Water Touching Stone by Eliot Pattison is actually a re-read. I rarely re-read books, but the mystery book club that I attend is reading this novel for the June meeting. I read it so long ago that I didn't remember very much about it. I never reviewed the book. Yet at the time I read it, I remember thinking that it was one of the best books I'd ever read.
This is the second book in a series whose central character is Shan Tao Yun. I have reviewed Mandarin Gate (Shan series #7) on an earlier blog here , and Bones of the Earth which is the final book of the Shan series here.
I was angered to learn from this book that the Chinese had been using Tibet for nuclear testing. I found an article on the subject at Nuclear Tibet. It includes the use of prisoners for constructing nuclear facilities. I am concerned about their exposure to radiation.
Shan must stop the murder of boys which involves finding out why these murders were happening. I wasn't surprised when the killer's motive was revealed.
There are American archaeologists who turn out to be pivotal characters. I didn't think that archaeologist Jacob Deacon would have mentioned that "there might be treasure" at his site. From an archaeological perspective "treasure" is an artifact which belongs in a museum. This is why museums often sponsor archaeology.
I found this book suspenseful, but I'm not as impressed with it as I was when I read it the first time. Since I really hadn't remembered the plotline, this wasn't due to familiarity. It just didn't strike me as remarkable or original, though I did very much like the Tibetan religion aspect.
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