Short Synopsis
In San Francisco's Chinatown, private investigator Miranda Corbie stumbles upon the fatally shot body of Eddie Takahashi. The Chamber of Commerce wants it covered up, and the cops acquiesce. All Miranda wants is justice—whatever it costs.

Full Synopsis
February, 1940. In San Francisco's Chinatown, fireworks explode as the city celebrates Chinese New Year with a Rice Bowl Party, a three-day-and-night carnival designed to raise money and support for China war relief. Miranda Corbie is a thirty-three-year-old private investigator who stumbles upon the fatally shot body of Eddie Takahashi. The Chamber of Commerce wants it covered up. The cops acquiesce. All Miranda wants is justice—whatever it costs. From Chinatown tenements, to a tattered tailor's shop in Little Osaka, to a high-class bordello draped in Southern Gothic, she shakes down the city—her city—seeking the truth.

"Stanley's dialogue bristles with attitude, the atmosphere is thick as the bay fog, and her protagonist is a great new dame in crime fiction. A smart, stunning thriller." ---Linda Fairstein, New York Times bestselling author

"Stanley has vividly re-created the atmosphere of the era.... Her hard-boiled, strong female sleuth...does the job with all the panache of Sam Spade." ---Booklist Starred Review

"Miranda Corbie has the potential to be a great series character. Think Barbara Stanwick meets Myrna Loy, then toss in a hard-boiled crime story worthy of Raymond Chandler." ---Library Journal Starred Review

"City of Dragons, with its brittle patter and its broken heart of gold, is a joy." ---San Francisco Chronicle

"Big and ambitious, both reverent and original. Author Kelli Stanley has her eye on greatness." ---George Pelecanos, New York Times bestselling author

"Beautifully imagined and beautifully written---this book does everything great fiction is supposed to." ---Lee Child, New York Times bestselling author

"Stanley's stunning first in a new series introduces a gutsy, independent heroine who isn't always likable." ---Publishers Weekly Starred Review

"Come...rush headlong into 1940's San Francisco. You'll be smoking two packs of Chesterfields and drinking Old Taylor straight from the bottle by the time you're done." ---Louise Ure, Shamus Award-winning author of The Fault Tree

Booklist Review

Library Journal Review

Publishers Weekly Review