Publisher's Weekly
Revolving around the disappearance of a Chinese wizard in 1870s San Franciscop. 22 , Landis's ( Rose ) romance tries to be exotic but comes off as contrived. Jade Douglas returns to San Francisco under unhappy circumstances: her father has been found murdered in the city's Little China section. Jade is determined to recover the Chinese art that her grandfather collected and that her wastrel father used as collateral for his debts. Enter Jade's friend, Babs Barrett, a meddling and stupid woman. To Babs, the solution is obvious: all Jade has to do is meet and marry wealthy J. T. Harrington and have him redeem the collection. The conniving Babs abandons her friend at J.T.'s door. Also short a few gray cells, J.T. decides to teach Jade a lesson, as he puts it, by detaining her at his house all night. Alas, through Babs's further plotting, word of this escapade leaks out, and Jade is ruined. J.T. does the honorable thing but turns surly after concluding that he was trapped. Meanwhile, a mysterious party expresses interest in the Chinese collection--primarily by trying to murder Jade.