First published 1997
Duncan Maclean arrives in Singapore expecting routine colonial administration work. Instead he finds a city where East meets West in dangerous ways. When a Chinese businessman wearing a distinctive yellow turban turns up dead, Maclean becomes entangled in a web of cultural tensions and hidden motives. The investigation leads him through opium dens, trading houses, and ancient family rivalries that stretch back generations. Local police inspector Chen guides Maclean through customs he barely understands, while British expatriates close ranks around their own secrets. As more bodies appear, Maclean realizes the killer strikes according to an old pattern of revenge. He must decode symbols and traditions foreign to his Western mind before the violence reaches those closest to him. The case forces Maclean to question everything he believes about justice, loyalty, and the price of empire.
Genres: historical-fiction, 20th-century, adventure, mystery, crime, 19th-century
Vibes: atmospheric, suspenseful, thought-provoking
Tropes: fish-out-of-water, hidden-motives
Setting: China, Singapore, West
Period: Colonial Era
175 pages · Hardcover · Black Dagger Crime