Li Du Series by Elsa Hart

The first book written by Elsa Hart as a part of the Li Du series is titled as ‘Jade Dragon Mountain’. The Minotaur publication published this book in the year 2015. In the initial sequence of the book, author Elsa has introduced Li Du as an imperial librarian. He gets exiled and moves to Dayan, which is situated on the border of Tibet and China. When he reaches, he gets surprised by seeing the visiting travelers, merchants, and soldiers. All of them seem to have arrived there to witness the solar eclipse that was commanded by the rich emperor. Soon, the situation turns into an ugly shock when an astronomer gets murdered in a local magistrate’s home. Immediately, the blame is placed on the bandits of Tibet. However, Li Du does not see it as a random killing. Later, his investigations allow him to learn that everyone in the city is keeping secrets, including the bitter servant, powerful consort, merchants of the East India Company, the storyteller, the magistrate, and the missionary. Li Du sees the mountain pass beyond the festival banners and sloping roofs. Through that pass, he can move out of China, but he must first decide whether to stay or leave. If he stays, he can investigate the matter in a more proper way and help solve the murder mystery that Lijiang seems to be very much willing to let go unsolved.

The next book written by Elsa is titled as ‘The White Mirror’. It was published in 2016. Author Elsa begins this book by showing that Li Du has become an independent traveler. Along with one of the trade caravans, he journeys to Lhasa. But instead, he gets taken to a valley located between mountains. Li Du sees an old monk sitting in contemplation on a woode bridge. When he takes a closer, he finds that the monk is dead. At first, it appears that he had died due to self-inflicted wounds. Li Du discovers a strange symbol imprinted on the monk’s chest. Soon, stormy begins to fall and the caravan is forced to take shelter at a local lord. While waiting patiently for the passing of the storm, Li Du discovers that the monk was a skillful painter. The family of the local lord tells him that the death of the monk was not a surprise because he was quite obsessed with the worldly demon. But, Li Du feels that things are not as they seem to be. He gets to experience a few strange things during his travel to the valley, which make his belief even more suspicious. Due to the unhealthy climate, secretive surrounding, and the unexplained grief haunting the manor, Li Du is not able to leave the things that he wants to forget behind. Eventually, he goes on to establish the fact that the monk was murdered and finds the person responsible for it.

The third book in the series is "City of Ink". Li Du was prepared to travel anywhere in the world except for one place: home. But to unravel the mystery that surrounds his mentor’s execution, that’s exactly where he must go.  Plunged into the painful memories and teeming streets of Beijing, Li Du obtains a humble clerkship that offers anonymity and access to the records he needs. He is beginning to make progress when his search for answers buried in the past is interrupted by murder in the present.  The wife of a local factory owner is found dead, along with a man who appears to have been her lover, and the most likely suspect is the husband. But what Li Du’s superiors at the North Borough Office are willing to accept as a crime of passion strikes Li Du as something more calculated. As past and present intertwine, Li Du’s investigations reveal that many of Beijing’s residents — foreign and Chinese, artisan and official, scholar and soldier — have secrets they would kill to protect.  When the threats begin, Li Du must decide how much he is willing to sacrifice to discover the truth in a city bent on concealing it, a city where the stroke of a brush on paper can alter the past, change the future, prolong a life, or end one.