Mr. Mystery

Mr. Mystery is a mystery-fiction series written by Jim Aitchison under the pseudonym of James Lee (also the author of the Mr. Midnight series). Unlike Mr. Midnight, it has a fixed group of main characters. The series is published by Angsana Books. 23 "episodes" of the series have been published excluding Special Edition One released near Christmas in 2010 and the second Special Edition released near Halloween of 2012. There are now currently 3 SE (Special Editions). New "episodes" are usually planned for release every two to four months, together with Mr. Midnight books though rather infrequently. Since the release of book 12, the letterpage with a message from the author as well as announcement of prizewinners and preview of the next book has been removed, with the reason unknown.

Plot

The story is about 6 friends who run a detective company, named Soh & Co, in an old storeroom behind Alvin Soh's mother's jewelry shop. A large sign hangs outside proudly proclaiming:

                                        SOH & CO
                                      INVESTIGATORS
                                  We investigate anything
                                No case too big or too small

They are frequently roped into solving crimes that baffle the police by their suspicious clients, frowned upon by their friend in the police, Seargeant Soo, as well as Alvin's mother, Gracie Soh.

Main characters

Alvin Soh: He is the main character in Mr. Mystery. He lives with his mother, Gracie Soh. His gel-slicked hair is always cut very short at the sides, which seems to make his ears stick out. In The Mystery of the Sydney Slayings, he learns that his father was murdered by The Snake.
Tan Wei Ling: She has a collection of criminal files in their headquarters. She is Alvin's "girlfriend". She became jealous when Alvin became close to Tai, The Snake's daughter. She has a prominent beauty spot. She always wears white tee and jeans. In The Mystery of the Unlucky Undertaker, Wei Ling has a new boyfriend, Tony Hall.
Rafe: His real name is Rafferty Lim. He is Alvin's best friend and his senior investigator. He is so handsome that he looks like a member of a boy band. He is also Mars Wong's boyfriend. In The Mystery of the Rajah's Ruby, it is revealed that he can fly a plane.
Mars Wong: She is a beautiful girl and is Rafe's girlfriend. She is close to Tan Wei Ling and Sabrina Sim (a girl who is not an investigator). She is the one who found out Tai is actually The Snake's daughter. Before she started dating with Rafe, she had a boyfriend, Edmund Lim (The Mystery of the Eagle's Eye).
Azizul: He always wears a hat. Azizul enjoys teasing Wei Ling just to see her beauty spot bob up and down. He has a girlfriend, Farisha, but she is not an investigator.
Sinchita: Sinchita can draw very well. She has a cat, Kuching. Sinchita believes relationships do not last long, just like what happened to her father and mother. In The Mystery of the Seventh Sword, she is unintentionally poisoned by The Snake, after she cut her finger with the poisoned envelope meant for Alvin, slipping into a coma. In the next book, The Mystery of the Missing Murderer, she died, leaving five investigators in the team.
Tony Hall:Tony likes to surf. He became Wei Ling's boyfriend in The Mystery of the Unlucky Undertaker. He was very patient and always hold up for Alvin. He became part of the group in The Mystery of the Clueless Corpse.

Minor characters

Sergeant Soo: His name is Samuel Soo. He was friends with Alan Soh, Alvin's father. Sergeant Soo always helps Alvin in his investigations, whether he likes it or not. He became protective to Alvin and his team after he learned that Alan Soh, Alvin's father, was murdered by The Snake. He has a romantic relationship with Gracie Soh. He later becomes extremely protective to Alvin and forbids the team to be involved in any criminal investigation.(The Mystery of the Unlucky Undertaker). He is engaged to Gracie Soh in Book 22.
Gracie Soh: Alvin's mother. Owns a jewelry shop. She has a romantic relationship with Sergeant Soo. She is often worried about Alvin's safety during his investigation, especially after finds out how Alan Soh and Sinchita was killed. She is engaged to Sergeant Soo.
The Snake: Master criminal, leader of the city's largest crime syndicate. Alvin's deadliest enemy. He often wears a green-reptile mask and he never takes it off. He is extremely dangerous and always tries to get rid of Alvin and his team as they always outsmart him. In The Mystery of the Rajah's Ruby, it is revealed he has a daughter, Tai.
Tai: Her full name is Tai Pan, based on a deadly poisonous snake's name. She is very beautiful, and Alvin used to date her until Mars gave him a warning. Tai oftens go against her father's will and warns Alvin about the danger that are coming, causing her father to question her loyalty (The Mystery of the Man Who Had to Die). She was killed by a French criminal in The Mystery of the Gangster's Gun.
Cordelia Chew: Mars' friend. She tries to get Alvin to be her boyfriend (The Mystery of the Terrified Teacher). Both Alvin and Tony are infatuated by her.

