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Catherine Sampson
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Book
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Publisher | MacMillan | ||
ISBN | 978-033044822 | ||
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Reviewer
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Janice
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Synopsis
A man throws himself off the top of a building. Behind him, tied to an advertising hoarding, is his dead and frozen child. Having earlier rejected the man's plea for help, Beijing private investigator Song (last seen in "The Pool of Unease") has enough to deal with - Song's own father-in-law, soon to be tried on corruption charges, is found dead. Did he kill himself or was someone else involved? But Song cannot forget the man and his frozen child. When he starts to investigate, he finds himself drawn into a web of evil that pits him against the corrupt and powerful. And in a country where justice is often for sale, can Song discover the truth before it is buried for good? Praise for "The Pool of Unease": 'An intricate mystery' - "Sunday Telegraph". 'Original, fast paced and clever ...an outstandingly interesting description of life in Beijing from two utterly different angles' - "Literary Review
Review
The Slaughter Pavilion is an amazing book set in Beijing. Author Catherine Sampson worked as a Beijing correspondant for the Times and started her career life by working for the BBC.
Catherine knows the city of Beijing very well and is very much aware of the cover-ups made by the ruling party and the law enforcement officers, who are not adverse to taking bribes and not passing information on to higher authorities if they think they can get away with it. This seems to be one of the most distinctive twists to this book because Song the private investigator seems to be forstalled at every turn when he tries to discover the truth. Children disappearing and no one wanting to get involved and money being syphoned away by party leaders!
The novel is set not only in Beijing but London as well, where another person has been silenced by the authorities, or by a side kick of one of the leaders. But where will it lead to and who will get the true answers? Song the investigator does, but only by going undercover himself but will he be safe? You will just have to explore and read this brilliant novel to find out.
I was absolutly enthralled by the twists and turns and her well rounded characters so much so that I fully intend to read some of Catherine's earlier books.
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