A murder at the Blue Dragon, a small apartment building in San Francisco’s Chinatown, prompts the absentee owner to hire Chinese American Peter Strand to calm the anxious tenants. But Strand isn’t exactly what he appears to be. Neither are the tenants, who on the surface seem to be regular people going about their lives. Strand, a forensic accountant by trade, doesn’t intend to investigate the murder, but he soon realizes that this isn’t a gang-related killing, as the police believe. The murder was committed by one of the tenants. Finding out which one exposes the secrets of the Blue Dragon and brings Strand face-to-face with a few ghosts of his own.

Ronald Tierney’s The Stone Veil introduced semi-retired private investigator “Deets” Shanahan. The book was nominated for the Private Eye Writers of America’s Shamus Award for Best First Novel. The most recent, Killing Frost, is the eleventh in a series Booklist said was “packed with new angles and delights.” Before writing mysteries, Tierney was founding editor of NUVO, an Indianapolis alternative newspaper, and the editor of several other periodicals. Ronald lives in San Francisco, where he continues to write. For more information, visit www.ronaldtierney.com.

Ronald Tierney's profile page

"An entertaining, accessible mystery."

School Library Journal

"What an incredible beginning to a new mystery series by Ronald Tierney...This cover art also provides a capsule view of the multi-dimensions of the novella and becomes more meaningful as the reader progresses through each chapter...[This was] my first introduction to “Rapid Reads” and I am enthralled not only by the individual title selection experience but also for the incredible discovery of this reading series...Series of this depth will also become a bridge to more challenging novels as readers progress in the development of their reading skills and grow in the discovery of the joy of reading."

LibraryThing Early Reviewer