The Water Rat of Wanchai
An Ava Lee Novel
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4.3 • 14 Ratings
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- $9.99
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- $9.99
Publisher Description
Winner of the Arthur Ellis Award for Best First Novel
AVA LEE TAKES ON A MASTER CRIMINAL IN HER MOST DANGEROUS CASE YET
In Ian Hamilton's The Water Rat of Wanchai, we meet forensic accountant and martial arts expert Ava Lee in her early days working for the mysterious businessman Uncle as they track down large sums of money that have disappeared. One of Uncle's longtime friends has requested help for his nephew, who needs to recover five million dollars from a business deal that went sideways. Ava steps in and immediately is off on a global hunt for the missing money that has her dodging shady characters.
On a journey that takes her from Seattle to Hong Kong, Bangkok, Guyana, and the British Virgin Islands, Ava encounters everything from the Thai katoey culture to corrupt government officials. In Guyana she meets her match: Captain Robbins, a godfather-like figure who controls the police, politicians, and criminals alike. In exchange for his help, Robbins decides he wants a piece of Ava's five million dollars and will do whatever it takes to get his fair share.
PUBLISHERS WEEKLY
American fans of Ava Lee, a Toronto-based forensic accountant who specializes in finding and recovering missing money, will welcome Hamilton's first in the series, whose publication in the U.S. follows that of the fourth entry, 2013's The Red Pole of Macau. When her Chinese business partner, Uncle, asks her to help a friend's nephew, who has lost $5 million to an unscrupulous seafood distributor, Ava embarks on a multicountry quest to track the funds. She travels to Hong Kong, where the deal originated, then follows the money trail to Bangkok and Georgetown, Guyana. In the seedy South American capital, she bribes Captain Robbins the de facto power behind the government, military, law enforcement, and the criminal underworld to help her reclaim the money from Jackson Seto, who masterminded the seafood scam. Despite a somewhat anticlimactic ending, this is an enjoyable romp with a feisty, ingenious heroine whose lethal martial arts skills are as formidable as her keen mind.
