That one country, albeit a very big one, should contain two such different cities as Peking (set in the remote past of the emperors) and Shanghai (cosmopolitan and ahead of its time) at the same time seems fascinating in itself. And here, they are both featured in one book. Due to the financial losses and illness of her father, Arielle becomes a courtesan as the only support of her family. During training, Arielle witnesses a client's frightening attack on a colleague. Under the instruction of Wu-a beautiful, mysterious shaman from Tibet-Arielle masters the art of self-defense and continues her training as a shaman: a person regarded as having access to good and evil spirits. In this role, Arielle's professional name is Tara, which has Buddhist significance, meaning "she who saves through virtuous and enlightened action." The 1937 murder of a young English girl in Peking propels Tara into a daring and dangerous mission to bring the vicious American murderer from Peking to justice under his own country's law in the International Settlement of Shanghai.