Although there must certainly be fictional South Korean detectives, we only know of James Church's Inspector O, who works for the North Korean government. Like all good fictional detectives, Inspector O stands for truth, justice, and the Korean way, and we both applaud his efforts and also feel his pain when circumstances—often political—keep him from his duty.

Following Inspector O around tells us much about modern North Korean life (the author observed it over several years, we are told), and give us great (if fictionally based) hope that all but a few North Koreans are like Inspector O. The world will truly be at peace then.

Michael Broschat, Aug 2008