Narrated by Adrian Gyle an expat living in Hong Kong for 20 years, this story revolves around a crime but is not a detective, thriller or mystery, more a detailed observation of how the wealthy behave when the going gets tough and a discussion about how far we would go to preserve democracy.

Set during the pro-democracy protests, Gyle a reporter and Jimmy Tang his best friend from university days, spend their time eating and drinking, buying flash clothes and chasing women all funded by Tang who comes from wealth and who married into even more wealth. They are both in their mid fifties so it is a surprise when Tang turns up with a young woman in her early 20s, Rebecca To, who comes from a wealthy family but who is also an active protester in the rallies being held on the streets at night. Her death is a device used by the author to enable us to ask if Gyle has the courage to find out what happened and his friend's role in it.

The friendship between Gyle and Tang has always seemed solid, lasted for decades and felt unbreakable - not unlike democracy in Hong Kong - but all it takes is one incident for the wealthy to flee and cover up their tracks and for the young to take to the streets. I suppose Osborne is asking us what we would do if our democracy were threatened. Would we have the courage to protest, to try and change it? Tang and Gyle continue to eat out, drink and visit each other as if nothing is going on. Like the friendship, the deomcracy of the country is more fragile than you think despite its longevity and is slowly being whittled away. So, this is also a reflection on the differences in response between the younger and older, wealthier and poorer communities.

The place is described well, the heat and humidity referred to frequently, the food listed and restaurants where you go downstairs to eat. The atmosphere is heavy and oppresive and not a little febrile but has an important impact on Gyle.

In fact, at the beginning of that summer, when the disturbances had first erupted, I felt as though I were being woken from a deep and meaningless sleep. The city I had grown so used to - comfortable, cynical, overflowing with wine dinners and white-truffle events - was shattered the first moment I saw one of my neighbours wander onto Java Road at midnight in a white sleeveless shirt wielding a butcher's knife.
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This idea of being like a sleeping beauty, woken by a threat is an interesting one, with more links throughout the story. China could be likened to the bad fairy Godmother who threatened the island when it was part of the UK. This 'awakening' means the downfall of the friendship with Gyle afterwards living his life seemingly without purpose. He ducked the issue when he had his chance. ( )

Hong Kong after the handover, friendship, trust, struggle, exile, how to know other people. We will discuss this next Monday in our Book Circle.

The discussion went well, led by Chatterbox. A lot of the talk focused on the status of the narrator, Adrian, as an English reporter who quite deliberately exiled himself in Hong Kong just after the handover, because, he states, he couldn't see a future for himself in England. Of course, as the status of non-Chinese withers, he doesn't have much of a future in Hong Kong either, but he is drawn there by his very privileged friend Jimmy and the chance to observe the change.

Navigating the distances between the rich upper layer of Hong Kong society, the increasing control of the Chinese mainland, and the rebellion of the (mostly) student population, Adrian watches as his world becomes more dangerous for himself and others, the lies more overt, the ghosts multiplying. What does he really see?

Well-written, with references to both Chinese and European culture, noir but not a mystery. It would support a second read. ( )

This one started out pretty good, in a nice literary fiction kind of way, but by 10% I got bored. A lot of talking and descriptions, but not much action. Also, 10% already and not into described plot points yet. It seems it may be getting close, but I'm too uninterested to keep going. Willing to concede it may just not be for me. ( )

Full of location and atmosphere, the setting drew me to the book and Osborne delivers. But the narrative never caught me. ( )

In terms of genre, Lawrence Osborne's On Java Road is a mystery novel, but in my experience as a reader, the mystery didn't drive the novel. What kept me reading was the exploration of the effects on different communities of the British return of Hong Kong to China. The book is set several years into that process when younger Hong Kong residents are demonstrating for democracy and the Chinese government is beginning the crackdown it had promised Britain wouldn't happen.

The central characters are Adrian Gyle, an aging British journalist and long-time ex-pat, and Jimmy Tang, a member of Hong Kong's wealthiest classes. The two became friends during their college years in Britain and have a pleasant, if imbalanced, relationship years later in Hong Kong. Jimmy's wealth leaves Adrian, not dependent on Jimmy, but aware of his own, much narrower world. The two meet for lunches and dinners. Jimmy occasionally treats Adrian to a bespoke suit he'll have no occasion to wear and introduces Adrian to some of his many paramours.

The mystery plot focuses on the death of Jimmy's latest flame, Rebecca, who was a student activist about thirty years younger than him. Ostensibly she committed suicide, but at the moment staged suicides are one of the ways police are eliminating student activists and Jimmy may have his own reasons for wanting a an unequivocal end to the relationship. As Adrian investigates Rebecca's death, his relationship with Jimmy becomes increasingly strained.

But as I said, the real heart of the novel for me was its temporal setting. Adrian has his British passport and is wondering when or if it will become advisable for him to leave Hong Kong as the violence and press crackdown worsen. In order to protect his and his family's wealth, Jimmy has to offer visible, if token, support for the Chinese regime, while determining how soon he will have to leave Hong Kong and how he will protect his wealth. A pair of Adrian's friends, jaded reporters who see the Chinese absorption of Hong Kong as inevitable and not necessarily bad, add another interesting perspective to the mix. Finally there are the Chinese students protesting and residents of Hong Kong who welcome mainland control and attack those they see as insufficiently committed to the national government.

Osborne has a gorgeous prose style that evokes his settings with precision and affect. In other words, even though the mystery may not carry the novel, Osborne keeps readers engaged regardless.

I received a free electronic review copy of this title from the publisher; the opinions are my own. ( )