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Hiaasen and Montalbano leave South Florida drug runners behind to chase artifact smugglers in a fascinating journey to Peking. The story takes place a few years before the 1989 Tiananmen Square occupation as young Chinese intellectuals seek freedom of information .
A DEATH IN CHINA, the gripping tale of Thomas Stratton, a New England Art History college professor with an uneasy, mysterious past in Southeast Asia benefits from Montalbano's knowledge of Asia. While on a package tour to Peking, Stratton encounters his old Ohio college mentor, Professor David Wang on the eve of Wang's departure for a visit to Xian and the fabled tomb of Emperor Qin. Wang has returned to China for the first visit with his brother, now a high ranking official in the Chinese People's Department of Cultural Affairs, since he left China as a young man. Stratton and Wang agree to meet upon Dr. Wang's return, but Wang never returns. Stratton becomes suspicious after he learns that his friend has died of a heart attack, or Death By Duck, as the press has labeled sudden deaths by tourists who imbibe in ultra rich Chinese cuisine.
Stratton, frustrated by the bumbling attempts of the American Embassy to unearth information from Chinese Communist officials, encounters a lovely young Chinese art student who agrees to help him discover the truth about his friend's death. A DEATH IN CHINA is embellished with generous doses of Chinese history, culture and scene. Just when you think the book is going to lapse into a travelogue, the authors skillfully set the story back on track. Stratton endures the worst of Red Chinese interrogation methods, including death by cobra. He manages, with skills acquired during his mysterious role with the CIA during Viet Nam, to survive conditions and murderous fiends lesser men would not survive.
The fast paced action, authentic dialogue and colorful setting makes A DEATH IN CHINA the pick of the three Hiassen/Montalbano novels. Hiaasen's plotting ability is surely at hand, and the diabolical ending is juicy indeed. None of the three vintage mysteries is a disappointment and should prove fascinating reading for Hiaasen fans and readers new to his writing alike.
--- Reviewed by Roz Shea
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