A Wealthy Lady's Afternoon Tea Mystery Hour [Republican Era]

Preorder for Part Two | All-Female Detective Team | Each Has a Love Interest | The Gentlemen Are Just Accessories

#Closetfuls of perfectly tailored golden-thread velvet qipaos, and so many cream pancakes from the Dongshuiwei Road Grand Hotel that she's sick of them

Blurb: Song Fangsheng, the beloved daughter of a diplomat, is praised by her father's friends as "the most beautiful pearl of the Far East." To preserve her luxurious, extravagant high-society life, she follows her father's arrangement and marries Gu Junsheng, the police chief, a man she's never met. Her husband, whom she has no feelings for, is rarely home, so Fangsheng often invites people over for afternoon tea in their sprawling mansion.

Ye Qiurong is a bona fide gold digger. She fought tooth and nail, beating out countless actresses and socialites in Shanghai's elite circles, to marry into the Duan family, headed by the president of China's foremost chamber of commerce. Her husband, Duan Cheng'en, is thirty-two, thirteen years older than her, and pampers his young beauty without limit. She never has to do anything but sleep.

Shen Liman has just lost her husband. Her five-year-old son is left in the care of his grandmother, while she spends her days riding around Shanghai in a car, listening to "Evening Primrose" at various theaters, drinking Mecca coffee, and lingering among the music and dancing beneath the neon lights.

But Shanghai, even when bathed in sunlight from end to end, cannot illuminate the vengeful ghosts who died in the shadows.

One day, the three wealthy wives come together after finding a greeting letter written by someone who has been dead for ten years. The vivid red wax seal on the envelope, stamped with a Japanese rose, glimmers faintly silver.

"Since we have nothing better to do, why don't we open it and take a look?"

Reader's guide:

1. The three heroines have equal roles, though most of the story is told from Song Fangsheng's perspective. The heroines grow over time, and the cases go from easy to difficult, since none of them are professionals.

2. The husbands gradually get more page time, and each relationship has its own dynamic: a marriage that turns into love, a long-planned romance, and a variety of ways to train a dog.

2-1. The police chief is the strongest, the chamber president has the most tricks, and Liman has two (hey).

3. A series of detective cases, with the romance gradually taking up more space. The cases and romance are split fifty-fifty.

4. The blurb's concept has been screenshotted. Long live original works. 2024.12.05

5.

A genuine pearl from overseas vs. a stiff pair of golden handcuffs

A gorgeous gold digger vs. an older man who acts like a mother

A sexy widow in black stockings vs. a sweet young puppy from the Shen Bao / an undercover agent who's black on the outside and white on the inside

Preorder: The Rich Wives' Afternoon Tea Mystery Hour 2

Detective cases | All-female detective team | Each has a love interest, the husbands are just set dressing |

Song Fangsheng's detective agency finally opens. She takes any case, from catching cheaters to catching murderers, and makes a roaring success of being a qipao-clad detective. The only one to suffer is her husband, whom she married less than two years ago. He sees her for barely four hours a day and spends every day home alone.

Ye Qiurong becomes Mrs. Duan again. Now that she's pregnant with her first child, she walks all over her husband. Between investigating cases, she seriously prepares to take the entrance exams, determined to become Shanghai's first formidable woman to attend school while pregnant.

In the end, Shen Liman has to pay for her flirtatious ways. One man clings to her through his gang connections, while another sticks close by on assignments from the police station. Both demand a relationship, even showing up at her home, leaving her afraid to go back despite having a home to return to.

The three wealthy wives each show off their skills, captivating all of Shanghai.

Reader's guide:

1. The focus is on detective cases, with very little romance (it's all in the first installment). If you're unfamiliar with the tangled relationships of the three couples, read the first installment.

2. Song Fangsheng is a passionate, highly educated career woman; Ye Qiurong is a mischievous little drama queen with a photographic memory; Shen Liman? Oh, she's a player.

3. Expected to start in December at the end of the year. You can add it to your collection now.

Thesis: The desire for knowledge is the cornerstone of human progress.