The Chinatown scene of Edgar Lau’s murder is knee-deep in evidence: a .45 clip that indicates the victim owned a gun; a glove in a nearby tree with traces of gunfire residue; a heroin stash valued at $3.5 million; a balloon-wrapped key in Lau’s stomach to “Locker 43.” But Detective Sgt. Barry Gilbert’s commander in the Metro Toronto Police Force isn’t interested in the evidence. Neither are his counterparts in the Royal Canadian Mounted Police or the US Drug Enforcement Agency. They’d like to pin the crime on millionaire developer Foster Sung, long suspected of high crimes and misdemeanors, and they’re not going to let complications that point to other suspects get in their way. So Barry and his partner Joe Lombardo—whose idea of helping Gilbert’s daughter get over her departed lover is to date her himself—have to fight to keep their eye on (1) Pearl Wu, the fleeing ex-model Lau had served time for scarring; (2) her husband Bing Wu, untouchable member of a Hong Kong Triad; (3) her personal assistant, enforcer Peter Hope; (4) Rosalyn Surrey, the city councilor whose suggestive photos were also found on the scene; (5) her husband Garth Surrey, who bragged to a friend that he’d killed his wife’s lover; and (6) rising Toronto triad star Tony Mok, already suspected of shooting Lau once before. Not even a helter-skelter trip to Hong Kong will reveal the final secrets of Edgar Lau’s memorably dysfunctional family.
Mackay (Cold Comfort, 1998, etc.) provides a banquet of betrayal, vengeance, and felony for readers hardy enough to stay the rewarding distance.