Download Mandarin Yellow fb2

A good friend referred me to Steven M. Roth’s “Mandarin Yellow.” I sent him a basket of fruit for having done so. I read it in one day and night. Just could not put it down!

Socrates Cheng is a truly marvelous character. An amalgam of Ancient as well as Modern Greek and Chinese cultures, he is a vibrant American figure using the resources of his ancestors to solve an intriguing and suspenseful burglary and murder mystery. We find him in our nation’s capitol. First, as a proprietor of an antique and vintage fountain pen shop and then as an astute detective having been hired by a mysterious Chinese gentlemen to recover an historic fountain pen stolen from a downtown Washington Art Gallery.

Socrates Cheng takes us throughout many familiar Washington venues and locations while tracking down a myriad of leads as an amateur, but soon becoming a highly experienced detective. The story takes many intriguing twists and turns but ultimately, through astute knowledge of his Chinese background, to include the Mandarin Chinese language, discovers the links to a truly remarkable solution.

Author Roth writes clearly and lucidly whilst taking the reader on a joyful and suspenseful experience. I have read a lot of mystery stories in my lifetime, however, none light a candle to Steven M. Roth’s well written story.

Chinatown (Washington, DC). Li Bing-fa (Jade’s father, Chinese mafia leader, Celestial being, Taoist, Middle Kingdom) & his 2 twin sons: Bing-wu (eldest) & Bing-enlai (youngest)
came to Socrates Cheng (Penn St.; China Studies major; Columbia U; JD, former attorney) a visit.
Chairman Chiang Kai-shek’s $2200, 1927, Mandarin Yellow Parker duofold treasured fountain pen had been stolen from Li Bing-fa’s Three Prosperities China Arts Gallery (Georgetown).
Chairman Mao later had taken possession of it.

Li Bing-jade (Jade Li, Penn St. U; BA China Studies, Wellesley College; MS & PhD Philosophy Degree professor Georgetown U) was Li Bing-fa’s daughter, & Socrates GF.
That did not set well with dad at all, he disowned her.
Socrates’ parents are: Phillip Cheng (father, Chinese) & Sophia Cheng (mother, Greek).
The Washington Post headline read Chinese Embassy’s Diplomat Murdered in Chinatown.
Iris Hua (Linda’s gallery director supervisor), & Linda Fong (asst. director) were employed at the Art Gallery.

The cultural exhibit show could not go on without that pen.
What did the note say that Socrates received?
Socrates had gone to the gallery several times to speak with the employee’s.
The next time he returned Iris had been murdered.
Detective Harte & Detective Thigpen (Metropolitan PD) had arrived at the crime scene.
Now FBI SA Ingram wanted to speak with Socrates.
Georgetown. Mr. Brandon Hill (Columbia U) had been stabbed 13 times.

Will the crime get solved & someone brought to justice?

I did not receive any type of compensation for reading & reviewing this book. While I receive free books from publishers & authors, I am under no obligation to write a positive review. Only an honest one.

A very awesome book cover, great font & writing style. A very well written international crime thriller book. It was very easy for me to read/follow from start/finish & never a dull moment. There were no grammar/typo errors, nor any repetitive or out of line sequence sentences. Lots of exciting scenarios, with several twists/turns & a great set of unique characters to keep track of. This could also make another great international crime thriller movie, or better yet a mini TV series. There is no doubt in my mind this is a very easy rating of 5 stars.

Thank you for the free Blackstone Press; Amazon Digital Services LLC; book
Tony Parsons MSW (Washburn)

Washington DC author Steven M. Roth earned a bachelor's degree in philosophy and history from Pennsylvania State University and a law degree from Duke Law School. He is retired from private law practice. Steve has published five novels to date – the Socrates Cheng mysteries: MANDARIN YELLOW, THE MOURNING WOMAN, and THE COUNTERFEIT TWIN featuring his Washington, DC Chinese/Greek-American private eye — Socrates Cheng, and the Trace Austin suspense thrillers: NO SAFE PLACE and NO PLACE TO HIDE. His presence in Washington, DC and his experience as a lawyer serve him well in sculpting tense, beautifully nuanced novels that blend international politics, the military, and of course crime!

When an author is able to strike a chord of fear with the opening lines, then the reader can be assured the designated genre of ‘suspense novel’ is correct. Steve does this with direct ease in a very brief but threatening Prologue – ‘The old woman was expensively clothed. She wore traditional Chinese garb – an embroidered silk dress that covered her form her neck to her ankles, an antique jade necklace – but also costly Western shoes rather than traditional Chinese shoes because Oriental brands hurt her feet. Her hair was well-coiffed and her nails grown long and carefully polished deep red. Al in all, the old woman looked quite stylish and well put together for a dead woman.’

Steve offers a synopsis that outlines the area the novel covers – ‘Conspiracy, the theft of a valuable historic object from a Washington, DC art gallery, suspense and murder -- It's all here in this mystery whose roots go back to World War II in China, and come forward to modern-day Washington and its Chinatown. Why would a burglar break into a Washington, DC art gallery and steal an historic fountain pen worth $2200, but leave behind other art and cultural objects worth tens of thousands of dollars each? And why would someone else later commit murder to protect the burglar’s secret? These are some of the questions that confront Socrates Cheng — an American of Chinese and Greek heritage — in this intricate murder mystery as Socrates investigates the burglary and attempts to recover the pen, all in an effort to curry favor with his lover’s estranged father who is the leader of a Washington and Shanghai based criminal Triad. In a search that takes him from Georgetown to Chinatown and elsewhere in Washington, Socrates finds himself threatened, physically assaulted, suspected of having committed murder, jailed for a time, and constantly confronted by conflicts arising out of his three disparate cultures. Yet he is neither daunted nor deterred by these obstacles. Instead, Socrates draws upon his deep knowledge of vintage fountain pens, Chinese history, and the Mandarin language to puzzle out the complex motives behind the burglary and murders, until he finally uncovers the identities of the criminals and makes a discovery that forever changes his life and the lives of everyone else involved. The story involves ethnic and cultural conflict, forbidden love, friendships sustained and friendships lost, and the ever present and sometimes deadly immutable law of unintended consequences.’

Reading this initial installment of the Socrates Cheng series develops a need to read the entire series – and that is a solid sign that Steven M. Roth is a novelist of significance. Grady Harp, February 18