Man with the Baltic Stare

A Pyongyang policeman is ordered to make a murder case go away in service of a secret plan to reunite the two Koreas in this "e;excellent"e; mystery series (Slate). Autumn brings unwelcome news to Inspector O: He has been wrenched from retirement and ordered back to Pyongyang for a final assignment. The two Koreas, he learns, are now cooperating very quietly to maintain stability in the North. Stability requires that Inspector O lead an investigation into a crime of passion committed by the young man selected as the best possible leader of a transition government. O is instructed to make sure that the case goes away. Remnants of the old regime, foreign powers, rival gangs all want a piece of the action, and all make it clear that if O values his life, he will not get in their way. O isn't sure where his loyalties lie and he doesn't have much time to figure out whether it's better to be noble or be dead . . . Praise for The Man with the Baltic Stare and the Inspector O series"e;Each Inspector O novel is a strange new trip through the looking glass."e; Booklist (starred review)"e;The likeable Inspector O . . . knows that in North Korea mysteries are never solved, just absorbed into larger mysteries. . . . the scenic details and atmospherics suggest more than a passing acquaintance with the realities of life in North Korea."e; The Economist"e;Church once again shows an extraordinary ability to bring that enigmatic country to life . . . Satisfied readers will hail Church as the equal of le Carre."e; Publishers Weekly (starred review)"e;Like Marlowe and Spade before him, Inspector O navigates the shadows and, every now and then, finds truth in the half-light."e; The Wall Street Journal"e;Like nothing else I've ever read. . . . Church creates an utterly convincing, internally consistent world of the absurd where orders mean the opposite of what they say and paperwork routinely gets routed to oblivion."e; The Boston Globe