What do you think?
Rate this book
Lara McClintoch Archaeological Mystery #11
The Chinese Alchemist
Antiques dealer Lara McClintoch is targeted by ruthless criminals while tying to recover an eighth-century Tang Dynasty silver box-with an alchemical formula for the elixir of immortality etched on the inside of the lid. The rare item holds the key not only to the mysterious death of a museum curator, but to Lara's own survival.
272 pages, Hardcover
First published April 3, 2007
6 people are currently reading
1119 people want to read
About the author
Lyn Hamilton
26 books133 followersLyn Elizabeth Hamilton was a Canadian author of archaeological mystery novels.
She worked in communications in the public service and private companies before publishing her first novel at the age of 50. She had been director of Cultural Programs Branch for the province of Ontario and director of public affairs for the Canadian Opera Company. Later, Hamilton taught mystery writing for the School for Continuing Studies of the University of Toronto and served as writer-in-residence for libraries in North York and Kitchener.
She worked in communications in the public service and private companies before publishing her first novel at the age of 50. She had been director of Cultural Programs Branch for the province of Ontario and director of public affairs for the Canadian Opera Company. Later, Hamilton taught mystery writing for the School for Continuing Studies of the University of Toronto and served as writer-in-residence for libraries in North York and Kitchener.
Ratings & Reviews
Friends & Following
Create a free account to discover what your friends think of this book!
Community Reviews
Displaying 1 - 30 of 34 reviews
March 3, 2022
Oh my gosh - I totally loved this book, the last one that the author published. Description of Chinese culture was fascinating, as was the mystery itself. Knowing that this was the last book the author published before dying of cancer 2 years later, the last sentence of the book made me cry.
Overall, I loved this series. It seems like the writing got better as the series progressed which is sometimes not the case - characters can get stale and the writer falls into a "tried and true" repetitious mode. That didn't happen here. An entertaining series from beginning to end.
Overall, I loved this series. It seems like the writing got better as the series progressed which is sometimes not the case - characters can get stale and the writer falls into a "tried and true" repetitious mode. That didn't happen here. An entertaining series from beginning to end.
February 9, 2025
The Chinese Alchemist by Canadian author Lyn Hamilton is the 11th and final book in her Lara McClintoch, Archaeological mystery series. Luckily for me, I haven't been reading in order so I still have five books in this entertaining and always convoluted mystery series to read.
For those who haven't yet tried this series, Lara is an antiques dealer with a shop in downtown Toronto, Canada, in partnership with her ex-husband. She is in an ongoing relationship with her next door neighbour, an RCMP Sgt. As this story starts, she's received threats from a local Chinese gang, mainly because her beau, Rob, has been involved in investigating the gang. She and Rob are moved into a hotel room to keep them from the gang.
Lara is going to get an opportunity to forget the threat for awhile as an old acquaintance, Dory, to go to New York to bid on a silver box from the T'ang Dynasty. While there, the box is mysteriously removed from the auction. While there she meets other interested bidders who will play important roles as the story moves from New York to China. Dory passes away and her husband asks Lara to go to Beijing as the box is now being auctioned there.
The mysteries continue as during the auction, the box is stolen from the auction house. Now the mystery really gets going. But as I mentioned earlier, it's very convoluted as the best mysteries are so I won't into too much detail. Lara tries to find who stole the box, tries to ascertain who might be involved in the theft. She travels through Beijing and also within China, following another of the bidders, a certain Burton Haldimand, as she suspects he's also trying to find the box.
Interspersed with this mystery is the story of a young man living in the T'ang Dynasty, who is sold to become a eunuch in the emperor's palace and becomes involved with one of the emperor's wives, the subject of the box(es). It's an interesting story of life that explains the boxes. The mystery involves possible gangs, stolen antiquities and lots more. Lara, as always, finds herself in the middle of a complex story with her life at risk. The stories are always entertaining and also provide a historical peak at the time of the particular antiquities. Lyn Hamilton unfortunately died much to early and was only able to complete 11 books in this series. Lucky for me that I have the remaining five on my book shelf to enjoy. (3.0 stars)
For those who haven't yet tried this series, Lara is an antiques dealer with a shop in downtown Toronto, Canada, in partnership with her ex-husband. She is in an ongoing relationship with her next door neighbour, an RCMP Sgt. As this story starts, she's received threats from a local Chinese gang, mainly because her beau, Rob, has been involved in investigating the gang. She and Rob are moved into a hotel room to keep them from the gang.
