Flower Net

Author Lisa See will be coming to Bend to do a talk as part of the Deschutes Public Libraries' "Author! Author!" series this coming year, so I decided to read some of her books. I picked this particular book because it was a mystery and had been a finalist for the Edgar Award for Best First Mystery and a NYT Notable Book.
Two former lovers, David Stark, now an Assistant U.S. Attorney in LA, and Liu Hulan, now with the Ministry of Public Security in Beijing, are brought together, ostensibly to solve two murders. One victim is the son of the U.S. Ambassador to China; his body has been found in a lake by ice skaters. Hulan is put on the case and then abruptly taken off. She is shocked by the Ambassador's insistence that it was an accident and his refusal to let the case be pursued. The other murder victim is the son of a powerful Chinese business tycoon, who is found in the water tanks of a freighter bringing illegal Chinese immigrants to the U.S. David is first invited to Beijing to help Hulan and then they return to LA as the money trail leads there. But all around them potential witnesses and colleagues are dying in horrific fashion--clearly sending a warning. When they return once again to Beijing, this time without an official invitation, it quickly becomes apparent that someone or some ones are also trying to kill them.
David and Hulan had gone to law school together and lived together and worked at the same law firm, and then she suddenly returned to China and cut off all contact with David. Hulan is the daughter of the now Assistant Ministter of Public Security. Moreover, she is descended from a line of royal entertainers. She and her family endured the Cultural Revolution. At one point she was sent away to the United States to attend school. Her father was imprisoned and her mother disappeared, only to return years later as a physically and mentally broken person. Hulan's boss at the Ministry is Zai, an old family friend. Or is he? Through most of the book, we know Hulan has a secret that she cannot share with David, for fear it will change his view of her forever and for the worse.
A well written mystery enriched by details of the settings in China and the obvious knowledge of history and customs. I would be happy to read subsequent installments in this series, the "Red Princess" mysteries (The Interior and Dragon Bones).