In "Bones of the Earth" by Eliot Pattison the main character is Tibet, its culture, people and religious beliefs. I enjoyed the setting of this novel very much, as it was the first crime novel I have read that took place in Tibet.

Shan is an investigator that truly investigates and for this he was sent to prison by “ruthless hand of Beijing.” Now, he is investigating once again and this case is much more than an average murder case. It is a whole plot to cover plans of destruction of the foundation place in Tibet, where the “bones of earth” were anchored.

The novel was well-written and it contains interesting descriptions of culture and people living in Tibet, but I didn’t enjoy it as I should. The author concentrates too much on the point that he wants to make and he forgets about what matters to his readers: the real emotions behind the words on a page. I didn’t feel anything while reading this novel. The characters in the book just weren’t interesting for me. I didn’t care what would happen to them and what they did. Their emotions didn’t seem real.

I would recommend this book to readers interested in Tibet.

I received "Bones of the Earth" from the publisher via NetGalley. I would like to thank the author and the publisher for providing me with the advance reader copy of the book.

The tenth and final installment Bones of the Earth by Eliot Pattison is an intriguing must read novel.

Description: Bones of the Earth is Edgar Award-winning author Eliot Pattison’s much anticipated tenth and final installment in the internationally acclaimed Inspector Shan series. After Shan Tao Yun is forced to witness the execution of a Tibetan for corruption, he can’t shake the suspicion that he has instead witnessed a murder arranged by conspiring officials. When he learns that a Tibetan monk has been accused by the same officials of using Buddhist magic to murder soldiers then is abruptly given a badge as special deputy to the county governor, Inspector Shan realizes he is being thrust into a ruthless power struggle. Knowing he has made too many enemies in the government, Shan desperately wants to avoid such a battle, but then discovers that among its casualties are a murdered American archaeology student and devout Tibetans who were only trying to protect an ancient shrine. Soon grasping that the underlying mysteries are rooted in both the Chinese and Tibetan worlds, Shan senses that he alone may be able to find the truth. The path he must take, with the enigmatic, vengeful father of the dead American at his side, is the most treacherous he has ever navigated. More will die before he is able to fully pierce the secrets of this clash between the angry gods of Tibet and Beijing. The costs to Shan and those close to him will be profoundly painful, and his world will be shaken to its core before he crafts his own uniquely Tibetan form of justice.

Investigator Shan Tao Yun's character is very well developed and makes the novel extremely interesting. There is corruption, deaths, and corrupt government all the ingredients needed for a masterful storyline.
I received this book free of charge in exchange for my honest opinion. I definitely give this a 5 Star

A disgraced Chinese police detective is now released from the prisoncamp he was send to and allowed to serve as a constable in a village in Tibet. His son is however still in a camp and the high Chinese official who ordered his release has still a firm grip on his life. Near his town a hydro dam in built in a valley that has been sacred to the local people since all times and what is regarded by the local people as Gekho's roost, a local demon God. An executed Tibetan engineer, a American student who died in a car accident, a dead man in the sky train all seem to have a link with this hydro dam project. Chan is ordered to solve the case.

When I was on about 20% of the book I was thinking it reminded me so much of a novel I had read years ago. A fact finding discovery to my bookshelves produced the first novel in this series, This book is the 10th.

The series is set in Tibet and it is clear the writer has a lot of sympathy with the Tibetan people and their culture and detests the occupation and harsh suppression by Beijing.

It might sound strange but due to all the deities and demons and the for me unfamiliar Buddhist religion and Tibetan and Chinese culture and the harsh neglect of human rights and rule of law it felt most of the time as if I was reading a fantasy novel. But then remembering this is real and sometimes we see refugees from Tibet all the way in Europe.

The detective part of the story is nicely done but the real charm is the colour locale.

I read the first book in this series when it first came out nearly 20 years ago, and although sadly I've missed some of the more recent installments, Pattison's Inspector Shan series is one of the best series out there. Beginning with The Skull Mantra in 2000, the series ends with Bones of the Earth , the 10th and final book in the series.

Inspector Shan, a disgraced Beijing investigator, was sent to a Chinese gulag in Tibet in the first book. Shan is horrified by the treatment of the Tibetan monks and intrigued by the courage and calm acceptance the monks exhibit. In each successive book, Shan's situation improves as he proves himself a skillful investigator and useful to Colonel Tan.

In Bones of the Earth, Shan witnesses the execution of a Tibetan, then finds himself investigating the deaths of an American woman and an archaeologist, and realizes that the executed Tibetan was not guilty of corruption, but a witness to the murders of the woman and the archaeologist who were trying to prevent the destruction of a Tibetan holy site. As usual, Shan is in a precarious situation as he attempts to bring the guilty to justice.

