibaca dan kasus-kasusnya bukan merupakan kasus-kasus berat yang membutuhkan penyelesaian melingkar-lingkar dengan selubung misteri berlapis-lapis. Ini cerita detektif ringan dengan bumbu humor bertebaran nyaris di setiap lembar halamannya. Tidak butuh kening berkerut. Tidak perlu lama bertanya-tanya tentang siapa kriminalnya dan bagaimana akhir kisahnya. Jangan coba membandingkannya dengan Sherlock Holmes misalnya, sebab jelas akan sangat berbeda. Sebagai perintang waktu - misalnya di ruang tunggu dokter yang membosankan - membaca buku ini membuat kita terhibur.

[Truly · Rating 4 out of 5]

Feng Shui dan cerita detektif, dua hal yang menarik perhatianku. Makanya begitu mengetaui bahwa ini adalah buku ketiga dari cerita seorang Detektif Feng Shui, segera diboyong ke kasir, tentunya berikut jilid 1 dan 2-nya.

Buku ketiga ini menceritakan sepak terbang C.F Wong. Mr Wong mendapat tugas khusus dari Mr Pun, si boss besar. Tugas khususnya adalah memberikan pelayanan Feng Shui kepada para anggota dewan direksi East Trade Industries secara gratis!

Yang menarik adalah, para dewan direksi tersebut tinggal dibeberapa negara. Dari Filipina, Thailand, India, Hongkong, hingga Amerika, dengan ditemani asistennya, Joyce McQuinnie, Mr Wong mendatangi satu persatu tempat tinggal para dewan direksi tersebut.

Keseriusan Mr Wong, terlihat kontras dengan keacuhan asistennya, Joyce. Bahkan walau telah lama membantu Mr Wong, kadang kala Mr Wong tidak bisa memahami cara berbicara asistennya. Apa maksud dan maknanya. Sedangkan sang asisten, sering harus memahami cara berpikir majikannya yang kadang kala rada nyentrik.

Setiap kisah yang ada dalam buku ini berdiri sendiri hingga bisa dibaca melompat. Demikian juga dengan buku jilid 1 dan 2 nya. Namun agar lebih memahami latar belakang peristiwa seperti bagaimana Mr Wong bisa memiliki asisten seorang bule, membaca sesuai urutan buku sangat dianjurkan.

Cara pemecahan masalah yang berbeda jauh dengan detektif Conan, Kindaichi, Poirot, Miss Marple hingga Holmes, malah membuat buku ini menjadi kian menarik. Setidaknya selain mendapat tambahan pengetahuan praktis mengenai Feng Shui, saya juga mendapat hiburan cerita detektif. I Love it!

[Victoria Law · Rating 2 out of 5]

An entertaining read but probably pretty un-PC. A lot of the humor is based on characters' mistranslation or inability to translate English idioms. I found it entertaining, but I can see others wincing at many of the "lost-in-translation" jokes.

Along the lines of un-PC: Vegan terrorists who kidnap & torture people for eating meat? (There's another stereotype, but it contains a spoiler.) I have to admit though that this book originally caught my eye (and alerted me to the series) when I came across it in a mobile library in Hong Kong.

If you've never read any of Vittachi's series, don't start with this book. Start with The Feng Shui Detective instead. It may be that C.F. Wong (the feng shui practitioner-turned-detective) isn't cut out for novel-length adventures.

[Chalky · Rating 3 out of 5]

I enjoyed this book and vacillated, at least momentarily between giving it 3 or 4 stars.

In the end it got 3, not for anything lacking in the telling, but probably for three reasons ...

The pacing seemed rather irregular with a few gripping pages followed by being stuck in turgid torpor where 1-2 pages a day was enough.

As someone who fondly remembers the author being the only humorous contributor to the FEER ( Far Eastern Economic Review) 25-30 years ago, I was expecting something more witty.

And lastly, the cover over-sells this work in praising the author as a cross between the wacky humour of Carl Hiassen and the humanity of McCall Smith. Strong, but unwarranted praise at least going by this book.

If I come across another in the series, I would happily give it a second chance though.

[Philia · Rating 4 out of 5]

This is the second book I read by Nury Vittachi. Having read "Mr Wong Goes West", I have an idea of what C.F. Wong the Feng Shui Master/detective and Joyce, his assistant are like, and I understand how Mr. Wong goes off tracks from the stories into his thoughts.

I really enjoyed this book much more than my first reading. 

I got to say, the vegan episode really stir me up about our cruelty. For a moment, I've reconsidered returning to a vegetarian, but at the very least, it reminds me to be more mindful of unnecessary eating, wastage. i.e., avoid eating spree for pure culinary pleasure. 

