The Water Rat of Wanchai: An Ava Lee Novel
This is the eighth in the Ava Lee series, each novel of which offers a heady blend of exotic locales, foodie tips, biff-boff action, and a heroine with keen deduction, considerable skills in the martial art of bak mei, and a well-connected mentor. Ava is Chinese Canadian, based in Toronto, and works as a forensic accountant. She uses her skills in both accounting and interviewing to trace and retrieve money that has gone missing or has strayed from its rightful owners. She is sort of a cross between James Bond and Sara Paretsky’s V. I. Warshawski. The latest is a prequel to the other novels, showing the roots of Ava Lee’s international work at the behest of her “Uncle” (in the Chinese sense of a nonrelated mentor), who asks Ava to find $5 million for the nephew of a friend. Others are after the money, too, of course, and the action zooms from Toronto to Hong Kong, Bangkok, Guyana, and the British Virgin Islands, from five-star hotels to back alleys. Terrific fun. --Connie Fletcher