The Lotus Palace

July 29, 2013
Lin’s Tang Dynasty romance excels at the slow relationship build, despite a tacked-on mystery plot. Courtesan turned serving maid Yue-ying is certain that scholar and socialite Lord Bai Huang’s pursuit of her is just a drunken whim, especially considering the undesirable red birthmark that covers part of her face. But Lord Bai can’t stop thinking about Yue-ying, and when both become entangled in the investigation of another courtesan’s murder, they turn to each other for help, ignoring the social gulf between them. Yue-ying’s efforts to overcome the mental scars of her past are well balanced with a bittersweet realization that she could never settle for being Lord Bai’s concubine. As Lord Bai’s family demands that he submit to an arranged aristocratic marriage, the murder mystery eventually solves itself. Though the resolution to the class problem is artificially convenient, Lin (Sword Dancer) makes it feel emotionally true.

August 1, 2013
Everyone in Pingkang Li believes Lord Bai Huang is nothing more than a pleasure-seeking wastrel and silly flirt, but Yue-ying is beginning to wonder if everyone might be wrong. On the surface, Bai would appear to be yet another bored nobleman vying for the romantic attentions of Yue-ying's mistress, Mingyu, one of the Four Beauties of Pingkang Li, but Yue-ying senses a sharp mind beneath Bai's foolish facade. Yue-ying's intuitions about Bai prove to be correct when the murdered body of Huilan, another of the Four Beauties, is discovered in her room at a rival pleasure house. Not only is Bai determined to locate Huilan's killer, he shows no hesitation at all about dragging Yue-ying along with him. Lin once again effortlessly evokes the colorful, intriguing world of Tang dynasty China in her latest dazzlingly different romance, and the book's mystery-rich plot and exotic historical setting also make The Lotus Palace an excellent read-alike suggestion for fans of Laura Joh Rowland's mysteries.(Reprinted with permission of Booklist, copyright 2013, American Library Association.)