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A review by tilgen
Thief of Souls by Brian Klingborg
3.0
If you enjoy mysteries with themes of conspiracy and corruption while learning about Chinese culture and history, you'll like this book.
Overall this is a decent mystery book, not great but not bad either. One of the unique things is about this book is that it not only takes place in China but it switches between the rural environment of Raven Valley and the urban metropolis of Harbin.
The author has worked in Asia for many years, has an M.A. in East Asian Studies and it shows with his knowledge drops of Chinese culture in this book. This is very helpful for providing context for a book that takes place in a country that's not a very popular setting for a lot of western mysteries.
The dynamics between Lu Fei and his precinct are cliché but enjoyable, you have the rough edged boss whose also fair, the two lazy cops, a mute, and a few others with less than noteworthy personalities. The author does a good job of keeping you guessing of the killer being either a powerful businessman/politician in the city or a hardened factory worker in the country.
Unless if I missed something, I disliked how we're fed a mystery about the victim's finances and then not provided an answer to how she afforded her apartment and fancy clothes.
Again, a good mystery with an unusual setting, and while I am open to reading the 2nd book in the future, I'm not eager to read it right away.
Overall this is a decent mystery book, not great but not bad either. One of the unique things is about this book is that it not only takes place in China but it switches between the rural environment of Raven Valley and the urban metropolis of Harbin.
The author has worked in Asia for many years, has an M.A. in East Asian Studies and it shows with his knowledge drops of Chinese culture in this book. This is very helpful for providing context for a book that takes place in a country that's not a very popular setting for a lot of western mysteries.
The dynamics between Lu Fei and his precinct are cliché but enjoyable, you have the rough edged boss whose also fair, the two lazy cops, a mute, and a few others with less than noteworthy personalities. The author does a good job of keeping you guessing of the killer being either a powerful businessman/politician in the city or a hardened factory worker in the country.
Unless if I missed something, I disliked how we're fed a mystery about the victim's finances and then not provided an answer to how she afforded her apartment and fancy clothes.
Again, a good mystery with an unusual setting, and while I am open to reading the 2nd book in the future, I'm not eager to read it right away.