Couldn't get in to this one. Stopped after about 50 pages because it just wasn't keeping me engaged.

I actually do not know about this book. It is not a bad book, but it takes a really long time to actually get started, and then in the end, everything is resolved in like 5 pages without any clue how...

It is a mystery where Mei is helping a record label because one of there stars goes missing. In the last 15 pages, a child gets kidnapped, the mystery of paper butterfly's is resolved, the missing of the pop star gets resolved. So it is not that you have a slow going with clues, rather just 2 story lines that come together in the last 5 pages or so. And i have a little bit trouble with that.

So it isn't a bad book, but I will not be reading more Mei mystery books.

Este libro me ha gustado más que el anterior. La alternancia entre la historia de Mei y la de Lin se me ha hecho interesante, y es una mejora que se centre más en la trama principal que en la vida de Mei.

Yessss, I liked it! I really wanted to like this book and was super pleased that it was good. Strong, convincing sense of setting and culture; none of the autoexoticism (useful word) one fears to find. The prose is straightforward but not dry; the protagonist Mei tough, pragmatic and sympathetic. The mystery wasn't especially interesting, I think -- I felt the resolution lacked force -- but you weren't really reading for the mystery anyway. Now to read the first book!

I honestly think this author might not be for me sadly.
I don’t have much to say other than both books she wrote made me feel super captivated in the beginning but then something just didn’t work out.

An interesting (but sort of easy to solve) PI mystery in China 9 years after Tienanmen Square. The author did include many details about the events of 1989 that I found interesting because I had never learned much about the event. The author was able to seamlessly tie in history with the plot, but I found the mystery a little boring.

‘’This land offered nothing but harsh wind and dry yellow earth. Under the dome of the sky, snow-peaked mountains stood like unwanted burdens of the past. This was the province where the Great Wall ended, where the Silk Road had passed through. Both had lain forgotten for the last thousand years.’’

Mei is a private investigator in Beijing. The problem is that this is illegal. The State does not allow private investigations and people like Mei have to hide behind terms and conditions and threats to work as freely as they can. Nine years have passed since the rising of the students and the Tiananmen massacre. A young up-and=coming singer has disappeared and Mei is asked to investigate. Meanwhile, a young man named Lin is trying to find his way back to the capital. Mei finds herself in a story of love, struggle, and secrets, through the skyscrapers of Beijing to the beautiful, dark alleys of a country where freedom is a forbidden word.

‘’If we want to change the course of history with blood, we must be prepared to see it run in rivers. But bloodshed and death are not the way forward. There has already been too much of both.’’

This is not your average mystery. In fact, nothing in this book is ‘’average’’. Apart from the main plot, there are so many underlying themes and the setting is such that you will love reading and discussing this one. We all know the terrible events in 1989. I was very young at the time and yet I can vaguely recall the man standing his ground in front of the military forces. We have watched documentaries and read books. Here, Mei is a young woman who wanted to join the students but was afraid to do so. I won’t tell you much because the plot has links intricately connected to each other. The cries for change and progress, the insecurity of what is to follow, the hope of the youth. Lin, a very important character, gives a very realistic and objective description of the doubts, fears, and dreams of the students and the chronicle leading to the massacre is harrowing. Betrayal and retribution go hand-in-hand but many times, the one who has fallen victim of a terrible injustice becomes worse than a murderer…

The writing is fascinating. Sharp and poetic, the dialogue is vivid and flowing. I walked in Beijing and ''recognized'' it with my mind’s eyes, seeing the bright lanterns, reflecting on the snow-covered streets, gray, white and red colours visible through the wintry mist. The writer excels in transporting us to the close-knit communities of the hutongs, the alleys, the daily struggle, the gangs.

Trust me. You don’t want to miss this one…

‘’The sky was tinted with the blue mist of early evening. A slender crescent moon rose above Silver Ingot Bridge.
Mei crossed the bridge and took a right turn into a wide alley where a man was flipping baked yams on a barrel stove. Further down, a woman was selling steamed buns. An old man rummaged through early editions in a small bookshop. The bell clanged in the Bell Tower.
A strange, sad sight greeted her at number nineteen. Two large white lanterns signifying a death in the household swayed above the entrance, like the wandering eyes of a ghost.’’

My reviews can also be found on https://theopinionatedreaderblog.wordpress.com/

This is about a detective named Mei Wang. She is working on a case of the disappearance of a famous pop star. This book has betrayal, love, hope and freindship. I loved story but I didn't really like the ending. This also takes place in Beijing. So it has some culture in it.