I remember the silly humor from the last book, and I LOL when I spotted another similarly silly one at the end of this story!    Code: Yangtze River ;)

[an · Rating 2 out of 5]

bilah rumput, bagaimana jika semua hal di dunia ini saling berhubungan? akhir adalah perjalanan dan perjalanan adalah akhir. semua yang ada di dunia ini ada titik seimbang na karena semua na dicipta dengan keunikan na masing-masing.

wong si master feng sui bukan detektif akhir na terjebak untuk memecahkan kasus dari klien-klien yang sedang mendapatkan pembacaan feng sui oleh na. dibantu dengan tenaga magang joyce yang kedang menyebalkan tapi sebenar na banyak membantu pennyelesaian dan sekretaris yang beberapa kali pengen rhe getok gara-gara dengan seenak na ngembat makanan orang. ckck...

-06 '12-

[Izzy Holmes · Rating 4 out of 5]

This was a very strange book with very macarbe scens of meals that were eatan at a restaurant where live fod was served to a very sad ending. However, it was laso in places quite funny.
it is about a feng shui master in Shanghai who is caught up in a bomb plot and has to use his assistant and some of the people he has invited to the Shanghai Union of Industrial Mystics to help stop the bomb plot. I really liked the little Chinese quotes on how to tackle life when different situations arise. So all in all given it a 4 .

[Rian Ramdani · Rating 2 out of 5]

sama halnya dengan seri detektif mama ramotswe yang menceritakan kasus dari pandangan yang berbeda,karena disini lebih ditonjolkan sisi komedinya. perbedaannya cuma detektife feng shui ini hadir seperti komik karena dalam satu buku menghadirkan beberapa chapter dengan kasus yang berbeda, sangat santai dan tidak terlalu berat untuk dibaca. namun sayangnya ada kasus yang tidak selesaikan dan memiliki cerita yang menggantung, dari cara penyelesaian pun mungkin tidak berdasarkan penyelidikannya tapi kebanyakan keberuntungan yang dimiliki mr.wong ini..

[Trish · Rating 3 out of 5]

It's pretty rare I come across a book it isn't possible to easily categorise. However, this has to be one. What it really isn't is a detective novel. With a central plot of trying to assassinate the Presidents of the US and China, you'd normally go with a thriller. However, an exploding elephant wouldn't usually be the weapon of choice... A weird and sometimes surreal/absurd black comedy, although buried underneath is some underlying commentary on modern China.

[Ikarus · Rating 2 out of 5]

Ich habe noch nie einen so unrealistischen Roman gelesen, wobei nicht einzelne Handlungsstränge an sich unrealistisch sind (wie in einem Action-Film), sondern die Personen beständig unrealistisch agieren und unrealistische Fähigkeiten haben.
z.B. zieht jemand neu in eine Stadt und ist nach einer Woche bereits komplett integriert in einem neu aufgebautem Freundeskreis


Ich konnte dieses Buch nicht ertragen und habe das Lesen abgebrochen.

[Sam Colloff · Rating 2 out of 5]

i have really enjoyed the rest of this series, but i found this book much less interesting. it was quite a bit longer than the others i have read, and the storyline just didn't seem strong enough to hold my attention. some scenes, including the torture descriptions and the elephant escape, simply didn't seem to belong in one of these books at all. lacking in all the witty, amusing charm that i have loved in the others of this series.

[FE FE · Rating 5 out of 5]

Misi Khusus adalah seri pertama yang saya baca secara acak karena buku inilah yang pertama kali direkomendasikan kakak sepupu saya.

Prolognya sangat bagus apalagi epilognya. Sekarang saya kasihan pada Mr.Wong yang terperangkap prasangkanya sendiri sehingga kurang hati-hati dan malah jadi sial. Well, disinilah saya mengenal Mr.Sinha dan juga judul-judul korang yang anehnya minta ampun!!! Dan itu sangat kocak!

5 stars? STILL!

[Monica · Rating 3 out of 5]

Great silly fun - Wong the Feng Shui master and his ditzy assistant Joyce are in Shanghai dealing with the demolition of their new offices, a horrendously decadent meat feast of endangered creatures, a summit between the presidents of the US and China, a terror plot by militant Vegans, and an exploding elephant. It's full of sly humor and wonderful snapshots of Shanghai, but definitely not for the squeamish.

[Lizzytish · Rating 4 out of 5]

One must suspend all reality before turning any pages in this new adventure. You might want to become a vegetarian. Or then again, not. We have elephants, kidnapping, bombs, wild chases down a river, with helicopters, and you name it. Just a lot of fun.

[Johannes Wong · Rating 5 out of 5]

GOOD DETECTIVE BOOKS WITH UNPREDICTABLE ENDS.

[Ludmilla Kostova · Rating 4 out of 5]

Loved reading it. Would like to read more books by the same author

[Elizabeth · Rating 3 out of 5]

I usually rate this writer highly but this mystery was a all over the place.

[Angelic Zaizai · Rating 5 out of 5]

Super duper kocak.. detektifnya ampyun deh.. tapi keren, kasus2 beres semua..