Don’t worry if you missed the first three books of Taiwanese-American novelist Ed Lin’s (林景南) acclaimed Night Market murder-mystery series. I did too, and although I’m still unclear about the former exploits of the Joy Division-loving protagonist Jing-nan who runs a skewer stall named “Unknown Pleasures” in Shilin Night Market, knowing that he’s become somewhat of a local celebrity since the first book will suffice.
Everyone seems to know that Jing-nan at one point fought off armed gangsters by blocking their bullets with only a cast iron pot, and he has mostly given up trying to correct them about what actually