Soul of the Fire

Starred review from September 29, 2014
Pattison’s superlative eighth mystery featuring Shan Tao Yun (after 2012’s Mandarin Gate) takes the former Beijing government investigator to Zhongje, a Tibetan community that the Chinese regard as a “showcase for the motherland.” To Shan’s astonishment, he’s been tapped to serve on the People’s International Commission for Peace and Order, “dedicated to eliminating the criminal acts of self-aggression that undermine harmonious coexistence in ethnic geographies.” Shan, who has served time in labor camps, is to fill the designated slot reserved for a reformed criminal, but on his first day on the commission, he witnesses a self-immolation. His police training causes him to doubt that the death was a suicide, and his refusal to ignore the facts puts him at odds with his superiors, who don’t want the truth derailing their political agenda. Pattison impressively combines a thrilling plot with a passionate denunciation of the Chinese oppression of the Tibetan people. Agent: Natasha Kern, Natasha Kern Literary Agency.

November 15, 2014
Taken abruptly from inspecting ditches, Shan Tao Yuna former Beijing investigator who had served five years in Tibet's harshest labor campexpects to be imprisoned again. Instead he's assigned as the reformed criminal on an international commission convened to investigate the problem of Tibetans' self-immolations. It's soon apparent that the commission intends to designate the fiery suicides, committed as Tibetans' protest against Chinese rule, as the acts of either psychotics or criminal conspirators. It's also clear to Shan that the sudden death of his predecessor on the commission was not natural and that the person on fire in front of the commission is a murdered Chinese official and not a Tibetan monk. Although Chinese officials try to control Shan by imprisoning and beating his close friend, he joins forces with the two American commissioners and enlightens his Chinese watcher, Tuan, who reports directly to the Chinese Emperor of Tibet. Pattison's eighth Inspector Shan mystery features a complex plot that highlights the self-immolations done to protest the damage China is doing to Tibet and vividly illustrates the faith-based steadfastness of the Tibetan people.(Reprinted with permission of Booklist, copyright 2014, American Library Association.)