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Jade Dragon Mountain: A Mystery
Written by Elsa Hart
Narrated by David Shih
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Start ListeningDescription
On the mountainous border of China and Tibet in 1708, a detective must learn what a killer already knows: that empires rise and fall on the strength of the stories they tell.
Li Du was an imperial librarian. Now he is an exile. Arriving in Dayan, the last Chinese town before the Tibetan border, he is surprised to find it teeming with travelers, soldiers, and merchants. All have come for a spectacle unprecedented in this remote province: an eclipse of the sun commanded by the Emperor himself.
When a Jesuit astronomer is found murdered in the home of the local magistrate, blame is hastily placed on Tibetan bandits. But Li Du suspects this was no random killing. Everyone has secrets: the ambitious magistrate, the powerful consort, the bitter servant, the irreproachable secretary, the East India Company merchant, the nervous missionary, and the traveling storyteller who can't keep his own story straight.
Beyond the sloping roofs and festival banners, Li Du can see the mountain pass that will take him out of China forever. He must choose whether to leave, and embrace his exile, or to stay, and investigate a murder that the town of Dayan seems all too willing to forget.
A Macmillan Audio production.
Book Actions
Start ListeningBook Information
Jade Dragon Mountain: A Mystery
Written by Elsa Hart
Narrated by David Shih
Description
On the mountainous border of China and Tibet in 1708, a detective must learn what a killer already knows: that empires rise and fall on the strength of the stories they tell.
Li Du was an imperial librarian. Now he is an exile. Arriving in Dayan, the last Chinese town before the Tibetan border, he is surprised to find it teeming with travelers, soldiers, and merchants. All have come for a spectacle unprecedented in this remote province: an eclipse of the sun commanded by the Emperor himself.
When a Jesuit astronomer is found murdered in the home of the local magistrate, blame is hastily placed on Tibetan bandits. But Li Du suspects this was no random killing. Everyone has secrets: the ambitious magistrate, the powerful consort, the bitter servant, the irreproachable secretary, the East India Company merchant, the nervous missionary, and the traveling storyteller who can't keep his own story straight.
Beyond the sloping roofs and festival banners, Li Du can see the mountain pass that will take him out of China forever. He must choose whether to leave, and embrace his exile, or to stay, and investigate a murder that the town of Dayan seems all too willing to forget.
A Macmillan Audio production.
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Reviews
Li Du is a Chinese scholar, formerly a librarian in the imperial library. Now,in 1780, after a political scandal in which he was collateral damage, he's an exile wandering China. His wanderings have brought him to Dayan, a Chinese town on the Tibetan border, and he expects a quiet, provincial town.
Instead, he finds a town teaming with visitors, as the Emperor is about to arrive for a spectacular event: a total eclipse of the sun. He wants to be gone as quickly as possible, before the Emperor arrives, but an elderly Jesuit priest, an astronomer, dies suddenly, and Li finds evidence of murder. He's drawn in to investigating the death. He has three days.
Li quickly acquires friends and allies, starting with the wandering storyteller from Egypt. His suspects include the local magistrate himself, the magistrate's first consort, another Jesuit brother, and the ambassador of the powerful British East India Company.
This is both an excellent murder mystery, and a fascinating look at China in the late 18th century. a bonus extra is that wandering storyteller, who tells a story of Judge Dee (see Celebrated Cases of Judge Dee, and other titles by Robert van Gulik) that I had not encountered before.
Highly recommended.
Rating: 4Instead, he finds a town teaming with visitors, as the Emperor is about to arrive for a spectacular event: a total eclipse of the sun. He wants to be gone as quickly as possible, before the Emperor arrives, but an elderly Jesuit priest, an astronomer, dies suddenly, and Li finds evidence of murder. He's drawn in to investigating the death. He has three days.
Li quickly acquires friends and allies, starting with the wandering storyteller from Egypt. His suspects include the local magistrate himself, the magistrate's first consort, another Jesuit brother, and the ambassador of the powerful British East India Company.
This is both an excellent murder mystery, and a fascinating look at China in the late 18th century. a bonus extra is that wandering storyteller, who tells a story of Judge Dee (see Celebrated Cases of Judge Dee, and other titles by Robert van Gulik) that I had not encountered before.
Highly recommended.
