The Hua Shan Hospital Murders is a fairly conventional detective thriller. We almost always know who done it, and the interest is in the development of the plot—how Detective Zhong Fong [sic; there is no such syllable as 'fong' in Mandarin Chinese] tracks down the killer and, of course, the everyday situations in which all this takes place.
There is a domestic situation, there are foreigners (the story takes place in Shanghai), we see two aspects of the author's perspective (the Jewish culture and the world of acting), and there's a babe or two.
It's an enjoyable read, and probably just what many people hope for when picking up a book at, say, an airport or train station. The reading does not take great concentration but rewards with adequate reason to turn to the next page. The chief character—Zhong Fong—is a sympathetic one, but I doubt that any reader falls in love with him. During a pause in my reading, I felt that I had been reading mostly dialogue, which then made me think the author's career in the theater had influenced that part of the writing, but then there were some pages of description when I started again, so I might be overemphasizing the amount of dialogue. I certainly have nothing against dialogue—it was simply the characteristic of the book at the point I received that impression.
I've read so many Asian mysteries in the past few months that fuzzy categories begin to materialize. If there is such a thing as great literature that is also an Asian mystery, this book probably doesn't fall into that category. But most readers of mysteries probably read for the thrill, and this book satisfies. Those of us who like to learn are also rewarded. The book describes how China allowed Jewish refugees to stay in China upon expulsion (or escape) from Europe, and I had not known of that phenomenon.
All in all, a good read.The author was clearly familiar with the Chinese setting in which he set this book, and that always feels good for the reader. And China has one less bad guy stirring up trouble in that populous, uneasy nation across the big sea...
- Michael Broschat, Feb 2009