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Book description

A top Chinese swimmer kills himself of the eve of an international event - shattering his country's hopes of victory against the Americans. An Olympic weightlifter dies in the arms of his Beijing mistress - a scandal to be hushed up at the highest level. But the suicides were murder, and both mens deaths are connected to an inexplicable series of “accidents” which has taken the lives of some of China's best athletes. In this fifth China Thriller, Chinese detective Li Yan and American pathologist Margaret Campbell are back in Beijing confronting a sinister sequence of murders which threatens to destroy the future of international athletics. China's medal prospects wane as six Olympians perish within a month. Three members of China's sprint-relay team are killed in a car crash. A cyclist dies in a freak swimming accident. A weightlifter succumbs in flagrante delicto with the wife of a member of the Beijing Olympic Organizing Committee. And a champion swim competitor hangs himself from the practice diving platform. A suicide and a series of tragic accidents? Li Yan, Section Chief of the Beijing Municipal Police, thinks not. He calls on his pregnant lover, American pathologist Margaret Campbell, to oversee and review the autopsies. Why did everyone except the weightlifter have shaved heads? Why did the bodies show thickening of the microvasculature? The answers may be connected to other riddles, like the burglary of a certain photography shop and the attempt by world-class runner Dai Lili to make contact with Margaret. But solutions are stymied by governmental censuring of Li for his relationship with a foreigner, the familial upheaval caused by the xenophobia of both Li's father and Margaret's mother and the duplicity of Li's second-in-command, Assistant Deputy Section Chief Tao. Readers puzzled by the oddly paced relationship between Li and Margaret should note that the events in this fifth episode precede those in the sixth (Chinese Whispers, 2009, etc.). Peter May won the Scottish Young Journalist of the Year Award at the age of 21, and had his first novel published at 26. He then left journalism and became one of Scotland's most successful and prolific television dramatists. Returning now to novels, his outstanding China Thrillers series of books are winning critical acclaim. To research the series, Peter May makes annual trips to China. As a mark of their respect for his work, The Chinese Crime Writers' Association made him an honorary member of their Beijing Chapter. He is the only Westerner to receive such an honour. Peter May is married to writer Janice Hally and lives in France.