The Fog: An Inspector Kwong Mystery by Vic Warren

The Fog is the third in Vic Warren’s series of mystery novellas featuring the beloved characters from his novel Hong Kong Blues: the portly Chief Inspector Lawrence Kwong and his younger, handsome assistant Matson Tai, both of the Hong Kong Police. The Fog finds them recovering from the events of the preceding book, The River. Judged by their boss, Chief Luk, to need a break from the emotional pressures and dangers of policing, Kwong and Tai are asked to take a holiday; they choose San Francisco, in order to visit some old friends of Kwong’s. On arrival in San Francisco, our two heroes are plunged straight into a local murder mystery, because the husband of Kwong’s lost love, Sarah, has been brutally murdered in his study during the night…

The Fog is a charming story whose style harks back to the quaint, almost old fashioned style of classic golden age mysteries. Everyone (bar a couple of notable exceptions) is incredibly nice and polite, everyone is pleased to meet Kwong and give him information, and everyone thinks Matson is gorgeous! Some of the dialogue is rather formal. Kwong and Tai are both engaging and likeable characters and the supporting cast are all clearly defined. The atmosphere of San Francisco is well described and the mystery is unravelled logically. The motive is somewhat surprising and the murderer is not obvious. I am very happy to have discovered the books of Vic Warren, and look forward to going back to read the earlier stories. For Readers’ Favorite.