Publishers Weekly
May's well-plotted follow-up to his first mystery featuring Beijing Deputy Section Chief Li Yan and American forensic pathologist Margaret Campbell (after 2005's The Firemaker) amplifies his vivid picture of a chaotic, vital modern-day China emerging from the havoc wrought by the cultural revolution and the Red Guards. A request from the American ambassador puts Margaret's imminent departure from China on hold when a series of execution-style decapitations claims a fourth victim, a Chinese-American employed by the U.S. embassy in Beijing. She and Li join forces on the difficult investigation, which is shadowed by the romantic tension of their relationship even as handsome TV archeologist Michael Zimmerman avidly courts Margaret. May evokes the intense mutual attraction between Li and Margaret against a fascinating backdrop of the cultural divide between China and America. (Feb.) Copyright 2006 Reed Business Information.
Library Journal
In May's sequel to The Firemaker, Chinese police Deputy Section Chief Li Yan is ordered to forget about Dr. Margaret Campbell, a pathologist from the United States, after the romantic skirmishes depicted in the first book. He has little choice in the matter since his career as a police officer is in Beijing. Campbell has waited for weeks for Li to contact her but to no avail. On the eve of her departure for home, the U.S. government orders her to conduct the autopsy of a beheaded man who was a naturalized citizen of the United States and the fourth victim in a string of murders believed to be the work of a serial killer. Li is the lead detective in the investigation. The tension between the two is offset by their professionalism and the need to solve the crimes. May spent time in China conducting research on police procedures, having been granted unprecedented access to their world. Here he delivers a clear defense of the second in a series, which some readers expect to be a disappointment. He lives in Argyll, Scotland, and France.
—Jo Ann Vicarel Copyright 2007 Reed Business Information
Kirkus Reviews
A pair of former lovers are forced into an uneasy working relationship by a series of gruesome murders. Forensic pathologist Margaret Campbell is heading stateside when the embassy calls on her to help investigate the death of one of their employees, Yuan Tao, the fourth in a series of mysterious decapitations. Margaret, deeply in love with Chinese police detective Li Yan, is bitter at his dropping her after they solved his last case, not knowing that Li, who was ordered to break off the relationship, deeply regrets his choice of career over love. Charismatic archaeologist and TV personality Michael Zimmerman introduces Margaret to the treasures of China, especially the thousands of terra-cotta figures discovered at Xi'an. In between throwing barbs at each other, Li and Margaret discover several clues. Yuan was killed by the same weapon and method as the other three but not by the same person. The earlier victims had hounded Yuan's father to death during the Cultural Revolution. Now three more remain on the death list. Margaret has decided to go home and consider Michael's marriage proposal when she discovers the meaning of a clue left at the murder scenes. After Margaret, Li, Michael and the killer all meet in a secret chamber, only two leave alive. May's second look at China past and present (The Firemaker, 2005, etc.) is an electrifying mixture of mystery, romance and history. Agent: Anthony Goff/David Higham Associates
From the Publisher
Longlisted for the CWA Dagger in the Library Award, 2018
Praise for Peter May:
"He is a terrific writer doing something different."— Mark Billingham
"From the first page I knew I was in safe hands. I knew I could trust this writer."— Sophie Hannah
"Peter May is a writer I'd follow to the ends of the earth."— Marilyn Stasio, The New York Times
"May exposes Beijing's dirty charm in a country grappling with modernity. The fast-paced second half is strongest, but the love-hate tension of the romance captivates throughout."
— Entertainment Weekly
"An electrifying mixture of mystery, romance, and history."
— Kirkus Reviews
"May's well-plotted follow-up . . . amplifies his vivid picture of a chaotic, vital modern-day China . . . [He] evokes the intense attraction between Li and Margaret against a fascinating backdrop of the cultural divide between China and America."
— Publishers Weekly
"While the mystery is grisly and intriguing, it's the relationship between the two leads that elevates the book above many others in the genre . . . The author could have gone for the slick, familiar, fish-out-of-water story, but by choosing a subtler approach, he rewards us with a far deeper, far more satisfying story."
— Booklist
"Pulse-pounding prose . . . A masterwork of sheer momentum."
— The Herald
"Exotic and fascinating."
— Scotland on Sunday
"Both romance and thriller . . . his jealousy and her acid tongue make for entertaining reading. China and the city of Beijing are depicted extremely well and the horrors and tragic legacy of the Cultural Revolution are made poignantly clear."
— Manchester Evening News
