THE WHITE MIRROR is the second book by Elsa Hart and I am
not sure how to review this book. There are parts that I
liked and parts that I am not sure about. It is a book
that I have mixed feelings about.
While this is a mystery novel, I feel
like it took forever to unravel making the book seem
likes it slowly drags on. When things do pick up it is
all at once and you feel pulled in different directions
not sure where to look. I think that for all the suspects
to be in one place, a valley in
the Himalayans, there is a lot of stuff going on and
many secrets that each of them are trying to hide. Plus,
there is also little side mysteries that really do not
have anything to do with the main mystery/plot line that
can get you a little side tracked and off topic. Overall,
these little mysteries do not add any depth to the plot
line. Instead they take away from the main story. You
will not know who the murderer is until the very end,
which is something that I like in a good mystery. While
this book the second book in the Li Du series, I
feel it could be read as a standalone.
Hart does an
outstanding job in her historical research for this
novel. She includes many things within the story that
would have been found in conversations that travelers
would have had during that time frame and location. I
feel THE WHITE MIRROR is the kind of novel that really needs a
patient reader.
In The White Mirror, the follow-up to Elsa Hart’s
critically acclaimed debut, Jade Dragon Mountain, Li
Du, an imperial librarian and former exile in 18th century
China, is now an independent traveler. He is journeying with
a trade caravan bound for Lhasa when a detour brings them to
a valley hidden between mountain passes. On the icy planks
of a wooden bridge, a monk sits in contemplation. Closer
inspection reveals that the monk is dead, apparently of a
self-inflicted wound. His robes are rent, revealing a
strange symbol painted on his chest.
When the rain turns to snow, the caravan is forced to seek
hospitality from the local lord while they wait for the
storm to pass. The dead monk, Li Du soon learns, was a
reclusive painter. According to the family, his bizarre
suicide is not surprising, given his obsession with the
demon world. But Li Du is convinced that all is not as it
seems. Why did the caravan leader detour to this particular
valley? Why does the lord’s heir sleep in the barn like a
servant? And who is the mysterious woman traveling through
the mountain wilds?
Trapped in the snow, surrounded by secrets and an
unexplained grief that haunts the manor, Li Du cannot
distract himself from memories he’s tried to leave behind.
As he discovers irrefutable evidence of the painter’s murder
and pieces together the dark circumstances of his death, Li
Du must face the reason he will not go home and, ultimately,
the reason why he must.
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