{"id":25946,"date":"2026-03-18T19:45:22","date_gmt":"2026-03-18T23:45:22","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/klishis.com\/reading\/?p=25946"},"modified":"2026-03-22T19:50:53","modified_gmt":"2026-03-22T23:50:53","slug":"the-demon-and-the-city-3","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/klishis.com\/reading\/archives\/25946","title":{"rendered":"The Demon and the City"},"content":{"rendered":"

The Demon and the City<\/em><\/a> (2006) Liz Williams<\/a> (Detective Inspector Chen #2)<\/p>\n

\"The<\/p>\n

\u201cI\u2019m here about an irregularity in your feng shui dowsing license,\u201d the demon said. \u201cMy name\u2019s Seneschal Zhu Irzh. Want to see my badge?\u201d <\/p>\n

At this point he had produced a piece of paper which, to Paravang\u2019s horrified gaze, had proclaimed him to be not only a citizen of Hell, but also a member of Singapore Three\u2019s police department. To Paravang\u2019s mind, this was a truly nightmarish combination.<\/p><\/blockquote>\n

\u201cThe Paugeng heiress. Even I\u2019ve heard of Jhai Tserai.\u201d He grinned. \u201cMost of Hell has, as a matter of fact. She\u2019s got a number of interesting contacts down there.\u201d<\/p><\/blockquote>\n

\u201cThere\u2019s a substantial spring down there.\u201d He pointed. <\/p>\n

Paravang said loftily, \u201cI doubt that very much. It\u2019s entirely the wrong sort of terrain.\u201d <\/p>\n

Zhu Irzh made a universal both-hands-in-the-air gesture. \u201cI can\u2019t help that. I can see it! There it is. Go and get your little stick and take a look.\u201d <\/p>\n

\u201cIt is not a little stick! It is a dowsing wand!\u201d <\/p>\n

\u201cMy apologies.\u201d<\/p><\/blockquote>\n

Spoiler: He’s not really sorry.<\/p>\n

Characters<\/strong>: Detective Inspector Chen, Seneschal Zhu Irzh, Sergeant Ma, Deveth Sardai, Opal Sardai, Malian Sardai, Dowser Paravang Roche, Hsu Ko, Robin Yuan, Jhai Tserai, Giris Sardai, George Su, Exorcist Ghi, Tarai Alba, Colonel Ei, Kuan Yin, Senditreya, Mhara, badger \/ teakettle, Mrs Yin Deng Soi, Tarai Alba, Wo Ti, Mahibel Wing, Iso Matabe<\/p>\n

