Flower Net

Flower Net (1009) Lisa See

Liu Hulan is a detective for the Ministry of Culture in Beijing. When a body is found frozen in a lake, she is called out to investigate. When the body is discovered to be the son of the US Ambassador, the case takes the direction the Ambassador wants, regardless of Liu’s suspicions. David Stark is an Assistant US Attorney in California who is obsessed with taking down the triads. When a ship that is most likely carrying illegal immigrants crosses into US waters, David joins the FBI agents who go out to secure the ship. A discovery there may be tied to the death in Beijing, and so for the first time in years a joint investigation between China and the US, with David Stark and Liu Hulan is set into motion.

Although some of the book is set in California, much takes place in China, and Lisa See does a very good job of making that land both alien and fascinating.

One good sign for the book was that I was drawn into it very quickly. I liked the characters, and the mystery fascinated me, so I wanted to keep reading to follow the twists and turns to the end.

I found the discovery of the characters and their past to be particularly well done. We know Liu has a past, but the depth and complexity of that past took almost the entire book to unravel, yet when it did, many seemingly inexplicable events made perfect sense.

Some of the crimes and bodies discovered are quite gruesome, and there is some sex, so I’m not entirely sure whether my grandmother will like this book or not, but I thoroughly enjoyed it, and highly recommend it.
Rating: 8/10

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