Review: Posthumous Child: Inspector Mislan and The Playground Murder by Rozlan Mohd Noor

Posthumous Child: Inspector Mislan and The Playground Murder by Rozlan Mohd Noor is the latest in a good series of police procedurals set in and around Kuala Lumper, Malaysia. This sixth book in the series is a slower read than the previous books though the second half of the book picks up considerably.

 

As always, Detective Sergeant Johan Kamaruddin and Inspector Mislan Latiff work a number of cases over the course of the book. Some are solved fairly quickly. One takes longer and serves as the main case of the book.

 

Such is the case here where the main case regards the discovery of the body of a woman is found in a park in a wealthy area. In the park there is a large playground setup for both adults and children. In the children’s area, near a slide, there is the body of a woman. She is dressed and curled up in a fetal position and clearly dumped at the park.

 

It is only later during the postmortem that Detective Sergeant Johan Kamaruddin and Inspector Mislan Latiff learn that the woman was pregnant. That fact was not obvious on scene. Somebody, presumably, the killer, took the baby out of her. Who killed the woman, why, and what happened to the baby drive the case and thus the primary storyline of the book. Those answers are dark as is most of the book.

 

This is not a light read, not that any in this series are, but the tone of this one is darker than most. Inspector Mislan is also personally going through some things. The pandemic also still has a tight grip on normal life. As the book moves forward, Inspector Mislan is struck again and again how people will do horrible things to each other under the guise of faith or politics. The world is frequently a sick place and Mislan is increasingly more aware of that fact more than most.

 

A slow moving and very complicated police procedural, Posthumous Child: Inspector Mislan and The Playground Murder by Rozlan Mohd Noor is not my favorite of the series by a long shot. I found stretches of it slow and tedious until significant progress is eventually made on the primary case. Of course, that could easily be the mindset of this reader and not remotely the fault of the author. This time of year is hard for me and I am well aware that my mood definitely bleeds over into my reading.

 

While one could start here, I would recommend starting with the first book, 21 Immortals: Inspector Mislan and the Yee Sang Murders, and working forward. Each book has the core characters evolving and going through various things that provide nuance and depth to Inspector Mislan and others. There is a reason why the good Inspector is the way he is these days. To pick up on everything in the latest read, one really needs to have read the previous books.  

 

 

My reading copy was in digital format and a purchase from Amazon as the Dallas Library system does not have this one and staff refused to pick it up when I requested it months ago. 

 

Kevin R. Tipple ©2023 

(Begin Here) 

Review: Philanthropists: Inspector Mislan and the Executioners by Rozlan Mohd Noor

 

While I reviewed this last month thanks to an ARC from NetGalley, I am running my review again today as it is publication day. If you have not already been reading this series, you really should. 

Philanthropists: Inspector Mislan and the Executioners by Rozlan Mohd Noor begins in early 2020 as Covid is just beginning to become a worldwide threat. In these early days just before lockdowns and societal disruptions, Inspector Mislan Abdul Latif of the Office of Special Investigations (D9) biggest issue is trying to deal with the fact that his young son is living with his ex-wife and he is still haunted by being shot a few months ago. While he would never admit it, he is lonely and the job is pretty much all he has in his life outside of the occasional call to his son. He thinks he has everything under control and nobody sees his loneliness. He thinks that nobody notices how there is a second or two of hesitation when he enters a crime scene and smells the spilled blood.

He would be wrong.

His assistant, Detective Sergeant Johan Kamaruddin certainly notices and did once again at their latest call out. Summoned to the scene of a double murder by Inspector Shahira Adanan, they arrived at just after 2:30 in the morning at a two-story house located across the city from their office. The last house on a dead-end road in a quiet neighborhood. At least, the neighborhood was quiet, until flooded by a horde of police vehicles with their flashing lights and chattering radios.

The home is sparsely furnished which leads Inspector Mislan Latif to believe that it is a rental. In the master bedroom there are two dead men lying on their side in bed facing each other. Each man has been shot twice. Once in the back and once in the back of the head. Both are shirtless.

