"The Black Dove" by Steve Hockensmith

For those who like mysteries with an American wild west twist, "The Black Dove" may be just your read. The author incorporates some important historical insights about the Asian slave trade in the United States and the way young Chinese girls were sold by their families or tricked into coming to the U.S. and then made to work in Chinatown brothels or sold into marriage in San Francisco and other big cities.

The story takes place in San Francisco in the 1890s where cowpokes turned PIs, Otto and Gustav Amlingmeyer, team up with former Union Pacific PI, Diana Corvus, to figure out who killed Gee Woo Chan and where the brothel slave, Hok Gup (the Black Dove) has gone.

At times the plot feels like a Keystone Cops chase. At times it reminds me of a Chinese version of the movie "The Streets of New York." At times it feels like a melodrama. That is probably intentional, since the narrator, Otto Amlingmeyer is a budding dime novelist and gets good news about the publication of one of his stories toward the end of the book.

I look forward to reading more about the Amlingmeyer brothers and hope they team up again with the intrepid Diana.

Liz Nichols