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!