Tato série detektivních románů vás zavede do současného Pekingu, pulzujícího velkoměsta procházejícího dramatickými společenskými a ekonomickými změnami. Sledujeme osudy moderní a ambiciózní majitelky soukromé detektivní agentury, která se s vervou pouští do vyšetřování. Každý případ ji přivede do hlubin čínské historie, odhaluje skryté intriky a osobní tajemství, která jsou často propojena s bouřlivou minulostí země. Je to fascinující pohled na střet tradice a modernity v dynamickém prostředí.
This gripping debut novel in a new mystery series features an unforgettable female detective in todays Beijing, whose search for a missing artifact leads her to discover the dishonorable secrets of her nation's culture-and her family's past.
"Having her own detective agency would give her the independence she had always longed for. It would also give her the chance to show those people who shunned her that she could be successful. People were getting rich. They owned property, money, business, and cars. With new freedom and opportunities came new crimes. There would be much that she could do." Present day, Beijing. Mei Wang is a modern, independent woman. She has her own apartment. She owns a car. She has her own business with that most modern of commodities -- a male secretary. Her short career with China's prestigious Ministry for Public Security has given her intimate insight into the complicated and arbitrary world of Beijing's law enforcement. But it is her intuition, curiosity, and her uncanny knack for listening to things said -- and unsaid -- that make Mei Beijing's first successful female private investigator. Mei is no stranger to the dark side of China. She was six years old when she last saw her father behind the wire fence of one of Mao's remote labor camps. Perhaps as a result, Mei eschews the power plays and cultural mores -- guanxi -- her sister and mother live by...for better and for worse. Mei's family friend "Uncle" Chen hires her to find a Han dynasty jade of great value: he believes the piece was looted from the Luoyang Museum during the Cultural Revolution -- when the Red Guards swarmed the streets, destroying so many traces of the past -- and that it's currently for sale on the black market. The hunt for the eye of jade leads Mei through banquet halls and back alleys, seedy gambling dens and cheap noodle bars near the Forbidden City. Given the jade's provenance and its journey, Mei knows to treat the investigation as a most delicate matter; she cannot know, however, that this case will force her to delve not only into China's brutal history, but also into her family's dark secrets and into her own tragic separation from the man she loved in equal parts. The first novel in an exhilarating new detective series, The Eye of Jade is both a thrilling mystery and a sensual and fascinating journey through modern China.
In the outback of China, a political activist, arrested after the Tiananmen massacre, is judged to be a reformed character and released. But Lin is a changed man in more ways than one; haunted by memories of his time in prison, and the events (and people) that put him there, he heads for the country's capital, where he hopes to confront his demons once and for all. Mei Wang, meanwhile, is struggling to juggle the desires and demands of her family alongside the pressures of running her detective agency, and when her sister recommends her for a new case - the disappearance of a gorgeous young starlet called Kaili - she feels obliged to accept. It's a risky business, however, investigating the truth in a society that is still catching up with the secrets of its past. 'Mei Wang is a splendid heroine, brave and sensible. As she interviews witnesses and makes her deductions she shows her readers a fascinating glimpse of the China visitors don't see' "Literary Review"
Sullo sfondo della Pechino post-olimpica dei nostri giorni, una metropoli rumorosa e frenetica in cui ricchezza e povertà sembrano crescere a ritmo incalzante come le selve di grattacieli, il destino di Mei Wang, giovane detective privata, si incrocia con quello della potente famiglia Song, proprietaria della Casa dello Spirito Dorato, un’antica azienda farmaceutica che produce una pillola per guarire i cuori infranti. Ingaggiata dall’affascinante Wudan, avvocato del Sud che cura gli interessi della famiglia, e aiutata dal fidato collaboratore Gupin, Mei indaga sul complicato intreccio di interessi che sta erodendo la solidità finanziaria dell’azienda. Mentre le sue ricerche sono ostacolate dall’onnipresente e corrotta burocrazia cinese e dai suoi ispettori, che minacciano di far chiudere la sua agenzia, Mei si trova coinvolta in un intrigo che si tinge pericolosamente di giallo. Intanto, il tormentato rapporto con la madre e l’inevitabile confronto con la sorella Jin, celebre star televisiva, la costringono a stilare un difficile bilancio personale, tra le ferite, le ombre e i segreti di un passato famigliare segnato dal regime maoista, e l’instabilità della propria vita sentimentale e della relazione a distanza col fidanzato Yaping.