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Shanghai, July 1917. <\/span><\/strong>A civil war rages outside the city. Refugees, criminals, and guns are pouring in. There\u2019s a murder a day.<\/span><\/strong><\/p>\n Kidnapped by a prostitution ring, a young sing-song girl called the Golden Lotus manages to send a cryptic plea for help to Inspector Harmon Fletcher of the Shanghai International Police. Fletcher delays looking for the girl because he\u2019s dealing with many murders. But when he finds her body washed onto the Soochow riverbank, he vows to bring her justice in what becomes his most di\ufb03cult and dangerous case.<\/p>\n Combining his Canadian prairie hunting experience with modern forensic technique, Fletcher scours Shanghai\u2019s dangerous jigsaw underworld of English, French, and Chinese zones. The conflicting laws and practices of the international enclave hinder the detective at every step, while a surprising romance develops with a confidant of the Golden Lotus. As the pressure mounts amid threats, retribution, and betrayal, the detective brings one killer to justice, but another escapes and Fletcher must sacrifice more than he expected before he\u2019s done.<\/p>\n <\/p>\n <\/p>\n Craig H. Bowlsby lives and writes in Vancouver, BC. He has a BFA in creative writing and film from the University of British Columbia and has also studied under William Deverell, the veteran crime writer, and Don S. Williams, former president of the Director\u2019s Guild of Canada.<\/p>\n Craig has won two Crime Writers of Canada awards, in 2023 for best short story and in 2024 for best unpublished novel. He also won the Historical Fiction Company\u2019s annual award for Best Mystery Novel (Christie Mystery) in 2024.<\/p>\n Several of Craig\u2019s short stories have been published in magazines such as Mystery Magazine, Mystery Tribune, Neo-opsis, Polar Borealis, MetaStellar, Aethlon, etc.<\/p>\n In 2025, Craig\u2019s historical mystery novella, Last Train to Medicine Hat<\/em>, was awarded an honorable mention at the annual Black Orchid Novella Awards in New York, by the Wolfe Pack and Alfred Hitchcock Mystery Magazine.<\/p>\n Craig\u2019s hockey history books, The Knights of Winter<\/em>, Empire of Ice<\/em>, and 1913, The Year They Invented the Future of Hockey<\/em>, helped him to win the 2014 Brian McFarlane Award for hockey history writing, presented by the Society for International Hockey Research. He has also written hockey articles for the Seattle Times, The Province (Vancouver), and the Vancouver Canucks program.<\/p>\n Much earlier, in another life, Craig won the Western Canadian Fencing Championships (in foil) five times.<\/p>\n He was also an Expo Ernie robot operator, at Expo 86.<\/p>\n <\/p>\n <\/p>\n \u201cA blend of cruel historical realism and spicy heroism.\u201d \u201cThe meticulous details and rich context are woven seamlessly throughout the narrative\u2026 a gripping and atmospheric piece of crime fiction.\u201d \u201c\u2026 a turn-of-the-century detective noir thriller that grabs you from the first chase scene\u2026 detective Harmon Fletcher promises to linger with readers alongside the likes of Sam Spade and Philip Marlowe.\u201d <\/p>\n <\/p>\n
\nAbout the Author<\/strong><\/span><\/h5>\n
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\n\u2014Lynda Williams, author of the Okal Rel<\/cite> sci-fi novels<\/em><\/p>\n
\n\u2014The Historical Fiction Company\u2019s Book Reviews<\/em><\/p>\n
\n\u2014Nina Munteanu, author of the Icaria Trilogy<\/cite><\/em><\/p>\n
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