Peking, 1867When one of the Empress’s ladies-in-waiting is killed in the Forbidden City, she orders Inspector Gong to find the killer. Unfortunately, as a man, he is forbidden from entering the Inner Court. How is he supposed to solve a murder when he cannot visit the scene of the crime or talk to the women in the victim’s life? He won’t be able to solve this crime alone.The widowed Lady Li is … widowed Lady Li is devastated when she finds out about the murder of her sister-in-law, who was serving as the Empress’s lady-in-waiting. She is determined to discover who killed her, even if it means assisting the rude and obnoxious Inspector Gong and going undercover in the Forbidden City.
Together, will Lady Li and Inspector Gong be able to find the murderer before he – or she – strikes again?
more
„Murder in the Forbidden City“ the first installment in the “Qing Dynasty Mystery” Series by Amanda Roberts, featuring Inspector Gong is a delightful “whodunnit” set in the late period of the Qing Dynasty, precisely in the year 1867 under the reign of the Tongzhi Emperor.
As a lady-in-waiting is killed in the Forbidden City, the Empress assigns Inspector Gong to the case, the problem being that Gong, as a mere mortal, isn’t allowed to enter the Inner Court in the Forbidden City, which poses an insurmountable obstacle to solve the crime. Nevertheless, Gong is a resourceful man, and thus he seeks out Lady Li (the deceased’s sister-in-law) to help out with the investigation. Lady Li initial reluctance wears off as the story develops.
Amanda Roberts possesses a fabulous understanding of historical China, which makes this “murder mystery” not only a very entertaining story, but also a light study in Qing Dynasty traditions and procedurals. With very accurate descriptions, a great attention to detail and fully fleshed realistic characters, genuine and relatable (the tension between Gong and Li develops into friendship of sort in a very organic way), this series offers the usual entertainment of a “whodunnit” paired with historical facts and witty, smart characters. Already looking forward to reading the remaining books in the series.
I really enjoyed this book. While taking place in another time and in a culture that is foreign to me, there was just enough cultural information given for background, without getting bogged down in too much detail. It was an easy read and I look forward to more of this series.
Great beginning to an interesting series.
It’s not that it was uninteresting more than it was slow I like action, and this book took too long to jump off.
Interesting book about the rise of the Manchu in China. Life was cheap in Peking for the Han Chinese .
A fun and easy read that kept my attention!
I did not like it as I could not get interested in it.
It was an OK read. Light entertainment.
Enjoyed the China connection as I plan to go this fall.
Even as a child I was drawn to novels pertaining to China and its history. Found this book and took a chance. Very interesting, good characters, gives some idea of China in the past. Liked it to much I have now read book #2 and plan to keep on with the series.
It was okay.
Terrific book, very interesting and clever premise. The characters and plot are well developed. The history and cultural aspects are informative. I thoroughly enjoyed it. It is refeshing, nothing formulaic about it.