Book Reviews

The Feng Shui Detective
by Nury Vittachi
2002 305 pp., softbound, 17 x 11.5 cm.

ISBN 1-387-80212-7 $8.75
ISBN-13: 978-1-387-80212-8

4 Stars
Book review by Chris Otchy (BK Magazine; Bangkok, Sept. 22-28, 2006)

The exploits of C.F. Wong, feng shui consultant and part-time private eye, have delighted readers since 2000, when author Nury Vittachi published this first installment of his Feng Shui Detective series. The books have just become available in Bangkok courtesy of Chameleon Press. This book introduces the character in nine self-contained tales. Singapore based C.F. Wong uses his sharp instincts and keen knowledge of ancient Chinese arts to solve the unusual cases which always seem to spring up in relation to feng shui consultancy assignments. For example, in one story he consults a widow who wants to redesign her house after her husband dies in it and asks Wong to come do a reading. Through his acute sense of observation, he realizes the grieved woman is not a woman at all, but rather a cross dressing man who robbed his wife for her money before he killed her. In another tale, the geomancer is hired to help lay out a jungle theme park for some unscrupulous land owners, and ends up just narrowly escaping becoming lunch for the lions. Offbeat stories like this are Vittachi's strong point, and he tells them well with a punchy style that makes them quick and fun to read. There's also a good amount of humor in the book, mostly stemming from his interactions with his Westerner assistant/intern Joyce and his misusage of English slang. The cross-cultural clash makes them an odd team, but much hilarity comes from it. Without a doubt, Vittachi is one of the strongest and most amusing new English literary voices in Southeast Asia.

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