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The Demon and the City

A Detective Inspector Chen Novel


Cover

When Detective Inspector Chen goes on holiday, Chen's demonic partner Zhu Irzh finds himself alone in Singapore Three. The missing body of a brutally murdered socialite and the strange experiments of a well-connected, beautiful young heiress leads Zhu into a maze of murder and corruption.

Detective Inspector Chen returns to the city just as Zhu's baser instincts seem to be getting the better of him. While the rest of the police department thinks the worst of Zhu, Chen suspects something more malignant, particularly when the forces of Heaven begin manifesting themselves in Singapore Three, taking sides and leaving a trail of death and destruction in their wake.

Liz Williams (Snake Agent) delivers another Detective Inspector Chen novel that further explores the mystical worlds that surround the near-future city of Singapore Three. The convoluted politics of Hell marked the central conflict of Snake Agent, but in The Demon and the City, the Celestial Realms and their less-than-perfect social and familial relationships take center stage.

Cover Art by Jon Foster
Cover design by Michael Fusco
Interior layout and design by Jeremy Lassen


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This is a work of fiction. All the characters and events portrayed in this book are fictional, and any resemblance to real people or incidents is purely coincidental.

First printing, October 2008

Distributed by Night Shade Books
1423 33rd Avenue
San Francisco, CA 94122

www.nightshadebooks.com

Printed in the United States of America

ISBN-13: 978-1-59780-111-9
ISBN-10: 1-59780-111-9

Copyright© 2008 by Night Shade Books

All rights reserved, including the right to reproduce this book or portions thereof in any form.

Night Shade Books
1423 33rd Avenue
San Francisco, CA 94122
http://www.nightshadebooks.com

Electronic version by WebWrights
http://www.webscription.net


To the Witchcraft Shop Owner

 

Acknowledgements:

With thanks . . .

 . . .to everyone at Night Shade Books for being such a pleasure to deal with.

 . . .to Marty Halpern for his help and (considerable) patience.

 . . .as ever, to Shawna McCarthy for all her hard work, encouragement and help.

 . . .to everyone in the Montpellier Writing Group.

 . . .to David Pringle, for accepting the first Chen story for Interzone.

 . . .to everyone at Milford, who kept asking when the Chinese detective story was going to be published. (And now it is!)

 . . .to everyone in the Cantonese group for their help and support, particularly Chris Priest and Leigh Kennedy, and also to Tanith Lee for her unfailing kindness.

 . . .to my parents.

 . . .and last but not least, to Trevor Jones, witchcraft shop owner, historian and best friend.

PRAISE FOR LIZ WILLIAMS

"In the first rank of visionary science fiction writers."
—Charles Stross, author of Halting State

 

"In The Demon and the City, Liz Williams does one better than giving you more of the same: she gives you more of what you didn't even know you wanted. Demon. .. has a flavor all its own. .. I'm looking forward to seeing the third book."
—C. E. Murpy, author of Urban Shaman

 

"If Liz Williams were a casserole chef, she'd have a heavy hand with the garlic, onions, chili, ginger and some exotic spices you can only get in a stall tucked away in an obscure corner of an even more obscure market. But you'd certainly come back for seconds . . . ."
SFX magazine

 

"Williams's second novel featuring Chen and his otherworldly sidekick delivers another dose of fantastic adventure, blending Chinese mythology, elements of an old-fashioned murder mystery, and a generous dollop of acerbic humor."
Library Journal

 

"The Demon and the City offers readers an entertaining adventure steeped, not tinged, with the supernatural, played out against a labyrinthine industrial murder mystery. You'll get your pulse-pounding pages turned, but you'll also find yourself immersed in Williams' complex cosmology."
—Rick Kleffel, The Agony Column

 

Other books by Liz Williams include:

Detective Inspector Chen:
Snake Agent
The Demon and the City
Precious Dragon
The Shadow Pavilion (Forthcoming)
Banner of Souls
Bloodmind
Darkland
Empire of Bones
The Ghost Sister
Nine Layers of Sky
The Poison Master
The Banquet of the Lords of Night and Other Stories

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