Li Du is an exiled librarian traveling through China, and did not at all mean to come to the village of Dayan at the same time as the emperor. A few days before a grand festival in which the emperor - or Kangxi as he was known in 1708 - is to make a prediction of a solar eclipse, a Jesuit scholar dies under suspicious circumstances. The magistrate, who just happens to be Li Du's cousin, wants to make it all go away but Li Du is concerned for the truth - was it murder? And if so, who would have the motive and ability to kill the man?The mystery itself took awhile to get started and I never really felt any urgency to the investigation. However, the setting is fascinating and unusual for historical mysteries and I did enjoy my time spent reading. I also liked some of the side characters, such as the storyteller Hamza, and the way in which Li Du is able to suss out each suspect's secrets. I'm intrigued enough to read more in the series.
Rating: 4Pay attention to this review. It's coming from a reader who is not a fan of murder mysteries. However, I am a fan of Brother Cadfael the Medieval sleuth at home in British abbeys. Like the novels by Edith Pargeter/ Ellis Peters, Jade Dragon Mountain is highly entertaining, intelligent, chock full of intrigue, and amok with exotic characters. Li Du is really an anti-detective, his is the quiet life of the contemplative scholar, a librarian. But he has been banished from his life in Beijing and now wanders on his exile, arriving in the city of Dayan where his cousin serves as magistrate. When a Jesuit astronomer is murdered only days prior to the Kangxi Emperor's visit to this remote region of China where he will "divine" a solar eclipse, trouble breaks out like an epidemic of cholera. There is no one to turn to but Li, and he must use all of his wits, powers of observation, linguistic skills, and the assistance of Hamza, a humorous but notoriously unreliable storyteller (aren't they all?) to make sense out of this tangled nest of fire-breathing dragons who may ignite revolution in an already politically shaky 18th C. China. The question is, will he survive when someone obviously wants him dead, too.If you like mysteries that substitute smoking guns and car chases with smoking incense and silently padding maids, if you want a switch from hard boiled to gently steeped plotting, and if you'd rather go to sleep mulling over puzzle after unfolding puzzle instead of cowering under the covers with the lights on all night, but still crave diabolical villains whose deviousness and evil intentions rachet the stakes to the tautest point, then do yourself a favor and read this book.About as much as I avoid murder mysteries, I turn my back on series. Yet, this is one character whose exploits I would devotedly follow unto the umpteenth volume, just to hear the chilling rustle of silks on polished wooden floors again.
Rating: 5Six-word review: Stories reveal truth, stories conceal it.Extended review:I really liked this book, and so I'm inclined to be forgiving of its little lapses; but that does not necessarily mean that they pass without notice.The setting is a provincial city in China, far from the capital of Beijing and close to the Tibetan border, in the early eighteenth century. The Western world is eager for trade, coveting the marvelous Chinese artisanry and craftsmanship such as the making of exquisite porcelain, but China is self-sufficient and does not need Western technology. So far the only foreigners welcomed are the Jesuits, with their scholarship and love of learning and their special knowledge of astronomy; but whoever can gain favor with the all-powerful emperor will enjoy a great advantage.Former librarian Li Du, a wanderer exiled from the capital, arrives in the city on the eve of a visit from the emperor, for which the local government has been preparing for a year. As it happens, the local magistrate is his cousin. Thus Li Du is on the scene when a sudden and unexplained death occurs. It becomes his duty to establish that a crime has occurred and discover the criminal without allowing a disturbance to blight the ceremonial grandeur of the occasion or upset the emperor.The political crossfire between the Jesuits and the rival Dominicans, between imperial dynasties old and new, and among the several interests that can profit or lose by the impact of the emperor's state visit create a complex situation that our recluse scholar has no desire to navigate; but he is committed to finding out the truth and naming the culprit. At the same time he must discover which other players are false deceivers and whom, if anyone, he can trust.I don't know much about the time and place, myself, but the author sounds to me like someone who has done her homework. Certainly she may have taken some artistic liberties; nevertheless there is to me an authentic feel to her rendition of the setting and the representative characters, and that's a quality that I always