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Series Review
Exiled Beijing Investigator
Finds New Career as P.I. in Tibet, China
Inspector Shan Tao Yun, hero of seven mysteries in the series of the same name, had been fired from his prestigious job in Beijing and unceremoniously dumped in a prison camp in faraway Tibet when a local official blackmailed him into undertaking a private investigation.
Most highly recommended to all, especially those who like tough-as-nails heroes and verbal kung fu.
Beautiful series! Inspector Shan, a man clawing his way back from a huge reversal of fortune, belongs in the Great Detectives Hall of Fame. These are high-stakes murder mysteries because every investigation puts Shan's life on the line.Shan's world--rural Tibet--astonishes. The landscape is glorious, the personal hardship is searing, the cultural conflict is heartbreaking and the tenacity of the Buddhist monks is inspiring.
Series Guide
Begin at the beginning. The first two books, The Skull Mantra (#1) and Water Touching Stone (#2), are outstanding--anyone who likes reading novels will enjoy them, not just mystery buffs. Water Touching Stone (#2) is one of my favorite books of all time.
Book Summaries
Below, the mystery novels in this series listed in chronological order:
The Skull Mantra (1999, Inspector Shan Mystery Books #1)
Freed from prison to investigate a murder, Shan is expected to deliver the man the authorities want to be guilty. But Shan has other plans... Water Touching Stone (2001, Inspector Shan Mystery Books #2)
Shan's Tibetan teacher dispatches him to Xianjiang to find the murderer who is killing orphan boys.Bone Mountain (2002, Inspector Shan Mystery Books #3)
Shan leads an expedition to a distant valley. When the Tibetan guide is murdered, Shan finds himself caught between an oil company and the Chinese Army.Beautiful Ghosts (2004, Inspector Shan Mystery Books #4)
Shan stumbles across evidence of a recent murder in the ruins of a monastery. Soon enough, Chinese officials are involved and threatening to hurt Shan's son unless Shan does their bidding. Prayer of the Dragon (2007, Inspector Shan Mystery Books #5)
Shan comes to the rescue when a Navaho father and daughter, seeking ties between their people and Tibet, are threatened with rough justice.Lord of Death (2009, Inspector Shan Mystery Books #6)
Shan witnesses the assassination of a Chinese politician on Mt. Everest and is framed for the murder.Mandarin Gate (2012, Inspector Shan Mystery Books #7)
Shan protects the witness to a triple-murder that the police are trying to cover-up--and almost loses his life in the process.In the Shoes of Inspector Shan
Shan has two great skills, hunting criminals and working the Chinese bureaucracy, which he uses to protect a renegade band of Buddhist monks.
Shan is intense! He has fallen from the top of Chinese society to the bottom and has the strength to survive and start over. He's amazing.
So is the Tibet depicted in these books. There's always been a lot of myth, mystery, and mysticism surrounding Tibet (Lost Horizon, etc.) and these books tap into that in a very cool way, contrasting the numinous, gentle, non-violent, and very determined monks with the harsh reality of Chinese occupation.
Inspector Shan Tao Yun was an up-and-coming investigator working for the Beijing government, until the day he discovered evidence dangerous to a powerful government official. The official imprisoned Shan in the Chinese gulag.
Eventually, battered, brutalized and barely breathing, Shan lands in a lao gai camp in Tibet where his fellow prisoners--Buddhist monks--bring him back to some semblance of life. In return, Shan uses his investigator's savvy and his understanding of the Chinese bureaucracy to help the Tibetans however he can.
Book Reviews
Inspector Shan Series
(From newest to oldest; Dates refer to publication in the US in English;
# refers to series order)
Above, from top to bottom: Tibetan boy with sheep; Protesting Monks in Tibet, China; Tibetan yak; Monastery in Tibet
(2001, Inspector Shan Mystery Books #2)
by Eliot Pattison
Amazon.com Best New Mystery Booksense Best Mystery for Readers Groups
My favorite of the series. A big, sweeping story set in a majestic landscape.
Plus: Great animals, including a Bactrian camel named Sophie and a chorus of crickets.
Plus: A secret hideout hidden in the ruins of a Silk Road city.
(Private Investigators. Set in Tibet, China.)
(1999, Inspector Shan Mystery Books #1)
by Eliot Pattison
WINNER! Edgar's Best First Mystery of 1999
Heart-stopping suspense. My other favorite!
Plus: A hidden mountain monastery, untouched by the Chinese occupation
Plus: A ragypa village
(Private Investigators. Set in Tibet, China.)
(2002, Inspector Shan Mystery Books #3)
by Eliot Pattison
My other favorite. I loved the range here. Shan travels with nomads, hunkers down in a Tibetan village, sneaks into an oil workers camp, participates in a secret ritual in a hidden monastery etc.
Plus: Following butterflies
Plus: An oracle redeems a soldier
(Private Investigators. Set in Tibet, China.)
(2004, Inspector Shan Mystery Books #4)
by Eliot Pattison
Eerie yet beautiful. Really taps into the Tibetan mythos of secret magical worlds.
Plus: An underground monastery
Plus: A hidden village
(Private Investigators. Set in Tibet, China.)
(2007, Inspector Shan Mystery Books #5)
by Eliot Pattison
Creepy. Usually the bad guys in these books are Chinese institutions (army, public security, etc.) but the evil here has more to do with individuals who are corrupted and warped. So the book has a very different feel.
(Private Investigators. Set in Tibet, China.)
(2009, Inspector Shan Mystery Books #6)
by Eliot Pattison
One of the Publishers Weekly Top 100 Books of 2009
Smaller scale than the first few books but still a fine mystery with lots of surprises.
Plus: Colonel Tan arrested!
Plus: A Sherpa village
Plus: A great donkey
(Private Investigators. Set in Tibet, China.)
(2012, Inspector Shan Mystery Books #7)
by Eliot Pattison
NOT YET REVIEWED
(Private Investigators. Set in Tibet, China.)
Indexes
Cliffhangers' Favorites
People who like this series also like:
- Bernie Gunther Mysteries by Philip Kerr
- Inspector Pekkala Mysteries by Sam Eastland
