My local book club read this book because we’d so enjoyed author Lisa See’s Snow Flower and the Secret Fan. Published eight years earlier in 1997 as See’s first novel and second book over all, Flower Net is the first of what have come to be called “Red Princess” mystery-thrillers. All three books feature Chinese Ministry of Public Security inspector Liu Hulan and American attorney David Stark.

The story takes place in the first couple months of 1997, beginning with the discovery of the bodies of the American ambassador’s son in Beijing and the son (a “Red Prince”) of a wealthy Chinese businessman in a boat adrift with illegal immigrants off the coast of Los Angeles. Stark and Liu are paired up to investigate the murders and associated crimes including smuggling of bear bile, a traditional Chinese medicinal. It’s a pairing that brings the two former lovers (when she was working for an American law firm) back together. David has always carried a torch for Hulan, and can’t understand why she left him so unexpectedly years before.

See does a wonderful job with her descriptions of places and life in China and her deft weaving in of Chinese history. Hulan is a fascinating character, who was named by her parents for a Chinese teenager who died in the revolution in 1947. The plot is intriguing but invites one to suspend belief, as I don’t think it’s very realistic that the Communist Chinese of that era would be so cooperative with the American government.

The book gets its title from a statement by Hulan on page 152 of the hardbound edition, when asked by David what they should do next: ”In China what I would do is cast a flower net....This method of fishing goes back many centuries. The flower net is a round, hand-woven net with weights on the edges. The fisherman throws it out into the air, where it opens like a flower, settles on the surface of the water, sinks to the dark depths, and traps everything within its circumference.,,,We’ll follow the money, but we’ll also look at everything that comes in contact with our net.”

In an interview with Ron Hogan in 1996, See said she got the idea for the book through her husband, Dick""a lawyer who represents many foreign governments, including China. We had been traveling there periodically for his cases. One time, we were there for a case he was working on for the Bank of China, which is like the U.S. Treasury but is also their bank. A man had stolen fifty million dollars from the Bank of China, and they hired Dick to find him and the money.

He was working not only with the Bank of China, but with people in the Ministry of Public Security, the people responsible for Tiananmen, and occasionally I'd have the weird experience of being out at dinner or in karaoke bars with these people. Two things struck me. One was the usual notion of the banality of evil, and the other was that I had access to material that almost nobody else had, watching these people and hearing about their internal operations. And I realized there was a great book in those two ideas."

The book has some surprises at the end that make me want to read the next two books in the series, The Interior and Dragon Bones, to learn more (from See’s extensive research) about China during this era, and what happens to David and Hulan. ( )

1st in a series of books featuring US Attorney David Stark and Ministry of Public Security inspector Liu Hulan; this would have been a pretty decent book if she could have not made it a semi-romance. Like, I'm not sure exactly how the two characters getting romantically involved again and reminiscing over their past helps to solve the crime, but whatever. I skimmed/skipped the romance angle because I just didn't care. Other than that, Flower Net is pretty good; I did see the end coming from a ways out because it was too obvious.

Basically in a nutshell the story is this:
Set in both the PRC and in the US at the end of the reign of Deng Xiaoping, a little girl is ice skating and discovers a body in the ice. It turns out to be Billy Watson, the son of the American ambassador to China. The case is assigned to Liu Hulian. Back in the US about the same time, a ship adrift off the coast of California is pushed into American waters by a storm, and when officials go to investigate (including US Attorney David Stark), they discover that the ship is filled with hundreds of illegal Chinese immigrants. As David goes down into the hold, he realizes that there are people trying to hide something; he goes back later to investigate and discovers a body floating in a tank of drinking water. It turns out to be the son of one of the most wealthy men in China, (the son being known as a "red prince" -- meaning that he's standing in line for major wealth & power in the government). David, who is investigating the activities of a triad operating out of Los Angeles, becomes involved with the case, and after the body is positively identified, he finds himself sent to China because the two murders seemed to be linked. There he is paired with Liu Hulan, and as they investigate the murders, it becomes quickly obvious that someone doesn't want them to solve the crimes.

As I said, it was pretty good but could have been better; I enjoyed it for a couple of hours. ( )

I had no idea that Lisa See wrote mysteries before she wrote Snow Flower and Secret Fan! This was an engaging story, mainly because the characters of the troubled relationship between the Chinese detective and the American ADA. Their complicated past kept me turning the pages. Also, the detective's assistant provided some nice comic relief. A great look into Chinese society in the 1990s and the difficulties for smart, capable women in a patriarchal, heavily controlled society. To be honest, I can't remember the crime but I would go back and read this book again. ( )

This is my second book by Lisa See, the first being Peony In Love which I very much enjoyed.

In this story the main characters, a Chinese female investigator with a mysterious past and an American male attorney, are brought together by their countries to solve two murders that have political ramifications in both nations. The most interesting thing about the mystery is the setting. See is very adept at relaying the customs of the legal system in China as well as deciphering the folklore and language. The pacing of the story picks up about two-thirds of the way through as the main characters connect the dots more rapidly. The romantic relationship between the investigator and the attorney is secondary to the plot but functions to give insight into the mind of the attorney who otherwise might seem less interesting and is ultimately the device that forces the investigator to reveal her past.

I liked the characters, especially the Chinese investigator, and enjoyed the mystery. I will try the next novel in the series to see where the author takes the characters. I rated this book 3.5 stars because I did not find it to be a thriller. The suspense is just not really there. The crime scenes are gruesome but not presented in a very exciting manner. See's descriptions are very factual. The only real excitement comes at the end when the characters are on the run. Even then, you are told there is danger everywhere but they don't seem to experience any of it until the very last scene. Still a good read. ( )