prize.Woven throughout is an intriguing theme, namely, fiction as falsehood versus fiction as a vehicle for truth. The author has handled it nicely, allowing it to develop a multilayered webwork that can sustain more than one narrative. She has created some interesting characters, too, especially Hamza the storyteller and the crafty Lady Chen, both of whom I hope to meet again.It bothered me that the title was never explained. There's a mountain in the story, but it's not named.It also bothered me that the book started in the manner of a frame tale--a setup outside the story that furnishes a context and a pretext for the narrative that follows--but the frame is never completed: it ends without coming back out to the frame and closing it. Now, that's okay, and sometimes it's done that way, but when the frame leaves questions hanging, there's an expectation that they'll be answered before we're done. And they weren't.What bothered me most, however, was the author's use, or more accurately her misuse, of certain words. It reads in places like the writing of someone who's employing vocabulary that's a little bit out of her reach, as if she'd been consulting a thesaurus and were trying to use words before she'd fully mastered them. Examples follow (with definitions from Dictionary.com):(page 8) "He came to the street of tea and regarded the dusty leaves with some solidarity."solidarity1. union or fellowship arising from common responsibilities and interests, as between members of a group or between classes, peoples, etc.:to promote solidarity among union members.2. community of feelings, purposes, etc.3. community of responsibilities and interests.Solidarity is not a way of regarding things and does not express a feeling of kinship or similarity. It's political. Even if she meant that he felt dusty like the leaves, it's an inept application of the term.(page 19) "Naturally, public acknowledgment of their role was forbidden, as it would tarnish the pageantry of the Emperor's predictions."tarnish1. to dull the luster of (a metallic surface), especially by oxidation; discolor.2. to diminish or destroy the purity of; stain; sully:The scandal tarnished his reputation.pageantry1. spectacular display; pomp:the pageantry of a coronation.2. mere show; empty display.Predictions are not things that possess pageantry. There might be pageantry around the making or fulfilling of them, but pageantry itself is not a property that predictions have. And even if it were, you can't tarnish pageantry. It's not a metallic surface. This is not a metaphor. It's just a nonsensical combination of words that sounds like it means something when it doesn't. (page 24) "the sweep of her brush as it imparted a slope of gray mountain onto the white paper"impart1. to make known; tell; relate; disclose:to impart a secret.2. to give; bestow; communicate:to impart knowledge.3. to grant a part or share of.There are many words that could be used for the action of brush on paper or the action of rendering an image on a surface, but "impart" is not one of them.(page 143) "this city in a valley, redolent with gold and musks and posturing tourists"redolent1. having a pleasant odor; fragrant.2. odorous or smelling (usually followed by of):redolent of garlic.3. suggestive; reminiscent (usually followed by of):verse redolent of Shakespeare.Redolence involves an aroma. Gold doesn't smell. Tourists might, but a city can't be redolent of (not with) tourists. She simply doesn't know what the word means.(page 204) "It will augment the festival, not detract from it."augmentto make larger; enlarge in size, number, strength, or extent; increase:His salary is augmented by a small inheritance.She's talking about the presentation of a gift. Perhaps she means supplement or complement; certainly she does not mean "increase." That makes no sense.Again, these are just examples selected from a longer list. The problem when you use showy words that you haven't quite conquered is that what they show is not to your advantage. And finally, irritatingly, the author introduces a character named Sir Nicholas Gray and then proceeds to refer to him in both narrative and dialogue as "Sir Gray" rather than "Sir Nicholas"--even in the voice of a British character, who ought to have known better. And now for my favorite refrain: Where was the editor? Where was the editor? Where was the editor?I've called attention to things that I'd have liked to see handled better, not because I want to justify deducting points but because this sounds like the start of an interesting, appealing series, and I'd like to see the next installment get a much more thorough polishing before it comes out.And I do hope there'll be a next installment. The ending is plainly a setup for a sequel; but it's a good setup, in that it doesn't leave a conspicuous hook or a disappointing cliffhanger. Rather, I'd liken it to an orchard in blossom. I'm looking forward to seeing it bear fruit.