Lara is going to get an opportunity to forget the threat for awhile as an old acquaintance, Dory, to go to New York to bid on a silver box from the T'ang Dynasty. While there, the box is mysteriously removed from the auction. While there she meets other interested bidders who will play important roles as the story moves from New York to China. Dory passes away and her husband asks Lara to go to Beijing as the box is now being auctioned there.
The mysteries continue as during the auction, the box is stolen from the auction house. Now the mystery really gets going. But as I mentioned earlier, it's very convoluted as the best mysteries are so I won't into too much detail. Lara tries to find who stole the box, tries to ascertain who might be involved in the theft. She travels through Beijing and also within China, following another of the bidders, a certain Burton Haldimand, as she suspects he's also trying to find the box.
Interspersed with this mystery is the story of a young man living in the T'ang Dynasty, who is sold to become a eunuch in the emperor's palace and becomes involved with one of the emperor's wives, the subject of the box(es). It's an interesting story of life that explains the boxes. The mystery involves possible gangs, stolen antiquities and lots more. Lara, as always, finds herself in the middle of a complex story with her life at risk. The stories are always entertaining and also provide a historical peak at the time of the particular antiquities. Lyn Hamilton unfortunately died much to early and was only able to complete 11 books in this series. Lucky for me that I have the remaining five on my book shelf to enjoy. (3.0 stars)
October 5, 2011
I had a lot of fun reading THE CHINESE ALCHEMIST as I have with most of the other books in the series. In this one, Lara travels to China to try to get hold of a mysterious silver box (1 in a set of 3) to return to the Chinese government for her deceased friend Dorothy who fled with her mother at the time the communists took over China in the 1940's. Dorothy, however, had many secrets and a hidden agenda and poor Lara almost dies because of it. As dead bodies turn up and Lara desperately seeks the truth, we learn a lot about the history of the country, its culture, and its art. One of my favorite parts of the book is the way the chapters begin with the bittersweet story of the original owner of the silver boxes, a concubine from the T'ang Dynasty named Lingfei who was sold by her father as a concubine written by her younger brother who was also sold to the emperor as a eunuch (ouch!) . They were reunited in the palace though they never acknowledged openly their relationship and in the end, it was he who honored her with a tomb after she was murdered and missed her to his dying day. This was so heartbreaking to me. I recommend this series.
August 27, 2007
A good book overall, but the plot became too confusing to follow, and rambled near the end. It trook almost ten pages at the end of the book to unravel the whole story, by which point I had almost lost interest. However, i don't read mysteries a lot, so this could explain my impatience.
October 14, 2020
I received this book in a Goodreads giveaway. This was my introduction to Lyn Hamilton and her Lara McClintoch Archeological Mysteries. This was a fast fun read, presuming Lyn Hamilton researched her facts, it gave some interesting information without overwhelming the story or making it boring.
Lara McClintoch, a Toronto antiques dealer, is doing a paid favor for a friend, having no idea the trouble she's walking into. The favor includes a trip to China, where Lara hasn't been for over 20 years and she's hampered by her inability to speak the language.
The more time she spends, the more dangerous it is and murder is part of the program.
The prologue and the chapters include the life of Wu Yuan and his interactions with Lingfei. concubine and alchemist for the emperor.
Lara McClintoch, a Toronto antiques dealer, is doing a paid favor for a friend, having no idea the trouble she's walking into. The favor includes a trip to China, where Lara hasn't been for over 20 years and she's hampered by her inability to speak the language.
The more time she spends, the more dangerous it is and murder is part of the program.
The prologue and the chapters include the life of Wu Yuan and his interactions with Lingfei. concubine and alchemist for the emperor.
This entire review has been hidden because of spoilers.
February 1, 2018
this is the most interesting, spellbinding book I have had the pleasure of reading in a long time. I received this copy for free from goodreads. I highly recommend it. the story line was suspenseful and I couldn't put it down.
