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Formats
Hardcover Details
  • 04/2022
  • 978-1-957230-07-8 195723007X
  • 246 pages
  • $17.00
Ebook Details
  • 06/2021
  • 9781733951173 B094PXSNPS
  • 218 pages
  • $3.99
Paperback Details
  • 05/2021
  • 9781733951166
  • 246 pages
  • $12.00
Audio Details
  • 06/2021
  • B097FGDFVJ
  • 218 pages
  • $17.46
Gloria Oliver
Author
Black Jade - A Daiyu Wu Mystery

Could a gorgeous old ballgown be used to commit murder?

Deep in the heart of Texas, Chinese immigrant Daiyu Wu discovers a mysterious ballgown in her family’s laundry business. It reeks of burned garlic and there is money pinned to it to pay for the cleaning. But no one knows who left it there.

Harnessing her instincts, knowledge, and determination, Dai sets out to learn everything she can about this strange green dress. Who wore it? Who left it at the laundry?

As she unravels the mystery behind the dress, Dai discovers a lot more than she bargained for. Someone has committed a murder using arsenic. Dai believes the dress is the key and that the murderer is trying to use the laundry to hide this crucial piece of evidence, the green ballgown.

Many factors conspire against Dai, but she remains undeterred. The police don’t even know about the murder. People think her blindness stops her from doing things. It’s Dallas in 1930, and Chinese people like Dai are not welcomed by the white residents of the city. Pushing these factors to one side, Dai turns detective. With Prince Razor, her canine best friend, and Jacques Haskins, her human one, she knows she must take on the challenges posed by a spoiled popinjay, his jealous self-appointed girlfriend, and Dai’s overprotective parents.

Time is ticking, but even though the killer is unaware that Dai is on their trail, they are destroying any evidence of their foul deed. Can she and her friends work out the mystery despite all the obstacles stacked against them?

For lovers of Agatha Christie and Sir Arthur Conan Doyle.

Plot/Idea: 8 out of 10
Originality: 8 out of 10
Prose: 9 out of 10
Character/Execution: 8 out of 10
Overall: 8.25 out of 10

Assessment:

Plot/Idea: Black Jade is a meticulously plotted mystery in the vein of Agatha Christie, with a plot that unfolds intriguingly in this quickly-paced novel.

Prose: Told in first-person perspective, Jacques’s narration proves an almost Watson-like counterpart to Daiyu Wu’s Holmes. The snappy and fast-paced dialogue brings the story to life.

Originality: Readers will find this to be a classic mystery set in 1930s Texas. Though frequent readers of the genre may target the culprit early on, protagonist Dai’s keen eye, curiosity, and wit are delightful fun.

Character Development/Execution: The blind Chinese protagonist Daiyu Wu is inherently clever and memorable, and narrator Jacques is a loyal yet complex companion.

Blurb: A gripping Agatha-Christie-esque whodunit whose atmosphere and characters are sure to delight readers. 

 

 

Date Submitted: April 18, 2022

Reviews
Set in 1930 Dallas, this impressive series launch from Oliver (Alien Redemption) introduces a one-of-a-kind lead. Despite being blind and living in a community infected with anti-Asian prejudice, Chinese immigrant Daiyu Wu has built a life for herself by operating her family’s business, White Laundry, aided by her friend and caretaker, Jacques Haskin. Her superior olfactory senses prove essential to solving a crime when she smells something unusual on a gossamer ball gown left hanging on the front door of the laundry, with a dollar and a blank ticket stamped paid pinned to the garment. Daiyu’s suspicions that she’s detected the odor of arsenic on the dress are confirmed when Jacques helps her to perform a forensic test for detecting arsenic. The laundress concludes that someone was murdered by wearing the toxic gown and sets out on a quest to identify the victim and her killer. Aided by Jacques, Daiyu cracks the case, despite risking her liberty when she’s accused of being in the country illegally. The playful banter between Wu and Haskin moves the plot along. Historical mystery fans will look forward to the sequel. (Self-published)
Formats
Hardcover Details
  • 04/2022
  • 978-1-957230-07-8 195723007X
  • 246 pages
  • $17.00
Ebook Details
  • 06/2021
  • 9781733951173 B094PXSNPS
  • 218 pages
  • $3.99
Paperback Details
  • 05/2021
  • 9781733951166
  • 246 pages
  • $12.00
Audio Details
  • 06/2021
  • B097FGDFVJ
  • 218 pages
  • $17.46
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