While their wallets and other identification is missing, they were found with several different packages of various drugs stacked on the bed between them.  No sign of their phones, electronic devices, mail or paperwork of any kind, or anything else that would identify them. All investigators have at this point are two very dead bodies and a pile of drugs.

Who they are is the first of many questions Inspector Mislan Latif and his team have to answer in the Philanthropists: Inspector Mislan and the Executioners. Things get complicated quickly as getting answers gets more and more difficult due to whom the victims were and the rapidly escalating threat of Covid.

A significant portion of the read is devoted to Inspector Mislan’s recollections of events in the various previous books. Especially the events of the last book, Soulless: Inspector Mislanand the Faceless Girl, which led to his being critically injured. If you have not read the proceeding books, it would be best to read them in order starting with 21 Immortals: Inspector Mislan and the Yee Sang Murders before you embark on this very good read.

 

My reading copy was a digital arc via NetGalley. Publication date is currently scheduled for March 7^th. 

 

Kevin R. Tipple ©2023

Review: Philanthropists: Inspector Mislan and the Executioners by Rozlan Mohd Noor

Philanthropists: Inspector Mislan and the Executioners by Rozlan Mohd Noor begins in early 2020 as Covid is just beginning to become a worldwide threat. In these early days just before lockdowns and societal disruptions, Inspector Mislan Abdul Latif of the Office of Special Investigations (D9) biggest issue is trying to deal with the fact that his young son is living with his ex-wife and he is still haunted by being shot a few months ago. While he would never admit it, he is lonely and the job is pretty much all he has in his life outside of the occasional call to his son. He thinks he has everything under control and nobody sees his loneliness. He thinks that nobody notices how there is a second or two of hesitation when he enters a crime scene and smells the spilled blood.

He would be wrong.

His assistant, Detective Sergeant Johan Kamaruddin certainly notices and did once again at their latest call out. Summoned to the scene of a double murder by Inspector Shahira Adanan, they arrived at just after 2:30 in the morning at a two-story house located across the city from their office. The last house on a dead-end road in a quiet neighborhood. At least, the neighborhood was quiet, until flooded by a horde of police vehicles with their flashing lights and chattering radios.

The home is sparsely furnished which leads Inspector Mislan Latif to believe that it is a rental. In the master bedroom there are two dead men lying on their side in bed facing each other. Each man has been shot twice. Once in the back and once in the back of the head. Both are shirtless.

While their wallets and other identification is missing, they were found with several different packages of various drugs stacked on the bed between them.  No sign of their phones, electronic devices, mail or paperwork of any kind, or anything else that would identify them. All investigators have at this point are two very dead bodies and a pile of drugs.

Who they are is the first of many questions Inspector Mislan Latif and his team have to answer in the Philanthropists: Inspector Mislan and the Executioners. Things get complicated quickly as getting answers gets more and more difficult due to whom the victims were and the rapidly escalating threat of Covid.

A significant portion of the read is devoted to Inspector Mislan’s recollections of events in the various previous books. Especially the events of the last book, Soulless: Inspector Mislanand the Faceless Girl, which led to his being critically injured. If you have not read the proceeding books, it would be best to read them in order starting with 21 Immortals: Inspector Mislan and the Yee Sang Murders before you embark on this very good read.

My reading copy was a digital arc via NetGalley. Publication date is currently scheduled for March 7^th. 

 

Kevin R. Tipple ©2023 

Review: Soulless: Inspector Mislan And The Faceless Girl by Rozlan Mohd Noor

While I reviewed this book back in April because of being able to get the read via NetGalley, today is publication day so I am reminding you of the book today.

 

Soulless: Inspector Mislan And The Faceless Girl by Rozlan Mohd Noor begins at 4 AM in the Jalan Alor area of Kuala Lumpur, Malaysia. Every city has such an area. A place for sin whether it be drugs, gambling, or prostitution. Jalen Alor is publicly famous for a certain seafood restaurant and being an entertainment district. But, other things go on there, and that includes the dumping of a dead body.

