Fresh off a harrowing experience in Russia, Charlie is keen to lay low and his latest posting to Tokyo offers him the chance to immerse himself in a truly foreign culture.
Charlie is soon drawn into his first consular case when a successful young investment banker winds up in a coma following a car accident. After a man claiming to be a friend of the banker’s turns up dead, Charlie and the Tokyo Metropolitan Police inspector assigned to investigate the murder, Chikako Kobayashi, discover that trusting the banker - who emerges from his coma with amnesia - may be a dangerous decision. As Charlie tries to sift truth from deceit, he’s unsure if he’s dealing with a man whose accident has brought about a profound change for the better or a devious criminal lurking behind a convenient facade.
Charlie is in his 40s, divorced and working with Foreign Affairs, reporting to headquarters in Ottawa. He recently transferred from a posting in Moscow to Tokyo, with a brief stop in Ottawa. He suffering from jet lag and a bit of culture shock.
His first case is a Canadian named Rob who was hurt in a car accident and in a coma. Charlie does all he can to find family and/or friends back home in Canada but comes up empty. When Rob comes out of his coma, he has amnesia and doesn't remember Aiko, his girlfriend, or Steve, his good friend who is visiting him from Canada. When Steve turns up dead of an apparent mugging, Inspector Kobayashi becomes involved and together she and Charlie try to figure out what's going on.
This is the third and latest in the A Foreign Affairs Mystery series (I read the first two) and I liked it. I find Charlie to be a likable guy. All poor Charlie wants is a little bit of calmness and he's always being pulled into something. It is written in third person perspective, mostly from Charlie's point of view. The author makes Tokyo come alive in his descriptions. As a head's up, there is swearing and adult activity.
I look forward to reading more by this author.
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