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Published Mar 2019
352 pages
Genre: Mysteries
Publication Information
The tenth and final installment in the internationally acclaimed Inspector Shan series.
After Shan Tao Yun is forced to witness the execution of a Tibetan for corruption, he can't shake the suspicion that he has instead witnessed a murder arranged by conspiring officials. When he learns that a Tibetan monk has been accused by the same officials of using Buddhist magic to murder soldiers then is abruptly given a badge as special deputy to the county governor, Inspector Shan realizes he is being thrust into a ruthless power struggle. Knowing he has made too many enemies in the government, Shan desperately wants to avoid such a battle, but then discovers that among its casualties are a murdered American archaeology student and devout Tibetans who were only trying to protect an ancient shrine.
Soon grasping that the underlying mysteries are rooted in both the Chinese and Tibetan worlds, Shan senses that he alone may be able to find the truth. The path he must take, with the enigmatic, vengeful father of the dead American at his side, is the most treacherous he has ever navigated. More will die before he is able to fully pierce the secrets of this clash between the angry gods of Tibet and Beijing. The costs to Shan and those close to him will be profoundly painful, and his world will be shaken to its core before he crafts his own uniquely Tibetan form of justice.
"Starred and boxed review. A page-turning whodunit... Pattison has never been better in depicting a brave man's dangerous pursuit of justice in a 'land of broken places and broken people.'" - Publishers Weekly
"Starred Review. Unique in its setting, cast, predicaments, concerns, meditativeness, and mysteries both human and divine, the Inspector Shan series is vital, relevant, and complexly affecting." - Booklist
"Pattison's tenth and final Inspector Shan novel is a pitch-perfect series ending, leaving readers with a satisfying last look at the scrupulously ethical investigator as well as further insight into a recent era of Asian history little known in the West." - Kirkus
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Photo: Jerry Bauer
Described as "a writer of faraway mysteries," Eliot Pattison's travel and interests span a million miles of global trekking. After visiting every continent but Antarctica, Pattinson stopped logging his miles and set his compass for the unknown. Today he avoids well-trodden paths whenever possible, in favor of wilderness, lesser known historical venues, and encounters with indigenous peoples.
An international lawyer by training, early in his career Pattison began writing on legal and business topics, producing several books and dozens of articles published on three continents. In the late 1990's he decided to combine his deep concerns for the people of Tibet with his interest in venturing into fiction by writing The Skull Mantra. Winning the Edgar Award for Best First ...
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