List of Characters

Book introduced:

Book 1

Alvin Soh (debut)
Tan Wei Ling (debut)
Mars Wong (debut)
Rafferty "Rafe" Lim (debut)
Azizul (debut)
Sinchita(debut)
Gracie Soh (debut)
Khor
The Snake (debut)
Sergeant Samuel Soo (debut)
Benny
Josie
Nifty
Man in Hood
Maxim

Book 2

Mr Mun
Felix Wang/Mun
Stella
Mr Terence Tiew
Mr Foo (debut)
Nurulfarisha Atiqa (debut)

Book 3

Tai (debut)
Mr Pek
Inspector Werner Schmidt/Otto
Inspector Lal

Book 4

Ray "Romeo" Doggett
Rocky Doggett
Frankie Doggett
Maxie Bloom
Zeke
Ah Hock

Book 5

Edmund Lim
Professor Julius Jung
Professor Aloysius Tham

Book 6

Takume
General Tshombe
Takume's father/Minister of State
Mr Quentin Quek

Book 7

Justen/ Ricky
Sabrina Sim
The Shark
Mr Sim
Rublev

Book 8

The Boot
Detective Inspector Bellamy
Frank Dugan
Alec Dugan
Joe
Blinsky
Harold Hooper
William 'Lucky' Lockwood
'Butcher' Braggins
Patsy Lockwood

Book 9

Mr Tarquin Tarn
Benjamin Pang
Gustave Fan
Tong

Book 10

Wilbert Wong
Silas Wong
Olivia Wong
Sebestian Wong
Oscar Oei

Book 11

Chow Ah Long
Johnny Lok
Lefty
Ernest Pan
Albert Tien
Flora Tien

Book 12

Vincent Goy
Laski
Smith/Franz Schiller
Miss Letazia Chia
Professor Charles Dodge

Book 13

Augustus Heng
Alfred Heng
Tony Hall (debut)
Mr. Hoy
Inspector Wong

Book 14

'Putty Nose' Neo
William Koe
Winston Koe
Jeremy Koe
Jessica Koe

Book 15

Mong Tuck Seng
Karl Kong
Chin
Choy
Antoine Leclerc
Elsie Lee
Ernst Hoffman

Book 16

Lawrence Ler
Leopold Ler
Cordelia Chew (debut)
Charles Chan
Mrs. Chan
Mr. Leong
Alfred Lim
Roger Lye
Simon Tang

SE 1

Erica Ong
Dexter Mak
Julius Fong
Edward 'Bruiser' Boey
Joseph Boey
'Cheery' Chong
Mr. Ho
Mr. Li
Mr. Chia
Tham 'The Tailor'

Book 17

Lucas Ong
Ashton Ang
Sidney Cheah
Walter Wee
Ronald Ang
Vera Ong
Ernest Choy

Book 18

Angus Lim
Benedict Heng
Frederick Foo
Julius Seow
Benny Lok

Book 19

Dr Augustus Lai
Tiffany Tan
Dr Quentin Quek
Harold Leung
Professor Gracia

Book 20

Boh Jik Fatt (a.k.a. Bugsy Boh)
Marcel Roger
Sly Shen
Happy Hoon
Pally Pang

SE 2

Edward Cho
Mrs Leow
Yvonne Cho
Hubert Fong
Victor Neo
Seah Tong Seng
Tan Ah Kiang
Mrs. Neo
Joseph Lee
Mr Goh

Book 21

Book 22

Christine Ang (Chrissy)
Joses Chan (J'aime)
Harold Chan (Harry)
Felix Hong
Martin Lim (Marty)
Al Boon
Sing Boon Hock