While I'm sad to see this series end, I'm happy that the conclusion provides a sense of hope for Shan and the people he loves. I was pleased to see a couple of characters from earlier books make reappearances. And I loved Tara, the goat!

This is an excellent series with characters the have depth and dimension, complex mysteries and investigations, and exemplary research and knowledge of Tibet and its people.

Highly recommended. To understand why Eliot Pattison writes about Tibet.

NetGalley/St. Martin's Press
Mystery/Crime. March 26, 2019. Print length: 352 pages.

The author wrote a thriller that started with a bang and just kept going! The twists kept coming, so I couldn't put it down. I cannot wait to read more from this author!

This is the tenth and final book in a series featuring investigator Shan Tao Yun, but it was the first one I happened to read. The protagonist is forced to witness the execution of a Tibetan man on trumped-up charges. He then finds himself investigating two deaths caused when government plans for a hydroelectric project led to the overly hasty demolition of a sacred Tibetan mountainside cavern. Along the way, the author offers fascinating insight into Tibetan cultural practices and into the tensions between the Chinese government and the Tibetan people. I found the number of different characters a bit confusing to keep track of until well into the story, possibly because keeping track of the different unfamiliar locations also required some attention.The mystery is not entirely mysterious in the sense that corruption by various bad guys is well-documented all the way through the book. The conclusion is nonetheless satisfying, and I would be happy to read other books from earlier in the series.

Inspector Shan is assigned an unusual case of potential corruption and murder in Bones of the Earth.

What do the execution of a corrupt government contractor, a fatal car accident, and the release of a “hail chaser” have in common? A link to the giant Five Claws dam project in a sacred valley in rural Tibet.

The unusual setting within Chinese-controlled Tibet is the best part of Bones of the Earth. The worst is that this book was marketed as the last Inspector Shan book. Despite that sad news, this book is still highly recommended to thriller reading getting a bit weary of the currently popular domestic suspense glut. This tale takes global politics on headfirst while also providing a unique look at a little understood culture. 4 stars!

Thanks to Minotaur Books and NetGalley for a copy in exchange for an honest review.

Collusion and corruption!

How can I not give this final installment in the Detective Shan series five stars? I clung to every word Eliot put down, listened to every prayer uttered by the tibetans throughout these captivating pages, and was amazed by the depth of Eliot's understanding of the plight of Tibet in the face of Chinese occupation.
Shan Tao Yun is front and center with Colonel Tan, governor of Lhadrung County, as they uncover corruption, murder and foul doings, all in the name of Beijing and the Motherland.
The plight of the Tibetans is underscored even as Shan uncovers a massive, fraudulent plot surrounding the building of a dam smack in the center of a Tibetan holy place, known locally as Valley of the Gods, Holy Home, and Gekho’s Roost.
When an American archeology student is killed by a mining explosion / accident when investigating a cave holding an ancient shrine, the intrigue ratchets up, especially as Tibetans she was associated with come to inexplicably die.
The Tibetan gods are angry and the Chinese confused, which leads to more brutality and retaliation.
Astrologers, sorcerers and scientists all have their part to play, along with the Chinese party faithful.
The action moves swiftly and I was as glued to that as I was to the expose of traditional tibetan life before and after Mao's rule.
The cruelty and injustice of the Chinese overlords is evident in the gulags and simple everyday life. Communism has exchanged one set of warlords for another centralized from Beijing.
For Shan the simple life of a village contained, just became even more complicated, and that's a huge understatement.
A page turner combining historical fiction with mystery and intrigue!
Fascinating in all sorts of ways and highly addictive.
An elegant read!

A St Martin's Press ARC via NetGalley

This book has a very interesting setting and the plot is very good, too. I very much enjoyed it, even though it's very slow and rather complicated. Shorter and cleaner would be better for getting more readers.

An easy 4 stars.
This is a well done thriller, as the bad guys are identified early on. Constable Shan is the only constable in Yangkar, Tibet, China. It is in one of the most remote counties in Tibet. This is book 10 in the series, and the events from earlier books are explained well enough. I have not read any of the other books in the series. Shan was a prisoner in a brutal work camp, sent there to die by vengeful superiors in Beijing. He was a police investigator there and angered powerful people. Because he did a favor for Colonel Tan, Military governor of Lhadrung county, Tan released him from prison and made him a police constable..
Tan makes Shan a special inspector with a badge and a special letter authorizing Shan to investigate a hydroelectric project. Shan soon discovers that there are secrets connected to the project and at least 1 person has murdered because of it. How he resolves the conspiracy of powerful people willing to murder and stays alive makes for an exciting thriller that I read in 3 days.
One quote:
"I was an inspector in Beijing. I investigated the wrong people and they sent me to a prison in Lhadrung because the death rate is so high there.."
Thanks to Minotaur Books/St. Martin's Press for sending me this eARC through NetGalley