Rating: 4Book on CD narrated by David Shih This historical mystery is set in the town of Dayan, on the Chinese / Tibetan border, in 1708. The main character is Li Due, former Imperial Librarian, now in exile and on his way out of the country. When he arrives at Dayan, where his cousin is the magistrate, he is surprised by the bustle of activity. He was unaware that people are flocking to the town for a special visit by the Emperor who has promised to create an eclipse of the sun.I loved the history in this book. I had been previously unaware of the role of the Jesuits; as astronomers and scientists they gained the trust of the “pagan” lords and subsequently began to convert them to Christianity. But politics, religion and commerce did not always have the same interests and conflicts led to untimely deaths. I felt that I was a real sense of the time and place from Hart’s descriptions and plot. Li Du is a marvelous detective, and also a skilled politician. He knows when to keep his own counsel and when to divulge key bits of information. There is more than one mystery involved here and more than one villain. I was completely engaged and interested from beginning to end and did NOT guess the perpetrator(s) before they were revealed. David Shih did a marvelous job narrating the audiobook. He set a good pace and, for the most part, I was able to tell who was speaking. I did think his accent for the Englishman Nicholas Gray was abysmal, however. Still, it was his characterization of Li Due that carried the story for me.
Rating: 4I picked up this book because I spent some time in Western Sichuan, in the same general cultural zone as Dayan (border of China and Tibet), and you don't see a lot of books from those parts.
It was really enjoyable. My only major complaint is that the main mystery was solved chapters and chapters before the book wrapped up all the other plot threads, which were interesting but I would have preferred to see him eliminate the other suspects sooner. Then again, I don't read many mysteries, so maybe I'm barking up the wrong tree.
Even so, I would definitely recommend it.
Rating: 4It was really enjoyable. My only major complaint is that the main mystery was solved chapters and chapters before the book wrapped up all the other plot threads, which were interesting but I would have preferred to see him eliminate the other suspects sooner. Then again, I don't read many mysteries, so maybe I'm barking up the wrong tree.
Even so, I would definitely recommend it.
Not a great book, but has a wonderful atmosphere of the time period and the beautiful, exotic setting. Reviewed for Booklist.
Rating: 3I’m so disappointed. I’ve had this book on my TBR pile for a couple of years, and looked forward to reading it and the next in it’s series. Historical fiction-mystery set in 18th century China - not a time/place setting that is common in this genre.
I made it to page 19. The dialogue is so stilted it reminds me of those ‘70s Chinese westerns. And everything so far is told, not shown. I expected far better writing for all I’ve seen and heard about this book.
Rating: 1I made it to page 19. The dialogue is so stilted it reminds me of those ‘70s Chinese westerns. And everything so far is told, not shown. I expected far better writing for all I’ve seen and heard about this book.
Jade Dragon Mountain, a debut historical mystery, enthralls with lyrical language, a fascinating historical journey, political intrigue, and unique characters and setting. It is late 18th-century China and disgraced imperial Chinese librarian Li Du has arrived in the small remote town Dayan as it prepares for the never before arrival of the Chinese emperor. Li Du is required to report to the magistrate who turns out to be his cousin. Societal expectations requires some hospitality to be extended but the magistrate who does not want a hint of scandal or blemish on the upcoming festivities would just prefer if Li Du left quietly. But when an elderly Jesuit priest, a friend of the Imperial Court, is found dead plans start to go awry. Tenacious Li Du is determined to uncover the truth without compromising his integrity. As he goes about his investigation the author is able to paint a vivid portrait of this time and place so the readers feels like his is intimately familiar with the political and social protocols. As times ticks down to the Emperor’s arrival, another murder, lives in danger, finger pointing, hidden agendas need to be resolved for the stability of China.Ms. Hart uses a diverse cast of characters to show the internal and external issues facing the fate of China. I enjoyed how these issues were explored more from the Chinese perspective than the Western one. One of my favorite secondary characters is the traveling storyteller Hamza whose riddles are often the perfect foil to play off of the logical Li Du. This is well-written atmospheric tale unravels nicely with attention paid to the smallest detail and the satisfying ending will please readers. This is a most welcome addition to the historical mystery genre. I do hope this is the start of a new series.