Books Published

Book	Released	Title	Synopsis
1	3 March 2006	The Mystery of The White Tiger	Someone is about to kill an escaped convict.
2	26 May 2006	The Mystery of the Missing Movie	The investigators get caught up in a case of an unsolved murder, and millions of dollars.
3	15 September 2006	The Mystery of The Rajah's Ruby	An old enemy tries to get the Rajah's Ruby.
4	19 January 2007	The Mystery of the Purple Pop Star	A pop star disappears before a concert.
5	4 May 2007	The Mystery of the Eagle's Eye	An eagle was stolen from the house of Professor Julius Jung.
6	4 May 2007	The Mystery of the Runaway Rebel	A powerful general is looking for a boy, who is a liar and a thief.
7	7 September 2007	The Mystery of the Boy Who Never Was	Criminals are looking for the Silver Begging Bowl and one of Mars' friends has a new boyfriend.
8	18 January 2008	The Mystery of the Sydney Slayings	On vacation in Sydney, Alvin and his investigators stumble upon a murder.
9	6 June 2008	The Mystery Of The Seventh Sword	Mr Tarquin Tarn receives pictures of swords arriving at different times and gets a threat that he will die when the picture of the seventh sword arrives. Sinchita, one of the investigators, slips into a coma after being cut by a poisoned envelope sent by The Snake which is meant for Alvin.
10	29 August 2008	The Mystery Of The Missing Murderer	A man who has been framed for murder by his own family asks Alvin to clear his name and prove his innocence. However, evidence against him keeps on piling up.
11	28 November 2008	The Mystery Of The Man Who Had To Die	Alvin is asked to find a missing security guard named Albert Tien by his sister, Flora Tien. Meanwhile, someone is following Alvin and watching him.
12	19 January 2009	The Mystery Of The Body in the Bath	A rich business man has been shot dead in his bath. Meanwhile, Alvin has to wrestle with another mystery of who Tony is and why he is with Wei Ling.
13	15 May 2009	The Mystery Of The Unlucky Undertaker	An undertaker was stabbed to death in a mortuary while he was embalming a corpse.
14	20 November 2009	The Mystery of the Clueless Corpse	When a headless body is found in a park, Alvin is determined to bring the killer to justice. But without a single clue to work on, his reputation is on the line.
15	4 June 2010	The Mystery of the Bungling Baker	The body of a baker is found dead, stuffed inside a cupboard of a restaurant in a five-star hotel.
16	24 September 2010	The Mystery of the Terrified Teacher	Alvin's art teacher is shot dead the night after he hires Alvin.
SE 1	19 November 2010	The Mystery of the Christmas Killer	At a department store, a gangster dressed as Santa Claus is shot dead.
17	26 January 2011	The Mystery of the Jealous Jeweler	A famous jeweler is found murdered at a jewelry fair.
18	27 May 2011	The Mystery of the Friendless Fisherman	Alvin and Azizul fish a corpse from the waters.
19	16 September 2011	The Mystery of the Museum Murder	A poison dart kills a man at the museum at midnight.
20	24 June 2012	The Mystery of the Gangster's Gun	The Snake hires Alvin to prove his innocence after three gangsters were shot dead using his gun.
SE 2	14 September 2012	The Mystery of the Man in the Mask	A man wearing a Halloween mask, is on the loose killing people for no apparent reason.
21	31 May 2013	The Mystery of the Murdered Maid	A Millionaire's/Billionaire's maid is shot and the family members start blaming one another for her death.
22	20 September 2013	The Mystery of the Dead Diva	A famous young diva is strangled in her dressing room.
SE 3	22 November 2013	The Mystery of the Suspicious Santa	An old man dressed as Santa is found dead on a roof.
23	7 February 2014	The Mystery of the Bolting Burglar	A burglar surprises his friends when he vanishes into thin air. Murder is at the heart of the mystery.
24	9 November 2015	The Mystery of the Clownish Corpse	A Corpse turned up dressed in a clown costume for no inexplicable reason.
SE 4	TBA	The Mystery of the Christmas Crimes	A gangster was brutally murdered in a deserted mall.His death was seemingly linked to gangsters plotting crimes during the festive season

External links