The local police on the beat get involved because of altercation between a panicked homeless man and a pimp who was highly offended that his car was jostled by the homeless man. There was good reason for his panic. In hid drug addled state, he thought the bag was tossed from god above and was full of money. Instead, he found a body that has no face. Not that the lack of face stops the rats from coning for a feast now that the four-legged vermin in the ally can get to it.

When the crime scene forensic team arrives, it takes some doing to get the rats to back off. They have already done some damage to the body, but are not responsible for the fact there is no face. Acid did that and was also responsible for what little is left of her fingers. The situation means Inspector Mislan Latif and Detective Sergeant Johan Kamaruddin of Special Investigations (D9) are summoned to the scene to take over the case.

With no facial identification or fingerprint identification possible, it is clear that the killer or killers went to extraordinary efforts to hide the identity of the victim. The investigators know she was female and probably young and in her late teens or early twenties. It is also clear that she was tortured before death. The only clues to her identity are two tattoos. One of which is a butterfly and the other is some sort of quote or saying.

Those tattoos are a start for Inspector Mislan in a case that will take him and Johan to various places in Thailand and back to Malaysia. As always in this series, politics, the interference or threat of interference by the rich and the powerful, are involved as are the social dynamics of culture and class across ethnic lines in Malaysian society. Author Rozlan Mohd Noor paints a rich tapestry of sight and sound in this series and does so again in Soulless: Inspector Mislan And The Faceless Girl.

This is the fourth book in the series and the first one I have read that seemed off at times. I don’t know if it was my lack of culture awareness or something else, but it seemed strange to have so many people smiling or amused at incredibly dark and somber moments in the book. A character will make a response to a dark bit of dialogue or scene description and be referred to as “smiling” or “laughing” with their dialogue response. That happened throughout the read and was jarring as it almost always felt very off in relation to the context of the situation. This issue is something I never noticed in previous books.

While overall this was an enjoyable read, it was also marred by a horrible open ending in the final paragraph. An event abruptly happens at the very end of the book, in the final three sentence paragraph, and one is left totally hanging. I don’t know if this was deliberate act by the author, a publisher decision, or what, but it was a very unsatisfactory end for this reader.

Soulless: Inspector Mislan And The Faceless Girl by Rozlan Mohd Noor is a good read. This reader did not find it at the same level of the previous books in the series, but it was still a good read with the caveats above. The book is currently scheduled to be released in July 2022.

 

The previous books in the series and my reviews:

21 Immortals: Inspector Mislan and the Yee Sang Murders (June 2021)

DUKE: Inspector Mislan and The Expressway Murders (August 2021)

UTube: Inspector Mislan and the Emancipatist Conspiracy (October 2021)

 

My reading copy was a digital arc via NetGalley.

 

Kevin R. Tipple ©2022

Review: Soulless: Inspector Mislan And The Faceless Girl by Rozlan Mohd Noor

Soulless: Inspector Mislan And The Faceless Girl by Rozlan Mohd Noor begins at 4 AM in the Jalan Alor area of Kuala Lumpur, Malaysia. Every city has such an area. A place for sin whether it be drugs, gambling, or prostitution. Jalen Alor is publicly famous for a certain seafood restaurant and being an entertainment district. But, other things go on there, and that includes the dumping of a dead body.

The local police on the beat get involved because of altercation between a panicked homeless man and a pimp who was highly offended that his car was jostled by the homeless man. There was good reason for his panic. In hid drug addled state, he thought the bag was tossed from god above and was full of money. Instead, he found a body that has no face. Not that the lack of face stops the rats from coning for a feast now that the four-legged vermin in the ally can get to it.

When the crime scene forensic team arrives, it takes some doing to get the rats to back off. They have already done some damage to the body, but are not responsible for the fact there is no face. Acid did that and was also responsible for what little is left of her fingers. The situation means Inspector Mislan Latif and Detective Sergeant Johan Kamaruddin of Special Investigations (D9) are summoned to the scene to take over the case.