Rating: 5This charming debut mystery hits my personal buttons, set as it is in China, 1708, and incorporating many of the conventions of novels of Old China. Elsewhere I’ve written about my admiration of the Tang Dynasty’s quasi-historical Judge Dee, made famous by the detective novels of Dutch author Robert van Gulik. Of course, the romantic vision of historical China in novels—A Dream of Red Mansions and those written by Westerns alike—and movies—from Raise the Red Lantern to The Assassin—bears no resemblance to China under Communism, nor to the everyday lives of poverty and privation of most Chinese of the past. The novels, even the mysteries dealing with lust, avarice, and murder are generally set among the nobility and the scholars. The tea may be poisoned, but it’s served in a translucent porcelain cup.In Hart’s debut, exiled former librarian in the Forbidden City Li Du (already we encounter a scholar), traveling in a remote southern area, enters a town where his cousin is the magistrate to register his presence. On his arrival he learns that the Emperor of China is visiting the town in six days! He will preside over (and pretend to instigate) an eclipse of the sun. This visit accounts for the enormous bustle and elaborate preparations Li Du observes.The town and the magistrate’s compound, including its impressive library, are evocatively described. Hart took me right to those places. For me, a delightful return. Although the Emperor’s visit will be a great honor for the magistrate and the town, it creates great risk as well. Many people, including foreigners, are anxious to influence what the Emperor sees and believes. The magistrate, beset with difficult decisions and details, would prefer to dismiss the untimely murder of a Jesuit astronomer as simply the work of a group of Tibetans camped in the nearby mountains. But Li Du knows these men and believes them innocent. As an exile, he cannot afford to create any difficulties, yet he cannot let the false accusation rest and a murderer go free. His cousin allows him just a few days to solve the crime, as the Emperor’s visit comes ever-nearer. But is a worse crime in the making?Hart has woven an intricate plot, drawing on real-life politics: the historical isolationism of China versus European pressure to open trade, conflicts between the Jesuits and the Dominicans, the friction inherent in the rigid Chinese class structure. These elements make the story both fascinating and subtle.
Rating: 4Li Du, an exiled and threadbare scholar from the Imperial Library, must report to the prefecture magistrate in Yunnan Province as he passes through. The local magistrate in Dayan is his cousin. The city is buzzing with activity and foreign visitors such as Hamza the storyteller, and Sir. Nicholas Gray, the East India’s Company representative. The Emperor is coming for an auspicious celestial event. Li Du had not planned to stay long but the death of an aged Jesuit astronomer turns out to be a murder and Li Du is ordered to stay on and solve the mystery before the Emperor arrives. Careers and reputations are on the line creating a sense of urgency. As our detective-scholar pieces the clues together there is another murder. Tensions tighten as the preparations for the celebration are completed. Unique is the Tellurion, a clockwork device to measure the movement of stars and planets donated for the event by the East India Company. But disaster is pending. But you must read on in this sensitive piece of fiction that captures the sense of the eighteenth century period in China. This is a first class Chinese detective story with drama, mystery and carefully plotted sleuthing. Reads like a translation from an authentic work of the period.
Rating: 5Jade Dragon Mountain is the first novel of Elsa Hart, and I hope to read more of her novels in the future. I thoroughly enjoyed reading the story of Li Du, a librarian of the Forbidden City in China exiled for his friendship with traitors.In the early 18th Century, after almost five years of travel as a destitute scholar, Li Du walks into the city of Dayan in the hinterlands of southwestern China. He must get papers authorizing his travel through a pass over Jade Dragon Mountain in order to leave China and explore lands to the west.Li Du’s biggest challenge as he enters the city is to have an audience with the Magistrate of Dayan, his cousin who is ashamed of Li Du for the disgrace the exile brought to the family. Li Du finds the city crowded with people from all over the region preparing for a festival in honor of the Emperor of China who will visit Dayan in six more days.Lisa Hart has described the setting of Li Du’s story with details that immerse the reader in the exciting turmoil of people anticipating the event of their lifetime in a rural district of China. Every scene is like a Chinese painting with lyrical prose similar to the brushstrokes of master artisans of the era. The reader is never distracted by the beautiful descriptions of the settings of scenes because they are essential to the story involving the interactions of the characters.The main characters are diverse, interesting, and well-developed. Li Du, an intelligent and observant man, is the focus of interaction with Jesuit Priests, East India Trading Company representatives, courtesans, imposters, entertainers, spies, librarians, outsiders, and Dynasty royalty. Mystery, pageantry, and intrigue are themes evenly distributed between divisions of days before the Emperor’s visit. I think the ending was a bit rushed with some add-on pages to give an incomplete closure to the novel. But, I believe the purpose of these pages is to set the stage for future adventures of Li Du (I hope!).This is an excellent novel, very entertaining and informative. I put it in my category of favorite recent novels of China: Old Town by Lin Zhe; The Long March Home by Zoe S. Roy; and even Shifu, You’ll Do Anything for a Laugh by Mo Yan.
Rating: 5