MURDER WEARS A HIDDEN FACE

Chinatown, a seemingly impenetrable world of clashing cultures, is the setting for a difficult murder case.

The headline attendants at the Metropolitan Museum of Art’s 1891 exhibit of Chinese artifacts include Lord Peng Tha Mah, the Chinese cultural attaché, and his family. Former Pinkerton detective Geoffrey Hunter and his partner, socialite lawyer Prudence MacKenzie, watch in horror as Peng is stabbed to death by an unknown assailant, who flees the scene. The family had recently moved from London, where their son studied engineering and their younger daughter went to boarding school. Both children speak perfect English, overshadowing their older sister and mother. The Chinese government has Peng quietly buried in New York and bids his family return home; rumors that Peng had fallen out of favor while serving in London make it likely that their fortune will be confiscated and the son executed in his place. Despite their status, the Pengs are subject to the restrictive Chinese Exclusion Act, which forbids the immigration of any Chinese women or laborers and denies citizenship to those who have already settled. To stay in the U.S., the Pengs hide in Chinatown under the auspices of Lord Peng’s powerful, estranged younger brother. Engaged by the family to uncover the killer, Geoffrey and Prudence find it tough going until they hire Matthew Lamb, a Yale graduate with a Chinese father who speaks several dialects. Suspecting a revenge honor killing, the detectives send Lamb to Chinatown, where he gets a job as a waiter to help crack a dangerous case.

A fascinating look at Chinese customs and restrictive immigration laws enhances a complex mystery.