With no facial identification or fingerprint identification possible, it is clear that the killer or killers went to extraordinary efforts to hide the identity of the victim. The investigators know she was female and probably young and in her late teens or early twenties. It is also clear that she was tortured before death. The only clues to her identity are two tattoos. One of which is a butterfly and the other is some sort of quote or saying.

Those tattoos are a start for Inspector Mislan in a case that will take him and Johan to various places in Thailand and back to Malaysia. As always in this series, politics, the interference or threat of interference by the rich and the powerful, are involved as are the social dynamics of culture and class across ethnic lines in Malaysian society. Author Rozlan Mohd Noor paints a rich tapestry of sight and sound in this series and does so again in Soulless: Inspector Mislan And The Faceless Girl.

This is the fourth book in the series and the first one I have read that seemed off at times. I don’t know if it was my lack of culture awareness or something else, but it seemed strange to have so many people smiling or amused at incredibly dark and somber moments in the book. A character will make a response to a dark bit of dialogue or scene description and be referred to as “smiling” or “laughing” with their dialogue response. That happened throughout the read and was jarring as it almost always felt very off in relation to the context of the situation. This issue is something I never noticed in previous books.

While overall this was an enjoyable read, it was also marred by a horrible open ending in the final paragraph. An event abruptly happens at the very end of the book, in the final three sentence paragraph, and one is left totally hanging. I don’t know if this was deliberate act by the author, a publisher decision, or what, but it was a very unsatisfactory end for this read.

Soulless: Inspector Mislan And The Faceless Girl by Rozlan Mohd Noor is a good read. This reader did not find it at the same level of the previous books in the series, but it was still a good read with the caveats above. The book is currently scheduled to be released in July 2022.

 

The previous books in the series and my reviews:

21 Immortals: Inspector Mislan and the Yee Sang Murders (June 2021)

DUKE: Inspector Mislan and The Expressway Murders (August 2021)

UTube: Inspector Mislan and the Emancipatist Conspiracy (October 2021) 

 

My reading copy was a digital arc via net galley.

 

Kevin R. Tipple ©2022

Lesa's Book Critiques: KEVIN’S CORNER ANNEX – DUKE BY ROZLAN MOHD NOOR

 Lesa's Book Critiques: KEVIN’S CORNER ANNEX – DUKE BY ROZLAN MOHD NOOR

Review: UTube: Inspector Mislan and the Emancipatist Conspiracy by Rozlan Mohd Noor

UTube: Inspector Mislan and the Emancipatist Conspiracy by Rozlan Mohd Noor is the third read in the police procedural series based in Kuala Lumpur, Malaysia. Inspector Mislan and Detective Sergeant Johan are brought into an ongoing case when a friend of a sexual assault victim dies.

 

That is the second attack in a case that starts when Era Amilia was sexually assaulted. The attack was video recorded and shared on the internet via UTUBE. Hours later, she died after a fall the balcony of her ninth-floor apartment at the condo tower. Was she pushed or did she jump?  While The sexual child abuse investigation division intended to handle that case by themselves as it was tied into the rape case, when a second rape attack results in an obvious murder of a friend of the victim, Special Investigations is brought in and that means Inspector Mislan and Detective Sergeant Johan.

 

That means the independent take charge MIslan is forced to work with Inspector Sherry and her squad. Not only does he have to work with her, the powers that be have decreed he has to take orders from her. Mislan’s reputation is known to all and with the intense media focus and political factors, he is not going to be in charge. Inspector Sherry She is very much by the book and Mislan isn’t. She also is not going to jeopardize her career by letting Mislan have his usual free reign.

 

With pressure mounting and additional attacks and recordings being posted online, the chase is on to stop at least two, if not more, rapists who believe they are correcting wayward behavior. Things are very complicated and the case has many angles to pursue as the officers involved try to find a way to work together.