Readers of this series know that Pattison writes complex, at times challenging, mysteries which blend investigation with information about Tibet and China. If you haven't read an Inspector Shan novel, you're in for a treat- and don't worry, there's more than enough info here to get you going (but not too much for those who know it). This time out, Shan, who has been exiled to Tibet, is roped by Colonel Tan, the Chinese in charge of this area of Tibet, into looking into the Five Claws dam. A Tibet engineer has been executed for corruption related to the hydroelectric project but Tan and Shan both believe something's not quite right. Thanks to Netgalley for the ARC. Not always an easy read, this one will make you work for the answers, which makes it, for me at least, well worth my time.

This may well be a case of me being in the frame of mind that failed to appreciate this novel, but I read for 15% at which point I just could not face reading any further. So many apologies but at this time this is not a book that worked for me. Many thanks for the book, but it turned out it was at this time not for me.

You will be immediately gripped by this story of the struggle between Tibet with its old religions and the modern force of China sweeping away what they don’t recognise.
The building of a new dam by Beijing officials in the Valley of the Gods will bring death and a return Of Gekho the Tibetan god. It will need all Inspector Shan’s prayers and the help of Colonel Tan Governor of the county to solve the conspiracy.
This was my first Inspector Shan mystery and l immediately engaged with all the characters. They really spring to life from the page. I was taken into a past world of Tibet which l met with fascination.
I did not wish to let these characters go and will be checking out other Inspector Shan mysteries with great interest.
I was given an ARC of this book by Netgalley and the publisher St Martin’s Press in exchange for an honest review.

I'm happy I requested this book because I discovered an exciting series.
I loved the unusual setting, the well written characters and the plot.
The mystery was solid and it kept me guessing till the end.
This is an enjoyable and entertaining read, a real page turner.
I look forward to reading other books in this series.
Highly recommended!
Many thanks to St. Martin's Press and Netgalley for this ARC, all opinions are mine

When I realized that there were no mysteries in my March reading line-up, I decided to default to one of my favorite series. There were ARCs from two of them waiting to be read. I chose Bones of the Earth by Eliot Pattison because it's going to be released later this month. I love Eliot Pattison's protagonist, Shan Tao Yun, once a highly skilled investigator in Beijing who was transformed into a dissident and an ally of Tibetans by his government's policies.

I have to confess that I haven't loved all the books in the series. It's particularly unfortunate that the last time I was provided with a review copy of a volume from the Inspector Shan series, it was Mandarin Gate which I ended up liking less than I anticipated. . Let's just say that I didn't consider it one of Pattison's best. I hoped to have a better reading experience with Bones of the Earth which I downloaded from Net Galley.

The central conflict in this book was over the building of a hydro-electric dam which involved destroying a mountain under the protection of a type of pre-Buddhist spirit known as Gekho. Bon is the pre-Buddhist religion of Tibet. According to a web page dealing with Bon that I found, Gekhö means demon tamer. That web page also contained an image of a Gekhö spirit.

Since the Chinese authorities don't believe in demons or protective spirits, their view was that Tibetan superstition was standing in the way of progress. There was also an archaeological team at the site which included an American woman. They too were regarded by the Chinese in charge of the dam project as an obstacle to be removed. Yet strange events were associated with the dam project. Was there really a spirit protecting the mountain, or did these incidents have a more rational explanation?

Character development was another strength of Bones of the Earth. I particularly liked seeing more of the human side of Chinese Colonel Tan, Shan's superior. While Tan needed to be ruthless when he was challenged by would-be rivals, he also displayed compassion and decency. There was a minor character whose name I enjoyed. Her name was Tinkerbell though she was often called Tink. I found her rather unexpected. Shan himself was in a state of change, moving on to another stage in his life.

If this is really the last book in the Inspector Shan series, as the description states, I can say that I thought that it ended well. I would like to imagine that Shan's future life is going to be happy, or as happy as can be managed in Chinese occupied Tibet. Bones of the Earth ranks with the best books in this series. The political, spiritual and personal elements combined to make this book a superior mystery.

This was my first read in the Inspector Shan series, and I will definitely be reading more. I enjoyed the way Pattison transported me to Tibet and I feel like I learned a lot about an area of the world that was unfamiliar to me. I thought the relationship between Shan and the American was really well done, and the ending was very satisfying.