No Exit is the second in the Inspector Jian series that relies on a brilliant premise: what would happen if you took a corrupt, but heart-of-gold, Chinese cop and plonked him in an alien country — England — where he didn’t understand the language or culture at all? Then add his wayward but resourceful daughter WeiWei, a Mahjong gambling den heist gone wrong, set the Chinese state and underworld against him, and what you get is a gripping, Elmore-Leonard-fast thriller. I read the 330-page book in three sittings, the last was a blur of turning pages as I had to remind myself to breathe while the characters faced ever rising peril, right to the last page. Features an interesting Q&A with the author at the end, telling how he got into writing crime fiction from the point of view of a Chinese outsider. Great stuff. Read it, then get your hands on Bad Traffic, the first in the series.
No. 5 of 24 books I intend to read and review in 2026.
I’m Patrick Sherriff, an Englishman who survived 13 years working for newspapers in the US, UK and Japan. Between teaching English lessons at my conversation school in Abiko, Japan, I write and illustrate textbooks for non-native speakers of English, release Hana Walker mystery novels, short stories, paint, and write essays and Our Man in Abiko, a monthly newsletter highlighting good writing in English, often about about Japan, art, crime fiction and teaching.
Patrick Sherriff 