 

This is the third in the series that began with 21 Immortals: Inspector Mislan and the Yee Sang Murders and DUKE: Inspector Mislan and The Expressway Murders. Personal details of the lives of Inspector Mislan and several others away from the job continue here in various established secondary storylines. Therefore, it is best to read these books in order as previous case are mentioned along with continuing secondary storylines.

 

As always in this series, things are very complicated. UTube: Inspector Mislan and the Emancipatist Conspiracy is one of those books there is hard to explain in greater detail without ruining the read. Suffice it to say, these police procedurals are complicated and solidly good reads with interesting cases and plenty of detail on sights and sounds that the reader feels like they are there working the case and eating the food. As in earlier books, there is a lot of mention of food so be prepared.

 

  

UTube: Inspector Mislan and the Emancipatist Conspiracy

Rozlan Mohd Noor

Arcade CrimeWise

July 2021

ISBN# 978-1950691425

Hardback (also available in eBook format)

336 Pages

 

 

My copy came via the Martin Luther King JR Branch of the Dallas Public Library System.  

  

Kevin R. Tipple ©2021

KEVIN’S CORNER ANNEX – 21 Immortals: Inspector Mislan and the Yee Sang Murders

 KEVIN’S CORNER ANNEX – 21 Immortals: Inspector Mislan and the Yee Sang Murders

Review: DUKE: Inspector Mislan and The Expressway Murders by Rozlan Mohd Noor

DUKE: Inspector Mislan and The Expressway Murders by Rozlan Mohd Noor is the second in the series that began with 21 Immortals: Inspector Mislan and the Yee SangMurders. This book is also set during a holiday. In this case, it is about to be the Eid or the Hari Raya holiday at the end of Ramadan.

 

A crash on the DUKE Expressway is never helpful and certainly not now during the holiday period. A black Mercedes E200 crashed and a quick glance in the car indicates that a man and a woman are both dead by the amount of blood on their bodies. It soon becomes clear that they died by gunshots. Because the two deceased individuals were both powerful business people with serious connections, it is not long before the Special Investigations Unit, formerly known as Major Crimes, is brought into the case.

 

That means Inspector Mislan Latif and detective Sergeant Johan Kamarudin are on the case. From the first glance into the car, Inspector Mislan thinks that the deaths of sixty-year-old Mahadi Mokshin and thirty-four-year-old Zaleha Jalani, are far more complicated than a simple murder-suicide. The way the car crashed, the way the figures are in the car, and other aspects of the scene become critical pieces of evidence to Inspector Mislan that lead to his growing belief that there was a third person, the actual shooter, in the car.

 

The problem is that he has to not only prove there was a third person in the car, he also has to prove the identity of that person. As the pressure from the media and the police bureaucracy mount to close the case as a lover’s triangle gone wrong that led to a murder-suicide, it becomes clear that there are many powerful forces working against his and his team’s efforts to get to the bottom of what happened in that car and why. Things get complicated quickly when the rich and powerfully connected start exerting their influence upon all involved.

 

Once again, author Rozlan Mohd Noor brings the sights, sounds, and culture of Kuala Lumpur, Malaysia, to life in this second book of the series. Along with the rich detailed setting of a land far away from American readers, the author details a police investigation that could just easily happen here in any city. Those who are connected to a crime and have the means to exert their influence, almost always try to insulate themselves from the investigation and the public scrutiny. It is a universal human condition and one that speaks across societal as well as cultural divides.

Greed, corruption, money and the power of politics to shape a certain result is a universal problem familiar to readers everywhere. DUKE: Inspector Mislan and the Expressway Murders by Rozlan Mohd Noor is a solidly good police procedural well worth your time.

 

The third book in the series, UTube: Inspector Mislan and the Emancipatist Conspiracy, is now out and on order at the Dallas Public Library System. I have a hold on a copy when they get it in.

