(WPF) Flower Net / Lisa See - 3***

[Book Concierge]

Flower Net – Lisa See
Digital audiobook narrated by Elaina Davis (abridged)
3***

From the book jacket: In the depths of a Beijing winter, the U.S. ambassador’s son is found dead – his body entombed in a frozen lake. Around the same time, aboard a ship adrift off the coast of Southern California, Assistant U.S. Attorney David Stark discovers the corpse of a Red Prince, a scion of China’s political elite. The Chinese and American governments suspect that the deaths are connected, and they join forces to see justice done. In Beijing, David teams up with the female police detective Liu Hulan, in an investigation that takes them to every corner of China and sparks an intense attraction between the two.

My reaction
Before she rocketed to fame with Snow Flower and the Secret Fan See wrote a short series of mysteries, of which this is the first. What I liked most about this book was the look at China – from karaoke bars to the neighborhoods housing the working class, from high-powered businessmen to prostitutes, See gave the reader a look under the blanket of the typical tourist-friendly experience. The plot is convoluted and full of twists and turns, as much political intrigue as murder mystery.

Liu Hulan is an interesting and conflicted character. Having been educated in the U.S. she seems a logical choice to partner with the U.S. attorney for the investigation. But their previous relationship and the personal issues between them kept distracting me from the central mystery.

Elaina Davis does a good job of narrating the audiobook, but it wasn’t until after I had listened to about half of it that I realized it was an abridged version. Fortunately, I had the text as well so could read the full book, which meant I got much more of Liu Hulan explaining Chinese culture to David than action.



LINK to my review