The
Lord of Death
A
Shan Tao Yun Mystery
Eliot
Pattison
Soho
Crime (Hardcover)
ISBN-10: 1-56947-579-2 (1569475792)
ISBN-13: 978-1-56947-579-9 (9781569475799)
Publication Date: June 2009
List Price: $24.00
Synopsis (from
the publisher): Shan Tao Yun is an exiled Chinese national and a former
Beijing investigator on parole from the Tibetan gulag to which he had
been consigned as punishment. He is ferrying a corpse on muleback over
the slopes of Chomolungma—Everest—at the request of
a local wisewoman who says the gods have appointed this task to him,
when he encounters what looks like a traffic accident. A government bus
filled with imprisoned illegal monks has overturned. Then Shan hears
gunfire. Two women in an approaching sedan have been killed. One is the
Chinese minister of tourism; the other, a blond Westerner, organizes
climbing expeditions. Though she dies in his arms, Shan is later met
with denials that this foreigner is dead.
Shan must find the murderer, for his recompense will be the life and
sanity of his son, Ko, imprisoned in a Chinese “yeti
factory” where men are routinely driven mad.
Review:
Shan Tao Yun tries to solve the murder of a woman who died in his arms,
a woman Chinese officials claim could not have died because she was
never there in the first place, in The
Lord of Death,
the 6th mystery in this series by Eliot Pattison.
The woman was an American, an expert climber and one who arranged tours
to the Himalayas from China as opposed to from Nepal, which in turn
brought in hard cash to the Chinese government overseeing, some might
say occupying, the region. She had been shot in the company of a
high-ranking Chinese minister, who was also killed in the same manner,
when Shan comes across their car. Coincidentally, a bus carrying
Tibetan monks overturns nearby. Realizing he cannot help the woman, but
can aid the monks, Shan leaves the scene of the crime. He later learns
his old prison commander, Colonel Tan, has been arrested for the murder
of the Chinese minister but not the American woman, who officials say
is off climbing somewhere. Shan is loathe to help is old enemy, but
realizes Tan may be in a position to help him. Shan's only son, Ko, is
in a mental hospital, about to be the subject of an "experiment" to
cure him. If Shan can prove Tan did not kill the minister, Tan could
arrange for the transfer of Ko into his custody. Ko wouldn't be free,
but he would still be alive.
Pattison takes a fairly simple plot outline and develops the most
extraordinary story around it, one that captures the reader's
imagination. He's a master not only with words but with imagery. When
everyone Shan meets says the American woman is alive, even those
without an obvious political agenda, his frustration is apparent. "Most
people were scared of ghosts because they were dead but Shan was
becoming scared of this one because she would not stay dead." A former
investigator for the government himself, Shan knows that Beijing will
seek the truth, and act upon it, even if it doesn't become the official
version of what happened. This is illustrative of some of the subtle
modern politics involved in the story, which are juxtapositioned
against the ancient ways and beliefs of the native Tibetans.
A subplot in The Lord of Death
involving another American, a supplier of climbing equipment for
foreign expeditions in Tibet, is based, according to an author's note,
on a true World War II era mission by the United States to train native
Tibetans in resisting the Chinese. It is expertly weaved into
Shan's murder investigation and adds another layer of depth and
intrigue to this outstanding mystery, one of the year's best.
Special thanks to Soho Press for providing a copy of The Lord of Death for this review.
Review Copyright © 2009 — Hidden Staircase Mystery Books — All Rights Reserved
Have you read The Lord of Death? How would you rate it?
Mysteries in this series ...
The
Skull
Mantra
St. Martin's Press (Hardcover), July 1999
ISBN-10: 0-312-20478-7 (0312204787)
ISBN-13: 978-0-312-20478-5 (9780312204785)
Water
Touching Stone
St. Martin's Minotaur (Hardcover), June 2001
ISBN-10: 0-312-20612-7 (0312206127)
ISBN-13: 978-0-312-20612-3 (9780312206123)
Bone
Mountain
St. Martin's Minotaur (Hardcover), September 2002
ISBN-10: 0-312-27760-1 (0312277601)
ISBN-13: 978-0-3122-7760-4 (9780312277604)
Beautiful
Ghosts
St. Martin's Minotaur (Hardcover), April 2004
ISBN-10: 0-312-27759-8 (0312277598)
ISBN-13: 978-0-312-27759-8 (9780312277598)
Prayer of the Dragon
Soho Crime (Hardcover), December 2007
ISBN-10: 1-56947-479-6 (1569474796)
ISBN-13: 978-1-56947-479-2 (9781569474792)
The Lord of Death
Soho Crime (Hardcover), June 2009
ISBN-10: 1-56947-579-2 (1569475792)
ISBN-13: 978-1-56947-579-9 (9781569475799)
Omnimystery
keywords for The Lord of Death
...
Location(s) referenced: Tibet.
