Overview
Margaret Campbell, a Chicago forensic pathologist, has been invited by the Chinese government to teach at the Beijing police university. She has accepted the six-week assignment with misgivings but is desperate to escape a troubled life in America. Arriving in Beijing, she checks “nothing to declare” on the health declaration they gave her on the plane—-nothing, that is, “except a broken heart and a wasted life, neither of which was contagious.”
She gets off to a bad start when her car knocks senior detective Li Yan off his bicycle. In a furious clash, he dresses her down in perfect English. But Li soon finds himself reintroduced to Margaret by his superiors when the newly promoted detective’s first case requires Margaret’s special expertise to identify a horribly burned corpse. Thrown together to track down the killer, Margaret and Li must bury their personal and cultural differences when they uncover a conspiracy that threatens not only their lives, but the lives of millions.
Synopsis
Forensic pathologist Margaret Campbell had finally decided to leave Beijingaand the man she lovedaand return home to the States. But thereas a new case. Four men have been killed. All of them were from China, and all were victims of what looks like ritual sacrifices.
The U.S. ambassador practically forces Margaret to work once more with Li Yan. As Margaret and Li Yan investigate, they come closer and closer to finding the truth behind the killeras executions. They also come closer to a killer who will sacrifice anyone to conceal a secret.
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.
Editorials
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 AssociatesFrom the Publisher
A forensic pathologist takes a short-term lecturing job in China to escape the bitter memories of her husband's disgrace and death, little knowing that her decision will change her life.
Too distraught to read her briefing papers, Margaret Campbell makes many mistakes in dealing with the tender sensibilities of the Chinese, whose customs are so different from her own. She gets off to a rocky start with Deputy Section Chief Li Yan, but her expertise with burn victims comes in handy in his investigation of three murders. She soon becomes committed to helping Li solve the murders, apparently the work of a hit man from Hong Kong. Margaret's work with Li exposes her to a broad section of Chinese culture and opens her eyes to a vastly different world that she comes to respect in many ways. With each new discovery, she and Li become more aware of a cover-up by highly placed government officials. Margaret is set up for death by an alcoholic plant geneticist, Li is framed for the death of his beloved uncle and both must run for their lives in the hope that they can tell the world what they know of a dangerous secret that could lead to disaster on a grand scale.
British TV writer May's frightening premise powers a tale that satisfies as a mystery, a romantic adventure and a fascinating look at the new China.
—Kirkus Reviews