The Murder of Mr. Ma by SJ Rozan

Shy academic Lao She lives a quiet life in London. That is, until a fateful meeting sees him paired with Judge Dee, a man on a mission to solve the murder of his friend, a man he’d served with in World War I. When more murders occur, the two men must figure out who’s behind them or they just may be next. I loved this mismatched pair, one an addicted detective and martial arts expert, the other a professor more used to living on the sidelines. As Chinese men, both meet with racism and bigotry, and the most intriguing part of this novel is how they take the way they are ignored and discounted and turn it to their advantage in this fun, fast-paced, and cinematic historical mystery.