December 19, 2020
actually quite a decent story, I wasn't expecting a lot but was pleased. But I have to say the beginning of the chapters taking place years ago in china were a bit confusing until I figured it out a few chapters in perhaps a little line making note of "the old days" would have been helpful.
November 10, 2023
5 stars all 11 books, one of the few series I have read where the plots didn't stale and the characters didn't get more annoying as the series went on. I have added 11 new places to visit based on the research and thought Hamilton put into her work. A grand ending to a grand series.
August 6, 2024
You would think, by now, that Lara would be a little less trusting of people who make special requests and seem to not be telling her everything. As usual, this client's secrets nearly got Lara killed, and it got her mixed up with some very dangerous people.
She is asked to purchase one of a set of three Chinese nesting boxes, but before she can do so it's stolen right in front of her. When the box shows up in China, her deceased friend's husband asks her to try once again, even though the antiquities laws will not allow the box to leave China, no matter who purchases it. Apparently, the goal is to reunite the set and gift it to the Chinese government to keep it out of the hands of private collectors who would squirrel it away from public eyes.
Needless to say, there's a lot more going on than Lara initially realizes, but she's smart, if a little foolish, and starts to put the pieces together.
The backstory about the boxes and their original owner is bittersweet, and will stay with you for a long time.
She is asked to purchase one of a set of three Chinese nesting boxes, but before she can do so it's stolen right in front of her. When the box shows up in China, her deceased friend's husband asks her to try once again, even though the antiquities laws will not allow the box to leave China, no matter who purchases it. Apparently, the goal is to reunite the set and gift it to the Chinese government to keep it out of the hands of private collectors who would squirrel it away from public eyes.
Needless to say, there's a lot more going on than Lara initially realizes, but she's smart, if a little foolish, and starts to put the pieces together.
The backstory about the boxes and their original owner is bittersweet, and will stay with you for a long time.
February 24, 2009
This book had all the elements that should have added up to a fun read: experienced mystery author; antique dealer as protagonist; armchair travel to China and intrigue in the auction world. What on earth happened?
My biggest issue with the book was that the antique dealer/sleuth's investigations seemed totally out of line. I never mind Miss Marple poking her nose in her neighbors' business, but somehow Lara McClintoch didn't ring true to me.
And, as other reviewers have noted, there are big patches of "learning material" stuffed in the book in a rather awkward manner. I like to learn about a culture, or an object, seamlessly and that was not the case here.
I may give this series one more try because the concept is interesting to me (NYT calls them archaeological mysteries) but this book was not a promising start for me.
My biggest issue with the book was that the antique dealer/sleuth's investigations seemed totally out of line. I never mind Miss Marple poking her nose in her neighbors' business, but somehow Lara McClintoch didn't ring true to me.
And, as other reviewers have noted, there are big patches of "learning material" stuffed in the book in a rather awkward manner. I like to learn about a culture, or an object, seamlessly and that was not the case here.
I may give this series one more try because the concept is interesting to me (NYT calls them archaeological mysteries) but this book was not a promising start for me.
March 13, 2011
The Chinese Alchemist: An Archaeological Mystery is the last in the series featuring antiques dealer Lara McClintoch. Lara is asked by her friend and former curator of Asian Art at the local museum, Dorothy Matthews, to purchase a silver box from the eighth century T'ang dynasty at a New York auction. Etched with part of an alchemical formula for immortality, the extremely rare box is suddenly withdrawn by the seller. The same box is put up for sale in Beijing a few months later and Lara is off to Beijing. There's robbery, murder and wonderful descriptions of the Forbidden Palace, the hutongs and markets.
Lara McClintich died on September 10, 2009 from cancer at the age of 65. I will miss her books.
Lara McClintich died on September 10, 2009 from cancer at the age of 65. I will miss her books.
November 10, 2011
Armchair travel to China as a Canadian tourist...
The protagonist is a Canadian antique dealer who goes on an antique Chinese box hunt to New York and then to China. I hoped the 'archeological mystery' should would be more mouth-watering, but it had a very touristy image of China (with not fully fitting details where it tried to educate about history etc). The protagonist was a bit flat in character, but maybe she develops later in the series to a more interesting and less of a Nancy Drew/Miss Marple type predictable one to have more character and also more bad sides.
