Flower Net is the first book in the Red Princess mysteries by Lisa See. These were the first books she wrote (well, the first published anyway). I loved Snow Flower and the Secret Fan - and thought Shanghai Girls and Dreams of Joy were pretty good also. So when I saw all three of these books at a library sale, I snapped them up!
A Red Princess is a daughter of one of the Chinese political and historically elite families. The Red Princess in the books is Liu Hulan, a Chinese police detective. The son of the US ambassador to China is found dead encased in the ice of an ice rink, with mysteriously black teeth. At the same time a young man (who was a Red Prince himself) is found dead in the hold of a ship off the California coast that was carrying illegal immigrants from China. Liu Hulan is called in to investigate, and is teamed up with her former lover, Assistant US Attorney David Stark to solve the crimes.
This book never really grabbed me, although I did find learning about some of the aspects of Chinese history and culture VERY interesting - especially the parts about the Chinese revolution. But I just felt there was something missing.
Turns out that there WAS something missing, because although I had a hard copy of the book, I started out listening to the audio from the library. I was over half way done with the book before I figured out that the audio was ABRIDGED! Surprising because I have never gotten an abridged audio from the library before. So I quickly re-read the first half and then actually read the back half of the book and thought it was much better. More developed characters, settings and relationships. I look forward to reading the complete second book in the series :-)
A Red Princess is a daughter of one of the Chinese political and historically elite families. The Red Princess in the books is Liu Hulan, a Chinese police detective. The son of the US ambassador to China is found dead encased in the ice of an ice rink, with mysteriously black teeth. At the same time a young man (who was a Red Prince himself) is found dead in the hold of a ship off the California coast that was carrying illegal immigrants from China. Liu Hulan is called in to investigate, and is teamed up with her former lover, Assistant US Attorney David Stark to solve the crimes.
This book never really grabbed me, although I did find learning about some of the aspects of Chinese history and culture VERY interesting - especially the parts about the Chinese revolution. But I just felt there was something missing.
Turns out that there WAS something missing, because although I had a hard copy of the book, I started out listening to the audio from the library. I was over half way done with the book before I figured out that the audio was ABRIDGED! Surprising because I have never gotten an abridged audio from the library before. So I quickly re-read the first half and then actually read the back half of the book and thought it was much better. More developed characters, settings and relationships. I look forward to reading the complete second book in the series :-)