Sep 10, 2007 09:43 PM
2962 Views
(Updated Dec 25, 2008 12:24 PM)
The Chinese Alchemist was written by Lyn Hamilton.
Berkley Prinne Crime published it. It has 257 pages and cost me $30.00.
The Chinese Alchemist is the 11th book in Lyn Hamilton's archeological mystery series, and the formula works well. Toronto antiques dealer Lara McClintoch travels the world in search of valuable objects and inevitably finds crime.
The books combine travelogue with information about antiques -- and the overall tone is fairly light.
The Book:
In this latest mystery, Lara travels to China to find a special nesting box, and Hamilton includes a narrative from the past about the box and its companion pieces.
This was written long ago by a eunuch in the service of an emperor of the T'ang dynasty. Lara is competing with a rival buyer for the box.
Her rival is a curator of Asian art at the Cottingham Museum in Toronto.Both are determined to get the box, which had been removed from a New York auction at the last minute.
The Author: Candace Fertile teaches Canadian literature at Camosun College in Victoria BC.
What I Thought: Lara is a nice heroine, although somewhat overly lucky, given the dangerous situations which she throws herself into.
Hamilton presents her research in a pleasing manner, dotting the novel with facts about China and Chinese art.
The prose is smooth and perky in the parts narrated by Lara, as befits her personality. For example, in describing her rival, Lara notes, : "I'd given him ample opportunity over tea to confess what he was doing. He'd chosen not to do so. that fast led me to the conclusion that he was not just an eccentric genius of overweening ambition, but essentially a slug."
Hamilton's archeological novels definitely qualify as entertainment, with the added attraction of fascinating material on places and cultural artifacts
I recommend it.
to the members who have sent me messages about my husband his skin is healing fast but inside it could take a year.
Thanks for reading my review.
Lyla