Cover by Jon Foster<\/p>\n

Publisher: Night Shade<\/p>\n

Rating: 8\/10<\/strong><\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

The Demon and the City (2006) Liz Williams (Detective Inspector Chen #2) \u201cI\u2019m here about an irregularity in your feng shui dowsing license,\u201d the demon said. \u201cMy name\u2019s Seneschal Zhu Irzh. Want to see my badge?\u201d At this point he had produced a piece of paper which, to Paravang\u2019s horrified gaze, had proclaimed him to […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"jetpack_post_was_ever_published":false,"_jetpack_newsletter_access":"","_jetpack_dont_email_post_to_subs":false,"_jetpack_newsletter_tier_id":0,"_jetpack_memberships_contains_paywalled_content":false,"_jetpack_memberships_contains_paid_content":false,"footnotes":"","jetpack_publicize_message":"","jetpack_publicize_feature_enabled":true,"jetpack_social_post_already_shared":true,"jetpack_social_options":{"image_generator_settings":{"template":"highway","default_image_id":0,"font":"","enabled":false},"version":2}},"categories":[12,292,2,204,8,42,41,25],"tags":[127,126,655],"class_list":["post-25946","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","hentry","category-8-10","category-ebook","category-fantasy","category-good","category-mystery","category-police","category-reread","category-science-fiction","tag-detective-inspector-chen","tag-liz-williams","tag-violence"],"jetpack_publicize_connections":[],"jetpack_featured_media_url":"","jetpack_sharing_enabled":true,"jetpack_shortlink":"https:\/\/wp.me\/piQkW-6Ku","jetpack-related-posts":[{"id":384,"url":"https:\/\/klishis.com\/reading\/archives\/384","url_meta":{"origin":25946,"position":0},"title":"The Demon and the City","author":"Michelle","date":"May 29, 2007","format":false,"excerpt":"The Demon and the City (2006) Liz Williams After reading The Snake Agent, I've been looking forward the reading the next Detective Inspector Chen book. (In fact, the paperback edition has been on pre-order for several months.) As with many authors I like, after getting a book, I'm hesitant to\u2026","rel":"","context":"In "8\/10"","block_context":{"text":"8\/10","link":"https:\/\/klishis.com\/reading\/archives\/category\/8-10"},"img":{"alt_text":"The Demon and the City","src":"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/www.klishis.com\/Books\/images\/demon_and_the_city.jpg?resize=350%2C200","width":350,"height":200},"classes":[]},{"id":1679,"url":"https:\/\/klishis.com\/reading\/archives\/1679","url_meta":{"origin":25946,"position":1},"title":"The Shadow Pavilion","author":"Michelle","date":"April 4, 2010","format":false,"excerpt":"The Shadow Pavilion (2009) Liz Williams Detective Inspector Chen has multiple problems to deal with: his partner Zhu Irzh has disappeared, along with the badger, a Bollywood star\/tiger demon is on the rampage, and someone wants to kill the Emperor of Heaven. Add to that the complexity of everyday life\u2026","rel":"","context":"In "9\/10"","block_context":{"text":"9\/10","link":"https:\/\/klishis.com\/reading\/archives\/category\/9-10"},"img":{"alt_text":"The Shadow Pavilion","src":"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/klishis.com\/reading\/wp-content\/uploads\/2013\/12\/The-Shadow-Pavilion.jpg?resize=350%2C200&ssl=1","width":350,"height":200},"classes":[]},{"id":26409,"url":"https:\/\/klishis.com\/reading\/archives\/26409","url_meta":{"origin":25946,"position":2},"title":"Precious Dragon","author":"Michelle","date":"March 21, 2026","format":false,"excerpt":"Precious Dragon (2007) Liz Williams (Detective Inspector Chen #3) Detective Inspector Chen and Zhu Irzh are taken from their current cases and sent to Hell to escort the Celestial, Miss Qi. \u201cMiss Qi will be coming with us, then?\u201d Chen asked, more to stave off yet another difficult discussion than\u2026","rel":"","context":"In "8\/10"","block_context":{"text":"8\/10","link":"https:\/\/klishis.com\/reading\/archives\/category\/8-10"},"img":{"alt_text":"Precious Dragon","src":"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/klishis.com\/reading\/wp-content\/uploads\/2013\/12\/Precious-Dragon-200x300.jpg?resize=350%2C200&ssl=1","width":350,"height":200},"classes":[]},{"id":4219,"url":"https:\/\/klishis.com\/reading\/archives\/4219","url_meta":{"origin":25946,"position":3},"title":"Snake Agent","author":"Michelle","date":"December 8, 2013","format":false,"excerpt":"Snake Agent (2005) Liz Williams The Detective Inspector Chen series popped up as an Amazon ebook deal of the day, and I love this series so much I snatched them up as ebooks. (In my defense, my copies are all trade paperbacks.) Detective Inspector Chen is in charge of crimes\u2026","rel":"","context":"In "8.5\/10"","block_context":{"text":"8.5\/10","link":"https:\/\/klishis.com\/reading\/archives\/category\/8-5-10"},"img":{"alt_text":"","src":"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/klishis.com\/reading\/wp-content\/uploads\/2013\/12\/Snake-Agent.jpg?resize=350%2C200","width":350,"height":200},"classes":[]},{"id":2358,"url":"https:\/\/klishis.com\/reading\/archives\/2358","url_meta":{"origin":25946,"position":4},"title":"The Iron Khan","author":"Michelle","date":"April 30, 2011","format":false,"excerpt":"The Iron Khan (2010) Liz Williams I stumbled across The Snake Agent in 2007, and since then have eagerly bought books in the Detective Inspector Chen series whenever they came out. However, at some point finding those books was getting to be more and more difficult. Scuttlebutt has it that\u2026","rel":"","context":"In "8\/10"","block_context":{"text":"8\/10","link":"https:\/\/klishis.com\/reading\/archives\/category\/8-10"},"img":{"alt_text":"","src":"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/klishis.com\/reading\/wp-content\/uploads\/2011\/04\/Iron-Khan.jpg?resize=350%2C200","width":350,"height":200},"classes":[]},{"id":4240,"url":"https:\/\/klishis.com\/reading\/archives\/4240","url_meta":{"origin":25946,"position":5},"title":"Precious Dragon","author":"Michelle","date":"December 21, 2013","format":false,"excerpt":"Precious Dragon (2007) Liz Williams The third Detective Inspector Chen book finds Chen back at work, and, after having stopped a rampaging goddess in the previous book, Chen and Zhu Irzh must now suffer the attentions of the public, and, more specifically, the accolades of part of the government of\u2026","rel":"","context":"In "8.5\/10"","block_context":{"text":"8.5\/10","link":"https:\/\/klishis.com\/reading\/archives\/category\/8-5-10"},"img":{"alt_text":"","src":"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/klishis.com\/reading\/wp-content\/uploads\/2013\/12\/Precious-Dragon.jpg?resize=350%2C200","width":350,"height":200},"classes":[]}],"jetpack_likes_enabled":false,"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/klishis.com\/reading\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/25946","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/klishis.com\/reading\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/klishis.com\/reading\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/klishis.com\/reading\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/klishis.com\/reading\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=25946"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/klishis.com\/reading\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/25946\/revisions"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/klishis.com\/reading\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=25946"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/klishis.com\/reading\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=25946"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/klishis.com\/reading\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=25946"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}