Overall a good read with well thought plots. A mix between Nora Roberts's Death series and Angela Lansbury's Murder She Wrote, Lisa See managed to blend in the east and west making the story as entertaining.

Here's my full review:
http://www.sholee.net/2017/03/mpov-interior-red-princess-2.html ( )

This book has been sitting on my bookshelf for at least 10 years. Every once in a while I would look at it and think "I really must read that." but something else would come along and I'd forget about it for another few months (or a few years). This year one of my reading goals was to read all the books that I have had since 2010 so that finally spurred me to read it. Like all these books that have been sitting for a long time I kick myself for waiting so long. Lisa See is definitely an author that I will read in the future.

Liu Hulan is an inspector with China's Ministry of Public Security. Her lover, David Stark, is a US attorney who has recently become a partner in a law firm that wishes him to return to China to open an office there. David jumps at the chance to be reunited with Hulan who is pregnant with his child. Meanwhile Hulan has left Beijing to return to the small village where she spent several years during the Cultural Revolution. Her best friend there,Suchee, is a peasant woman who wrote to Hulan when her daughter, Miaoshan, was found hanging in an outbuilding. The police have deemed her death a suicide but Suchee doesn't believe it. Miaoshan was working for an American toy manufacturing business which is about to be bought by a client of David's firm. Hulan wants David to give her some information about the buyer but David is bound by lawyer's confidentiality. Hulan arranges to go undercover to work in the toy plant and what she sees there makes her wonder if they have something to hide from the new buyer. David, of course, is also worried that there could be later problems for his client. In a complex society like China working towards a solution is more than usually difficult. I have to confess I sometimes lost the thread of the investigation but it does all come clear in the end. And along the way there is lots of interesting information about Chinese society and government. ( )

The Interior is the second novel in Lisa See's Red Princess trilogy. The relationship between detective Liu Hulan and American attorney David Stark, is thriving, but the in depth look at China and the Chinese culture is the most prominent character.

Hulan works for the Ministry of Public Security which could be similar to an FBI agent for the government of China. She has been asked by a friend that she has not seen in twenty years to investigate the death of her daughter. The mother has been told that her daughter committed suicide, but she is unconvinced. This death leads Hulan to an American toy factory and into a world of corporate corruption and danger.

Meanwhile back in Los Angeles, David is having dinner with Kevin Baxter, a law colleague, who is killed as they leave the restaurant. Is it related to David's successful trial against members of a US based Chinese gang or might it have something to do with Baxter's work for the company trying to buy the exact same toy factory that Hulan is investiating? David hot foots it to China to help Hulan figure things out.

This is a complex mystery with lots of twists and double twists. Even though it's book 2 of a trilogy it can easily be read as a stand alone novel. Lisa See writes with so much knowledge of the Chinese culture and history, it makes the book even more compelling. I look forward to finishing up the trilogy next month with [b:Dragon Bones|149281|Dragon Bones (Red Princess, #3)|Lisa See|https://i.gr-assets.com/images/S/compressed.photo.goodreads.com/books/1390248515l/149281._SX50_.jpg|1936488]. ( )

This is the second volume in this "red princess" series of murder mysteries from Lisa See. I enjoyed this one more than the first for the glimpse into China. The murder/investigation was OK, but not extremely compelling, but the insight into cultural norms and business/foreign business in China was fascinating! ( )

Liu Hulan is an investigator with China’s version of the FBI. Considered a “Red Princess”, she has more money and privilege beyond that of most Chinese citizens, but even so, she’s taking risks by having a white American for a lover and getting pregnant without a permit. Her lover, David Stark, is an American attorney who jumps at the chance to go into private practice when a firm offers him a posting in China and he can live with Hulan. This is following an attempt on his life and the shocking death of his friend in Los Angeles.

When an old friend contacts Hulan about the death of her adult daughter, they don’t expect it to turn into a major investigation. The death is ruled a suicide, but the mother doesn’t buy that, and clues Hulan sees tell her it was a murder. When Hulan looks into it, it leads her right to the girl’s employer- a company that is being purchased by the very firm that David is representing. More and more irregularities appear, and David feels he has to step in.

There are many, many plot strands in this story, sometimes more than I could keep track of, along with lots and lots of characters. The ‘interior’ the title refers to is the interior of China, an area almost all rural (at the time; the book is set in 1997) and extremely poor. This makes the American owned factories that have started appearing very appealing to young Chinese, especially women, who have almost no other chances for advancement. The novel exposes some of the problems that happened during that time, when there were almost no rules for foreign investors.

Legal thrillers are not normally something I read. I picked this up because I love Lisa See’s writing, both fiction and non-fiction. I enjoyed it, but didn’t feel that the characters were nearly as developed as in her historical fiction, and that she had too many different elements in the story. The detail on life in China was amazing, though, and featured an aspect of China I had read little of. Four stars. ( )