No Way to Die by P.A. De Voe

Item: No Way to Die
Rating: 3
Author: karenbaron

Posted December 15, 2019 by karenbaron in Blog Tour, Contest - Giveaway, Historical Fiction, Mystery, Review / 2 Comments

I voluntarily reviewed an Advance Reader Copy from Great Escapes Book Tours. This does not affect my opinion of the book or the content of my review.

No Way to Die

by P.A. De Voe

Series: Ming Dynasty Mystery #2
Series Rating:

Published by LLC on March 20, 2019
Genres: Historical Mystery
Pages: 210
Format: Kindle
Source: Great Escapes Book Tours
Goodreads
Get Your Copy at: Amazon, Book Depository

Through mystery and intrigue, No Way To Die transports the reader into the complex and engaging world of early Ming China.

When a peddler finds a partially mutilated body of a stranger, the unlikely duo of a young scholar and a local women’s doctor once more join forces to discover who killed him and why. In probing the highly gendered world of early Ming China, unanticipated questions surface, complicating their investigation.

As their case rapidly transitions into the unexpected, they find all roads leading away from the victim, forcing them to consider alternate routes. Was the death the result of inexorable bad karma and beyond their purview, or merely the result of mortal foul play? Was the murdered man the intended victim? If not, who was and why? The investigation leads to a growing list of potential suspects: a lustful herbalist, an unscrupulous neighbor, a vengeful farmer, a jealous husband, a scorned wife, and a band of thieves. Who is innocent and who is the culprit? To solve the murder and bring peace to the victim’s spirit, the duo must untangle the truth and do it before the murderer strikes again.

Paige Turner, an Amazon reviewer, said of P.A. De Voe’s Ming Dynasty Mysteries: “Just as Ellis Peters wrote the immensely popular brother Cadfael mystery series set in Medieval England, P.A. De Voe is establishing quite a reputation for her imaginative and clever mysteries set in early Ming Dynasty China.”

No Way to Die by P.A. De Voe is a complicated tale of murder, sexist rights, personal responsibility, and lack of morals.

Will Xiang-hua and Shu-Chang find the unknown man’s murderer?

The Sleuthing Team

Xiang-hua is a young, unmarried woman’s doctor. She has trained under her grandmother and is a talented healer. Xiang-hua is brilliant, has compassion, and knows how to get women to accept her treatments.

Shu-Chang is the young men’s teacher who is also studying for his third examination for civil jobs. He is also a smart, yet still somewhat sexist gentleman in their society. I believe that he and Xiang-hua have feelings for each other.

Xiao-ren is a young man enrolled in Shu-Chang’s class. However, he doesn’t like studying or going to class. He reminds me of Batman’s sidekick Robin.

The Mystery

The mystery is very different from what I usually read. The socially accepted roles defined by sex, in this time, weren’t fair at all. There is also the belief about unsettled spirits, which I found a bit scary.

Three Stars for No Way to Die by P.A. De Voe

The story is well written, and the mystery was plotted well with lots of red herrings, and the culprit was quite a surprise. I understand the reasoning but didn’t care for the way it ended. I know that is how it was back then, and I am glad that it isn’t as bad in the present time.

First Book in the Series

Giveaway

Prize: (2) Digital Copy – No Way to Die: A Ming Dynasty Mystery by P.A. De Voe

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Thank you for dropping by! I hope you enjoyed this review of No Way to Die by P.A. De Voe. If you have time, stop by the other blog stops and enter the giveaway.

Until the next time,

Happy Reading!

About P.A. De Voe

P.A. De Voe is an anthropologist with a PhD in Asian studies and a specialty in China. She has authored several stories featuring the early Ming Dynasty: The Mei-hua Trilogy: Hidden, Warned, and Trapped; the A Ming Dynasty Mystery series with Deadly Relations and No Way to Die; Lotus Shoes, a Mei-hua short story; and a collection of short stories: Judge Lu’s Case Files, stories of Crime & Mystery in Imperial China. Warned won a Silver Falchion Award for Best International Mystery; Trapped was a finalist for an Agatha Award and for a Silver Falchion Award. Her short story, The Immortality Mushroom, (a Judge Lu story) was in the Anthony Award-winning anthology Murder Under the Oaks edited by Art Taylor.