DAMON ROSE was born in Derbyshire, England in 1971. He currently lives in Alicante, Spain, with his wife Ieva and his two children Adam and Lucy, He enjoys history, travel and Spanish studies. Damon has lived and worked in numerous countries, including Hong Kong, the Philippines, Thailand, Australia, Indonesia and New Zealand. As a young man, he witnessed first-hand the melting pot of cultures that was colonial Hong Kong. In The Handover Murders, he draws on his twenty years as a professional diver and thirteen years working in Hong Kong including at the time of the 1997 handover of Hong Kong, an event which changed the course of Hong Kong history, and his own life. The Handover Murders is Damon Rose’s first novel and draws on a lifetime’s experience.

The main events of THE HANDOVER MURDERS are set against the volatile political situation in 1997 Hong Kong, immediately before, the same day as and shortly after the handover of sovereignty of the British colony to the Peoples' Republic of China. Intertwined with this, a story from the past unrolls against a changing backdrop: the Japanese invasion and occupation of Hong Kong during WWII, the influx of refugees from mainland China, and 1960s and 1970s corruption in the Hong Kong Civil Service.

 Two stories interweave: one during the Japanese Occupation of Hong Kong; one around the time of the Handover of Hong Kong to Communist China. Eurasian hero, a Manchester detective, mother Chinese, father Scottish soldier/policeman. 2 murders, some triad element, corruption, professional diving. Highly competent first novel.

“Fans of Detective fiction are in for a treat with this well-written, classically structured, and superbly characterised narrative. There are few novels that one can say are hard to put down, but this is one of them.” —Lawrence Gray, Founding President, Hong Kong Writers’ Circle; Author of the novels, Cop Show Heaven and Adam’s Franchise; and the short story collection, Odds and Sods.

The Handover Murders is available from the Chinese University Press, Hong Kong,