Death Doesn't Forget is the 4th Taipei Night Market novel by Ed Lin. Released 19th July 2022 by Soho Press on their Soho Crime imprint, it's 288 pages and is available in hardcover, audio, and ebook formats. Paperback format due out in second quarter 2023.

This is a distinctly quirky and oddly paced slice-of-life mystery set in Taipei which has a returning ensemble cast of oddball characters, from social media influencer and food-stall owner Jing-nan, his girlfriend Nancy, her estranged (and thoroughly unlikable) mother Siu-lien, and a few others. Most of the characters are just a strange combination of hapless and dishonest or disconcertingly gullible.

The plotting reminds me of a relatively high-drama soap opera. There was some awkward dialogue and I found myself yanked out of the story on several occasions by the sheer unlikelihood of plot developments including the climax. The denouement was bizarre and possibly the most cynical piece of prose I've read this year. It's clearly meant to be humorous; but it just missed in my case.

Three stars. It does work well as a standalone.

Disclosure: I received an ARC at no cost from the author/publisher for review purposes.

Taipei, Taiwan: Petty criminal and perpetual loser Boxer finally catches a break when he wins 200,000 New Taiwan dollars in the lottery. He has big plans for the money including giving a big blowout for his friends. The problem is, he has to split the money 50/50 with his live-in love Sui-lien.
When he goes missing overnight, Sui-lien calls her estranged daughter Nancy for help. Nancy’s boyfriend Jing-nan, owner of a prosperous food stand in the Shilin night market, has a reputation for getting himself out of dangerous situations and bringing down the bad guys, and Sui-lien believes he can find Boxer and retrieve her share of the winnings.
Jing-nan is no fan of Sui-lien, who’s treated her daughter badly, but he does it for Nancy. When he finds Boxer, most of the money is gone. Shortly after his visit Boxer is found dead and Jing-nan is charged with his murder.
Jing-nan is a likable and resourceful protagonist, and the other characters are fully fleshed out. Taipei’s colorful and complex character comes alive on the page. Recommended.

Jing-nan, popular owner of a night market food stall in the capital of Taiwan, Taipei, and his girlfriend Nancy, are the main characters in the continuation of the mystery series. The mystery in the murder of not one, but two individuals, cast shadows over Jing-nan, who must act as a sleuth to clear his name and bring back his food stall customers.

The author brings Taiwan culture and history after the Chinese civil war into focus, its relationship with China and Australia, and especially the local Taiwan aborigines as well as the immigrant aborigines from Australia.

A mixture of history, culture, and crime, the book is revealing and informative as well as entertaining.

Thanks to Soho Crime and NetGalley for a review copy of this book.

Death Doesn't Forget, the fourth title in the Taipei Night Market novels, is another winner from Ed Lin. He brings the island nation alive, moving beyond the atmospheric night market to lesser-known neighborhoods, veterans of the conflict with mainland China, and the marginalized aboriginals of Taiwan. The characters are vivid and I learned a lot; this was a delicious read!

My thanks to both NetGalley and Soho Press for an advanced copy of mystery featuring both food and Taiwan.

A good mystery series need quite a few things to keep readers coming back for more. A lead character that is engaging and a person the reader wants to spend time with. A cast of characters that are both enjoyable, and again people you want to know more about and want to follow changes in their lives, even if only fictional. A reason why the person is investigating anything. A cop or military man, even a reporter or a lawyer might have a reason, but a bookseller or a dog groomer even a restaurateur needs a very good reason to investigate anything outside of their occupations. And setting. As a reader I have learned alot about cultures and places and how things work there from mysteries than from articles in say The Economist. Ed Lin in Death Doesn't Forget does all those things with the addition of great writing in the fourth book to feature Jing-nan, who lives works and detects in Taipei, Taiwan.

Jing-nan is the owner and social media director of a popular food stall Unknown Pleasures, at a night market in Taipei. Jing-nan day starts off bad when his girlfriend Nancy asks him to try and get some of her estranged Mom's lottery winnings from her boyfriend before he spends it all on his friends. The initial meeting goes well, but Nancy's Mom wants more but before Jing-nan can do anything the boyfriend is killed. As is a police investigator no friend of our detective which suddenly puts Jing-nan in trouble both with the police and his social media status. At the same time his employees are having problems of their own, which gives him more to deal with. And his girlfriend is starting to push for marriage.

A very enjoyable read. The setting is different and full of information and facts about Taiwan that I was unaware of. Jing-nan is a great character, one you could see asking for help, or being happy that his food stall was doing well. The cast is just as engaging, and both of Jing-nan touch on different aspects of Taiwanese society that is treated well, and again something I was unaware of. The writing is good, though sometimes it bogs down with so much information on the characters, but still I found myself thinking quite a bit about what I read when I was finished.

This is my first book by Ed Lin, and he seems to have two series, which I am going to have to start looking for. A mystery that teaches about food, life and culture from a place I didn't know much about. Recommended for fans of the Inspector Mislan books by Rozlan Mohd Noor, the Poke Rafferty series from Timothy Hallinan and the Sonchai Jitleecheep series written by John Burnett.

I feel as if I've been to the day market with the protagonist of this book, watching him choose tasty and intriguing ingredients. There are many good things here: the history and present of indigenous Taiwanese (one of whom works at the night market), the attitudes people have toward the mainland and to the veterans who fought for a different China, and the continuing relationships of a cast of characters anchored around a food stall, whose existence depends on a kind of showmanship. And there's a show - a traveling troupe of performers in an indigenous circus. Add two murders, including one of an obnoxious policeman with our protagonist as a suspect - there's plenty for a good meal.

Unfortunately, something went astray for me in the cooking. The pacing was bit off, the tone was uneven, and some of the themes weren't given a chance to develop as much flavor as they might have. Still interesting for its setting, but I would have liked the indigenous material to be further developed.