A.E. Goldin

Ben Canaan returns in this darkly gripping adventure mystery set in Hong Kong, sequel to the acclaimed Murder in ConstantinopleLondon, 1856. Ben Canaan is a young detective on the payroll of Her Majesty's Executive, riding high on a string of successful cases. Then a notorious crime boss turns up murdered on the city streets, the latest in a series of brutal killings targeting the most powerful men in the global opium trade.To track down the culprits and prevent more blood from being shed, Ben is sent out to the newly-founded British colony of Hong Kong: a lawless frontier town on the southern shores of China's Great Qing Dynasty.Ben is plunged headlong into a labyrinthine conspiracy, set against the backdrop of an empire in collapse and a sweeping civil war. As his hunt brings him closer to the truth and the ruthless corporate interests that want him dead, Ben is forced to choose between what is necessary and what is just.

Alfred Hitchcock meets Indiana Jones in this acclaimed, globe-trotting historical mystery about a wayward Jewish kid drawn into a sinister plot?Impressive. . . Enthralling. . . Goldin brings a long-lost era to life in vivid, evocative detail?  ? Financial Times?A rip-roaring adventure. . . A zip-along plot, packed full of political machinations, strange deaths and ruinous romance?  ? Daily MailThis entertaining historical mystery is the exciting debut novel from London-based musician and screenwriter A.E. Goldin. Thrillingly paced and with an enchanting historical setting, it launches a thrilling new series with an unforgettable hero, and provides all the nostalgic reading pleasure of classic Sherlock Holmes.-London, 1854. 21-year-old Ben Canaan attracts trouble wherever he goes. His father wants him to be a good Jewish son, working for the family business on Whitechapel Road, but Ben and his friends, the ''Good-for-Nothings'', just want adventure.Then the chance discovery of an enigmatic letter and a photograph of a beautiful woman bring Ben an adventure more dangerous than anything he?d imagined. Suddenly he is thrown into the heart of a mystery that takes him away from everything he has known and all the way to Constantinople, the jewel of an empire and the centre of a world on the brink of war.Ben?s only clue is 3 words: ?The White Death?. Now he must find what links a string of grisly murders, following a trail through kingmaking and conspiracy, poison and high politics, bloodshed and betrayal. In a city of deadly secrets, no one is safe ? and one wrong step could cost Ben his life.