Snakehead
A Li
Yan and Margaret Campbell Mystery
Peter
May
Poisoned
Pen Press (Hardcover)
ISBN-10: 1-59058-606-9 (1590586069)
ISBN-13: 978-1-59058-606-8 (9781590586068)
Publication Date: February 2009
List Price: $24.95
Synopsis (from
the publisher): American pathologist Margaret Campbell finds herself
back on home soil, only to be faced by a truck full of dead Chinese and
an unavoidable confrontation with her past.
Beijing detective Li Yan, now based at the Chinese embassy in
Washington, is dispatched to find out how his fellow countrymen
suffocated in a sealed refrigeration unit in southern Texas only to
find himself face-to-face with the woman who walked out of China, and
his life, to return to the U.S.
Tasked to work together again to find out who is behind the $100
million trade in illegal Chinese immigrants which led to the tragedy in
Texas, they discover that the immigrants were unwitting carriers of a
deadly cargo.
And still wrestling with the demons of their pasts, Li and Margaret
find themselves racing against time to defuse a biological time-bomb
that threatens to wipe out not only their future, but that of humankind.
Review:
A deadly and contagious strain of Spanish Flu, illegal Chinese
immigrants crossing the border at Mexico, a former lover that was never
forgotten, all of these contribute to the success of Snakehead
by Peter May. Snakehead
is the second book in the Beijing series.
The story starts with the raising of a sunken submarine in the Arctic,
filled with the corpses of men who died from an unexplained, terrible
disease. Flash forward to Texas, where we meet Dr. Margaret Campbell,
Chief Medical Examiner of Harris County, the third largest in the
United States. She is called to investigate the mystifying deaths of 98
Chinese found hidden in the back of a truck trailer. Li Yan, the
criminal justice liaison from China, and former lover of Dr. Campbell,
is sent to Texas to help oversee the process and prevent further
embarrassment for China. He has currently been living the Washington DC
area, unbeknownst to Dr. Campbell, for the past year. During the
autopsies of the bodies, a peculiar needle mark is found on the
corpses. Blood tests eventually determine that each immigrant had been
injected with Spanish Flu, a deadly virus that was thought to be
eradicated. But who is the snakehead that is smuggling these Chinese
into the country? At $60,000 a person, he stands to lose almost $6
million. Why are they being injected with the deadly virus? Is this
some part of a terrorist plot? How many other illegal Chinese
immigrants have already arrived in this country, carrying the deadly
virus? What of Margaret and Li, can they bridge the gap between two
cultures and live happily ever after? You will have to read Snakehead
to find out.
Snakehead
was an exciting, medical mystery that had me captured from the first
page. May’s descriptive writing helped me to easily envision
the scenes as they unfolded. “A frozen sun shone in the
palest of clear blue skies … tiny colored ice particles
dancing in clouded breath.” The description of medical
forensics was just as thorough. The characters faced real life
struggles, making the reader care about what happened to them. Margaret
and Li clearly belong together, but can they get around their
differences, forget the past, and forge ahead together in the future?
The mystery itself was challenging, however, I was able to figure out
who the snakehead was, and who engineered the Spanish Flu virus before
I finished the novel. But that is what is so enjoyable about reading a
mystery novel, being able to solve it before the last page.
This novel earns a 4.5 out of 5 stars. I enjoyed reading this novel and
want to read the first book in this series, and the sequels, to learn
more about the relationship between Margaret and Li. If you enjoy
medical mysteries with a romantic twist, then Snakehead
is the one for you.
Special thanks to Ruth Miller for contributing her review of Snakehead and to Poisoned Pen Press for providing an ARC of the book for this review.
Review Copyright © 2009 — Ruth Miller — All Rights Reserved — Reprinted with Permission
Have you read Snakehead? How would you rate it?
Mysteries in this series ...
The
Firemaker
St. Martin's Minotaur (Hardcover), September 2005
ISBN-10: 0-312-34294-2 (0312342942)
ISBN-13: 978-0-312-34294-4 (9780312342944)
The
Fourth Sacrifice
St. Martin's Minotaur (Hardcover), February 2007
ISBN-10: 0-312-36464-4 (0312364644)
ISBN-13: 978-0-312-36464-9 (9780312364649)
The
Killing Room
St. Martin's Minotaur (Hardcover), February 2008
ISBN-10: 0-312-36465-2 (0312364652)
ISBN-13: 978-0-312-36465-6 (9780312364656)
Snakehead
Poisoned Pen Press (Hardcover), February 2009
ISBN-10: 1-59058-606-9 (1590586069)
ISBN-13: 978-1-59058-606-8 (9781590586068)
The Runner
Poisoned Pen Press (Hardcover), February 2010
ISBN-10: 1-59058-604-2 (1590586042)
ISBN-13: 978-1-59058-604-4 (9781590586044)
Chinese Whispers
Poisoned Pen Press (Hardcover), October 2009
ISBN-10: 1-59058-608-5 (1590586085)
ISBN-13: 978-1-59058-608-2 (9781590586082)
Omnimystery
keywords for Snakehead
...
Location(s) referenced: Houston,
Texas.
