Dragon Bones

by Lisa See

(Read it for a book discussion)

Third in a series, this mystery features sleuths Liu Hulan, an inspector in China's Ministry of Public Security and her husband, David Stark, an American-born attorney.

Our story begins with a dead body floating down the Yangzi River and progresses into an absolute ritual killing/gore fest. Why the dead bodies? Well, there are valued relics being unearthed at the site of the Three Gorge dam construction. There is Chinese art auction intrigue, and a strange cult-type group known as the All-Patriotic Society. How do all of these tie together? That's what Hulan and David are sent to find out.

Again, I read this for a book discussion. First, I would never read a mystery series out of sequence. In this case, I had no sense of our sleuths. I missed the set-up in the first two novels. Second, this mystery was full of sub-plots and characters who were not necessarily relevant. Basically, this is one convoluted mystery. I would not recommend it.

I would, however, recommend See's latest novel, Snow Flower and the Secret Fan. It is fabulous. Check out my review on this blog.

9/22/06