Jade Dragon Mountain

A Novel

By: Elsa Hart

Narrated by: David Shih

Length: 11 hrs and 55 mins

Publisher's summary

On the mountainous border of China and Tibet in 1708, a detective must learn what a killer already knows: that empires rise and fall on the strength of the stories they tell.

Li Du was an imperial librarian. Now he is an exile. Arriving in Dayan, the last Chinese town before the Tibetan border, he is surprised to find it teeming with travelers, soldiers, and merchants. All have come for a spectacle unprecedented in this remote province: an eclipse of the sun commanded by the emperor himself.

When a Jesuit astronomer is found murdered in the home of the local magistrate, blame is hastily placed on Tibetan bandits. But Li Du suspects this was no random killing. Everyone has secrets: the ambitious magistrate, the powerful consort, the bitter servant, the irreproachable secretary, the East India Company merchant, the nervous missionary, and the traveling storyteller who can't keep his own story straight.

Beyond the sloping roofs and festival banners, Li Du can see the mountain pass that will take him out of China forever. He must choose whether to leave and embrace his exile or to stay and investigate a murder that the town of Dayan seems all too willing to forget.

©2015 Elsa Hart (P)2015 Macmillan Audio

Great Story

Great story, setting, characters and narration. A clever detective story. I thoroughly enjoyed this audio book and will seek out more from this author.

excellent

I really enjoyed this book. Fascinating from a historical aspect and thrilling from a mystery aspect

Terrible narration obscures the story

How could the performance have been better?

The performance is dreadful. Some characters unlistenable.

Any additional comments?

The author is done a terrible injustice with the awful narration.

Excellent

this was a delightfully written and narrated mystery. The connection with a culture unknown to me was also delightful.

Intriguing Mystery, Richly Woven

There is a richness to this story that moves it beyond a typical mystery. The setting is as detailed as a Chinese scroll. The characters' modes of thought are as varied as their backgrounds. Delicious bits of culture and history are revealed in every scene.
Behind the hard-won solution to the primary mystery lies another, more dangerous mystery. The golden, jewel-encrusted clockwork solar system that lies at the heart of the story is an intellectually challenging puzzle as well as a beautiful cultural artifact. If that type of thing intrigues you, so will this book. The performance by David Shih is excellent.

A well-crafted period mystery

One of those interesting murder mysteries where everyone is a suspect, made interesting by its time and setting—early 1700s in Dayan, China, which borders Tibet—and its characters, particularly the protagonist, the exiled librarian Li Du. Li Du is an unlikely hero but he’s irreproachable and solves the crime before facing permanent exile. The novel is tedious in parts. The device of storytelling by the Persian character, Hamza, grew old, for example. But I read through to the end, as the historical period and place interested me, and Elsa Gray acquits herself well in taking the reader there. She did her research, and it shows.

It ain't over till it's over!!!

Would you listen to Jade Dragon Mountain again? Why?

Absolutely!! Outstanding Story!! Great Narration

Did the plot keep you on the edge of your seat? How?

Yes! Multi-layered story which is not evident at the beginning. Excellent character development!!

Did you have an extreme reaction to this book? Did it make you laugh or cry?

It left me wanting more!! Hopefully this is the first book in a Series.

Any additional comments?

I rarely write a review, but then I rarely get half way through a book and go back to Audible to see what other books the author has available!! Outstanding "Story",Truely a Yogi Berra type story, I.e. It ain't over till it's over. Great Character Development, Outstanding Narration!!

Good mystery

You are given the same clues as the protagonist, more or less, and the setting is interesting

So good!

Loved the history that was put into the book. Classic detective badassery, but with the spin of both eastern, and period filters. What’s not to love?

One of the best of the year for me.

Just by chance I decided to download this book when it popped up in Audible. Not normally a book I would read, but so glad I did. It’s a mystery that’s different from the usual ones. Much of it is calming to listen to while at the same time, underneath you know something big is bubbling up. The setting is captivating and perfect for this story. Characters are well-rounded and interesting. I enjoyed all of them — even the bad ones. I like that there wasn’t over-the-top violence. I loved that it is set in, what to me, is an exotic place. It took me away. I only realized how masterful David Shih was as narrator after I finished. He was able to give each character a distinct voice to the point I could visualize what everyone looked like. Now, instead of buying one of the books I have on my list, I am going straight to the author’s second book.