When Toronto-based antiques dealer Lara McClintoch does a favor for a friend, she takes on more than she bargained for. She heads to New York to bid on an eighth century T’ang dynasty silver box at a plush auction house, a simple enough task, or so she thinks. Yet the box is withdrawn minutes before the auction, and an intricately-plotted mystery is set in action.
The Chinese Alchemist and the Silver Box
The story takes the reader from Canada to China in search of the mysterious silver box. Etched with a partial formula for the elixir of immortality, it has a number of people on its trail, and it soon becomes clear that not all of them are what they say they are. When the box is stolen in Beijing, the feisty McClintoch finds herself in reluctant partnership with the eccentric and untrustworthy museum curator Burton Haldimand.
The Chinese Alchemist follows McClintoch’s increasingly obsessive search for the silver box, against the enigmatic background that is China. The book gives the reader some tantalizing glimpses into life in modern China as it rushes headlong into the twenty-first century, from the vast sprawl of Beijing to the ancient grandeur of Xi’an. Interspersed through the story is the poignant tale of Wu Yuan, his fascination with the imperial concubine Lingfei, and how the silver box came to be made. While many things in China have changed beyond all recognition, it is apparent that other things have stayed the same through the centuries. McClintoch stands in for the reader as she confronts the puzzle that is China.
The Chinese Alchemist – An Entertaining Yarn
The story is told with wit and wry humour, and moves along at a crisp pace. There is a charmingly old-fashioned feel to the book, from the amateur-sleuth heroine to the fussy Haldimand to the final twist and lengthy denouement, when all is explained to villain and reader alike. The Chinese Alchemist is an entertaining holiday read, with some intriguing facts about China thrown in for good measure.
The Chinese Alchemist is the final book in Canadian author Lyn Hamilton’s Archaeological Mysteries series featuring Lara McClintoch. New readers should not fear, however, as there are ten other books in the series to be discovered. The author has retired from mystery writing, although according to her website, she “reserves the right to change her mind.”
The Chinese Alchemist by Lyn Hamilton, Berkly Prime Crime (mass market edition 2008) 257 pages, ISBN: 9780425219065.
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