 

  

DUKE: Inspector Mislan and The Expressway Murders

Rozlan Mohd Noor

Arcade CrimeWise

https://www.skyhorsepublishing.com/arcade-publishing/

March 2021

ISBN# 978-1-950691-41-8

Hardback (also available in eBook format)

336 Pages 

 

My copy came via the Martin Luther King JR Branch of the Dallas Public Library System. 

 

Kevin R. Tipple ©2021

Review: 21 Immortals: Inspector Mislan and the Yee Sang Murders by Ruzlan Mohd Noor

 

21 Immortals: Inspector Mislan and the Yee Sang Murders by Rozlan Mohd Noor takes readers to Kuala Lumpur, Malaysia. An investigator with Major Crimes, he is sent to a murder scene that is going to prove to be unique as will be just about everything in the case. He has no idea what he is walking into, but the swarming media makes it clear word has gotten out.

 

Inside the wealthy home and at the dining room table there is a family of three who are all very clearly deceased. All three are fully dressed, sitting in their chairs, with plates and dishes of food before them. The traditional Chinese food eaten primarily during the Chinese New Year to celebrate the holiday, yee sang, is in abundance though there is certainly nothing celebratory here. While it is a murder scene, it is obviously not the primary murder scene.

 

With an absence of obvious body trauma, it is clear to Inspector Mislan and other investigators that Mr. Robert Tham, his wife, and their ten-year-old son, Lionel, were probably poisoned. They were then stripped, washed, embalmed, and perfumed before being dressed and arranged at the table as if to enjoy the holiday feast laid before them. All three have disturbing smiles as they are posed as if time froze during a happy moment.

 

Who did this, how, and for what reason are clearly the opening questions in a case that hits a roadblock from the start thanks to a lack of forensic clues. A hard case made harder by the fact that this is a wealthy family with secrets and connections that Inspector Mislan has to ferret out while also dealing with internal police politics, possible corruption in the department, and a host of other matters.

 

21 Immortals: Inspector Mislan And The Yee Sang Murders by Rozlan Mohd Noor is a complex and interesting police procedural. According to the book jacket copy, the author served as an investigator in the CID of The Royal Malaysian Police as well as other jobs before retiring and turning his hand to writing. This is book one that was first published in 2010 overseas and came out last year by way of Arcade CrimeWise. That life experience clearly shows through and one gets the sense that Inspector Mislan most likely shares quite a number of traits with the author.

 

There are numerous landmark and cultural references throughout the book as the read is deeply steeped in the culture of the region. No doubt much of that slipped by this reader who had no clue. Imagine trying to read a Bosch book by Michael Connelly with absolutely no frame of reference for the LAPPD, Los Angeles, the state of California, etc., and you have some idea what I was up against here. Additionally, most of the sentences are a bit stilted, making for a choppy read for this reader.

 

Complicated and very enjoyable if you like police procedurals, this is one to take a look at as 21 Immortals: Inspector Mislan And The Yee Sang Murders is a good one. I am glad I saw the review last month by Jeanne at the BPL as well as this short blurb about the book last month at Lesa’s Book Critiques. The second book in this series, DUKE: Inspector Mislan and the Expressway Murders, is now on the way to my local library branch.

 

You can also learn more about the author in this Publisher Weekly interview.

 

  

21 Immortals: Inspector Mislan and the Yee Sang Murders

Rozlan Mohd Noor

Arcade CrimeWise

https://www.skyhorsepublishing.com/arcade-publishing/9781950691401/21-immortals/

August 2020

ISBN# 978-1-950691-40-1

Hardback (also available in eBook format)

288 Pages 

 

My copy came via the Lakewood Branch of the Dallas Public Library System. 

Kevin R. Tipple ©2021

Bookblog of the Bristol Library: 21 Immortals: Inspector Mislan and the Yee Sang Murders by Rozlan Mohd Noor

Bookblog of the Bristol Library: 21 Immortals: Inspector Mislan and the Yee Sang M...:   Reviewed by Jeanne Inspector Mislan Latif is with the Major Crimes Unit in Kuala Lumpur.   Headed home after a long day, he gets a cal...