Inspector Zhang and the Falling Woman — Stephen Leather

Inspector Zhang of the Singapore Police Force is horrified when a woman falls to her death in front of him one evening. But what seems to be a simple case of suicide soon becomes a much more complicated affair and one that will test his detective skills to the limit.

This is a short story, just over 9,000 words, equivalent to about 30 pages. A perfect read if you have half an hour or so to kill.

I have also included the first few chapters of another detective story set in Asia - Bangkok Bob and The Missing Mormon.

Stephen Leather is one of the UK's most successful thriller writers. He was a journalist for more than ten years on newspapers such as The Times, the Daily Mail and the South China Morning Post in Hong Kong. Before that, he was employed as a biochemist for ICI, shovelled limestone in a quarry, worked as a baker, a petrol pump attendant, a barman, and worked for the Inland Revenue. He began writing full time in 1992, he has sold more than three million copies and his books are published in more than ten languages.