On the HahaFiction shelf
Eight Skilled Gentlemen
The Chronicles of Master Li and Number Ten Ox · Book 3
Master Li and Number Ten Ox investigate a mandarin's murder in a China filled with magic. A puppeteer and his shaman daughter join the inquiry as the case draws the pair into supernatural trouble.
From the publisher’s blurb
“a hilarious romp through Ancient China”Read the full description at Publisher description, Crown / Penguin Random House
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What makes it funny?
The Celestial Master gives Li a murder case while looking like its chief suspect himself. His account involves a fireball and a man turning into a crane. Number Ten Ox tells the increasingly strange story in the observant comic voice singled out by Publishers Weekly.
The comedy at work
Hughart treats detective work as an excuse to send Li and Ox through Chinese folklore, with magical complications and quick jokes arriving in succession. Ghosts and demons keep enlarging the case well beyond the original murder.
Try this if…
Li and Ox’s established partnership is the attraction here, along with a mystery crowded with folklore and supernatural incident. A taste for fast changes of direction matters more than a preference for orderly, realistic detection.
Good to know
Critical responses differ on the balance of comedy and complication. Kirkus found the humor reduced and the plot overcomplicated; Speculiction enjoyed the imagination but found the uninterrupted pace tiring. That reviewer recommends starting with Bridge of Birds for the introduction to Li and Ox.
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Sources & further reading
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