JAMES HADLEY CHASE – A Coffin from Hong Kong. Robert Hale, UK, hardcover, 1962; reprinted many times by Grafton, UK, in paperback, including the 12th printing, 1988, shown to the right. No US edition.

   The private eye in A Coffin from Hong Kong is a fellow named Nelson (not Nolan) Ryan, whose home base is Pasadena City, a town somewhere along the California coast. This book is apparently his only appearance.

   The case begins with a phone call from a would-be client that turns out to be a wild goose chase. When he returns to his office he finds a dead Chinese girl, and all of the evidence points to him as the killer. Luckily even though Lt. Retnick,the police detective on the case, got his job only because he’s married to the Mayor’s sister, he’s not a complete fool. It’s obviously a frame-up job.

   Working for the dead girl’s father-in-law, whose son died recently in Hong Kong — the girl was bringing his body back to the US — Ryan is sent back to there to learn more. This is where most of the book takes place, producing lots of atmosphere as well as putting Ryan on the trail of several beautiful women who have even more secrets to be sifted through. PI work sometimes has many perks!

   The story’s competently told, though it rarely rises above that rather standard bar. It’s also a reasonably well-clued fair-play detective novel, which I gladly accepted as an not entirely expected bonus.