When a young Chinese woman is murdered within the British Quarter of the foreign legation, Inspector Gong is ordered by the Imperial Court to solve the crime before the incident escalates into war between China and the foreign powers. The only problem? Inspector Gong doesn’t speak English. And he is hardly the type of man to be accepted by the British elite living in Peking.
Once again, he must turn to the one woman who can help him. The woman he can’t stop thinking about.
Lady Li is trying to forget about Inspector Gong. He’s a danger to herself, her position, and her children’s future. But when he comes once again knocking on her door and asking for her assistance in solving a case, she can’t resist, despite her better judgment.
Lady Li’s language and diplomatic abilities allow her to freely enter the world of the Western visitors, but tensions between the foreigners and local people are increasing by the hour.
Will Lady Li and Inspector Gong be able to solve the crime without the answer leading China to war?
consistent sales of about 150 per month.
The riot had started in the dark hours of the morning, when the Chinese employees of the Foreign Legation had begun venturing into the Chinese portions of Peking to run their morning errands. They took the news of the murder with them, spreading truth mixed with hearsay and rumor and stirring up dissent. By the time Prince Kung and Inspector Gong arrived, the gates had been closed and hundreds of angry people had gathered outside the legation.
“Can you believe this?” Prince Kung asked. “All over some peasant girl. If she’d been killed anywhere else in China, no one would have given a shit about her.”
Inspector Gong grunted his agreement as he peeked out the windows of the sedan chair. He rarely ever traveled in such a stately manner, but he had first been summoned to Prince Kung’s mansion, and together they traveled to the legation. When it came to troubles between the foreigners and Chinese, Prince Kung was the man people turned to. Prince Kung had filled Inspector Gong in on what little he knew about the situation on the way there.
A serving girl had been murdered in the home of a wealthy British merchant overnight in the British Quarter of the legation. They had sent for the British police, but of course the other Chinese servants knew what was happening. Word about the murder spread, and people were, rightly, concerned that the murder would just be covered up. If she had been killed by a foreigner, the killer would never see justice. If people hadn’t rioted, the situation may have completely gone unnoticed by the Chinese authorities, not that they could do much about it.
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Chinese
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Unavailable for translation.
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Spanish
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Already translated.
Translated by María Paula Estévez
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