There were a few interesting characters though, I enjoyed the annoying and improbable Burton Haldimand.
The protagonist is a Canadian antique dealer who goes on an antique Chinese box hunt to New York and then to China. I hoped the 'archeological mystery' should would be more mouth-watering, but it had a very touristy image of China (with not fully fitting details where it tried to educate about history etc). The protagonist was a bit flat in character, but maybe she develops later in the series to a more interesting and less of a Nancy Drew/Miss Marple type predictable one to have more character and also more bad sides.
There were a few interesting characters though, I enjoyed the annoying and improbable Burton Haldimand.
April 30, 2013
Lara McClintoch, antiques dealer, has been asked to purchase an 8th century T’ang dynasty silver box for a client. She pursues the box to New York, and then Beijing where it is brazenly stolen. Lara and a museum employee are both interested in recovering the box for their own reasons. In the meantime, some people involved in the theft are killed and Lara becomes a target for the ruthless criminals who are also trying to recover the box. The story of the characters during the T’ang dynasty who were involved in the science of alchemy and the role the silver box played is part of the book. I enjoy the archaeological content Hamilton includes in all of her murder mysteries.
March 12, 2014
I found out after starting the book that it was the 11th of the series. I may have missed some subtleties or figured out the mystery sooner having read the other books but I never felt like I was missing something. it was an excellent story around an artifact and how it effected peoples lives in the past and present. I enjoyed the pace of the book even though I found that the main actor had to make some big leaps in logic to get to the final conclusion.
Overall I found the book an enjoyable read.
Overall I found the book an enjoyable read.
January 7, 2010
I kept wondering as I read if this book is set in the same China that I've been to. I speak Chinese and know something of the culture and the book didn't ring true to me. The plot isn't that great either. I found the protagonist the most annoying part of the book. I just didn't like her. Perhaps she wasn't described enough, or maybe I just didn't care if she or her friends got the mystery solved or not.
December 8, 2013
A fast, fun read, this story, like The Orkney Scrolls-another of Hamilton's archaeological mysteries-weaves an ancient tale through the plot line of a modern murder mystery, and whirls the protagonist, Lara McClintoch,a Toronto antiques dealer turned detective, off-in this case,to China. Lara's sleuthing in and around Beijing invites the reader to not only wonder 'whodunit,' but also to witness through Lara's eyes, modern China and to reflect on its history. An interesting read!
May 6, 2008
This is a very good author of light mystery novels. Okay, people die, so they're not TOO light, but they are easy to read & have an attractive heroine, who is Canadian! And globe-hops to interesting places which are well described.
October 5, 2008
I love reading mysteries about antique dealers. I love learning about the history. However, a writer can go a little overboard with too much detail sometimes and I think Hamilton did that here. Plus, her main character is sometimes a little hard to take.
July 6, 2014
Great book. This contained enough historical information to keep reading a challenge. I always had my dictionary and iPad on hand to look things up. I just ordered three more of Lyn Hamiltons books. It was that good.
July 17, 2007
Great series, good suspense and I usually don't figure it out till the end.
January 29, 2008
It wasn't good until the last 40 pages. First 3/4 of book were ho-hum.
July 1, 2008
The last nail in the coffin for this series. I couldn't even finish it.
November 13, 2008
I have read several of hr mysteries and this was the most interesting.
January 19, 2009
Murder mystery set in China with Canadian sleuth. OK, nothing great
February 17, 2009
I do enjoy this series.
May 12, 2009
Archeological mystery of 3 nesting bowls with alchemist formulas. Chinese treasures smuggling ring. Interesting after reading The Alchemist.
January 3, 2011
Delightful mysteries with the ancient history and archaelogy tie-in.
I shall definitely read more of these.
I shall definitely read more of these.
June 13, 2010
Love it great series
September 3, 2010
It's a wild-goose-chase novel meets Orientalism. Much of the devices are gratuitous, the plot is weak and the book is not compelling.
March 31, 2011
Felt very formulaic, action not very engaging
Displaying 1 - 30 of 34 reviews