元和十年(815年)六月初三,长安街头,天光未亮,大唐宰相武元衡正走在上朝路上,随身卫队的灯笼突然被箭射灭,数十名杀手从黑暗中涌出,带头者手起刀落,砍断武元衡脖子,拎走头颅。次日,女神探裴玄静收到了武元衡死前一晚临摹的半部《兰亭序》,和一首神秘的五言诗。原来,武元衡对自己的死早有预感,留下一道连环谜题,解谜者必须步步踏对,倘若棋错一着,真相就将永远湮灭。裴玄静接受使命,开始了机关密布、阻力深重的解密之旅。此后,名动天下的女刺客聂隐娘、被后世尊为“八仙”之一的韩愈之侄韩湘子、“鬼才诗人”李贺等纷纷牵扯入局;藩镇势力奇计连连;朝廷权臣各怀心机;甚至皇室深宫中也是人影闪动,鬼胎暗结,试图遥控局势。但真相终于越来越近,终极答案指向的竟是一个最不可能而且至高无上的人……On June 3, 815 A. D., the tenth year of Emperor Xianzong of Tang's reign, in the street of Chang'an, Prime Minister Wu Yuanheng of Tang Dynasty is on the way of going to court before dawn. Lanterns of his armed escort are suddenly extinguished by arrows. Dozens of killers rush out of darkness and their leader cuts Wu's head off, taking it away. On the next day, the female detective Pei Xuanjing receives half of Orchid Pavilion copied by Wu Yuanheng on his last night and a mysterious five characters poetry. In fact, Wu Yuanheng had presentiment of his death, leaving a series of riddles. The puzzle-solver has to solve it step by step or the truth will be covered forever. Pei Xuanjing accepts the mission and starts her journey of finding truth which is full of tricks and obstruction. Since then, the well-known female assassin Nie Yinniang, one of Eight Immortals named Han Xiangzi who is the nephew of Hanyu, the genius poet Li He all involve in the case; various events aroused by military governor, schemes of powerful officials in court and mysterious people in the palace who try to control the event all get onto the stage. However, the truth is closer and the final answer direct to the most impossible one who is supreme...
It took a while to get into the book's main story because right off the bat, there's historical and background explanations (that was too dry and not so interesting). However, once the main story gets rolling it is still very slow. Not that there's anything wrong with a slow-paced novel. Actually for this poetic mystery, it actually works. The characters and the mystery is good - lots of complexity and not predictable. The weakness of this book, I think is due to translation. It doesn't do justice to the Chinese poems that is meant to be an integral part of the mystery and plot. Still looking forward to reading who's behind it all and if our heroine can achieve her goals.
This entire review has been hidden because of spoilers.