Beijing detective Li Yan is called in to investigate a series of 17 murders, all women found in a mass grave in Shanghai and one in a Beijing. This leads the police to think another killing spree is starting in Beijing and they want to stop it before it progresses. Another female detective Mai Ling is also attached to the case as is a forensic coroner Margaret Campbell, an American.
They must first identify the murdered women,a difficult task as they have been "autopsied" by someone and cut into pieces, perhaps when they were still partially alive, and some of the deaths occurred as long as a year ago. They must determine what the women have in commom. They must discover who the muderer is, a demented surgeon or perhaps a group of people involved in an organ harvesting scheme. To futher complicate matters Li Yan and Margaret have worked before on a case, have fallen in love and are having all the misunderstandings associated with a new relationship. | ||
Plot & Themes Tone of story - suspenseful (sophisticated fear) Time/era of story: Kind of investigator Kid or adult book? - Adult or Young Adult Book Any non-mystery subplot? descript. of violence and chases - 10 % Planning/preparing, gather info, debate puzzles/motives - 50 % Feelings, relationships, character bio/development - 30 % How society works & physical descript. (people, objects, places) - 10 % Crime Thriller Yes Murder Mystery (killer unknown) Yes Is Romance a MAJOR (25%+) part of story? Yes Main Character Gender - Male Profession/status: Age: - 40's-50's Ethnicity/Race Setting Asia/Pacific Yes Asian country: - China City? Yes City: - dangerous Writing Style Accounts of torture and death? - moderately detailed references to deaths Explicit sex in book? Yes What kind of sex: - homosexuals doing their thing A lot of techno jargon? Yes Kind of jargon? - biology/medical Unusual forms of death - diced - frozen - decapitated Unusual form of death? Yes Amount of dialog - significantly more dialog than descript |