Sophia Rose Reviews - Red Blossom in Snow by Jeannie Lin

Today my friend Sophia Rose has a real treat for me as she's reviewing a local author of mine, Jeannie Lin's novel Red Blossom in Snow.
Enjoy!

Red Blossom in Snow by Jeannie Lin

#4 Pingkang Li Mysteries

Historical Mystery

Publisher: self

Published: 3.21.22

Pages:  280

Rating: 4.5 stars

Format: eARC

Source: Author

Sellers: Amazon

ADD TO: GoodReads  

 

GoodReads Synopsis:

The next installment of the Lotus Palace mystery series.

Magistrate Li Chen and celebrated courtesan Song Yi become entangled in a murder investigation when an outsider to the Pingkang li is found strangled in a pleasure house. As they search for the truth, the secrets they uncover turn out to be their own.

 

Sophia Rose's Review:

Jeannie Lin brings China’s past to life in the Lotus Palace series all centered around the Pleasure District so that the reader feels the moist fog along the river, scents the flowers on the air, and feels for the complex people who live and are entertained in this lush section of the city.  It is beautiful, but deadly under the author’s pen and she lays out a touching romance for an improbable pair while the work to get the answers needed to save the innocent from blame and get at the truth that will protect from the hidden danger.

 

Red Blossom in Snow is the fourth of the full-length novels in the Pingkang Li aka Lotus Palace series of Tang Dynasty mysteries.  Each story is standalone, but does have moments when characters introduced earlier are side characters in the story.  This one is a follow up of sorts behind Hidden Moon because Li Chen, the main male character, is the rejected suitor from that last book.

 

I always enjoy the murder mysteries in this series for their clever twists, but I confess that the attention to historical details of setting and backdrop of the characters, the interactions and manners of the day, and, of course, the slow burn romances of people from different social status and walks of life in the Tang Dynasty time period are what rivet me to the story.

 

Li Chen is quiet, serious, and contained though there is an inner fire he allows no one to see.  His past has shaped him.  He comes from a low level genteel household and gets a break when he is sponsored to take the imperial exams and then gain his magisterial position.  He is known as fair, but dutiful to law and family.

 

Song Yi is indentured to one of the pleasure houses and her livelihood depends on pleasing her customers and being a vital source of income to her house.  She can’t afford sentiment or dreams of a romantic protector who will take her away.  Yet, she can’t quite make herself see and treat Chen Li as only one of her clients especially when everything depends on him protecting them from the full force of the law as he tries to get the murder resolved.

 

I liked seeing this pair together when they were in harmony and when they were at odds.  They have to find a way to understand where the other is coming from and cross the social divide.  It also turns out they both have something to contribute to get the answers needed.  Loved the reveals toward the end.

 

All in all, Red Blossom in Snow was another abso-fab Tang Dynasty era mystery and left me sad to see it over.  I’m not sure how many, if any more there will be in the series, but I will be reading them when they come.  Definite recommendation for historical mystery/romantic suspense fans who want a less frequented locale and culture at the heart.

 

Author Bio:

Jeannie Lin started writing in 2005 while she was teaching high school. After a long journey through rejections and contests and revisions, her manuscript, Butterfly Swords, won the 2009 Golden Heart® award for historical romance. Her first two books have received starred reviews in Publishers Weekly and Library Journal and her second novel, The Dragon and the Pearl, was listed as one of Library Journal’s Best Romances of 2011. Her stories are inspired by her love of adventure, history, and fantasy in both western and Asian traditions. From an early age she was fascinated by legends of King Arthur and the fantasy of Lord of the Rings as well as the Chinese wuxia (martial arts) fiction. As a result, she writes heroic characters in epic situations while interweaving a strong romance to make larger than life characters human.

Twitter:  https://twitter.com/JeannieLin

Facebook:  https://www.facebook.com/JeannieLinOfficialPage

Sophia’s Bio:

Sophia is a quiet though curious gal who dabbles in cooking, book reviewing, and gardening. Encouraged and supported by an incredible man and loving family. A Northern Californian transplant to the Great Lakes Region of the US. Lover of Jane Austen, Baseball, Cats, Scooby Doo, and Chocolate.

Sophia’s Social Media Links:

Facebook:  https://www.facebook.com/sophia.rose.7587

Twitter: https://twitter.com/sophiarose1816

GoodReads:  https://www.goodreads.com/author/show/13418187.Sophia_Rose