The Daughter of Fu-Manchu (Dr Fu-Manchu #4) 3Stars

 

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Title: The Daughter of Fu-Manchu
Series: Dr Fu-Manchu #4
Author: Sax Rohmer
Rating: 3 of 5 Stars
Genre: Pulp Mystery
Pages: 190
Words: 61K
Publish: 1931

Some times I read a series and it stays at 3stars and I end up getting dissatisfied and wish it would get better. I usually stop those series even though they have been getting 3stars consistently. However, there are other times where 3stars is just right and continues to be just right as the series progresses along and I enjoy the 3star’ness of said series.

Dr Fu-Manchu has fallen into the latter category, thankfully.

Dennis Nayland Smith, the foil to Fu-Manchu, and in this novel, Fu-Manchu’s daughter Fah Lo Suee, continues to be a bumbling idiot. I can’t wrap my head around the fact that England produced Sherlock Holmes as a character and yet also produced Smith. It is just pure happenstance and luck that allows Smith to counter Fu-Manchu at critical points, and in this story, it is Fu-Manchu working with Smith in a very limited fashion against Fah Lo. None of the British characters represent very well and come off as bumbling idiots time and again. It allows the story to proceed and makes the danger that much greater, but come on Rohmer, if you have to dumb down your protagonists to make your antagonists seem more deadly, you’re doing it wrong.

The Yellow Threat is only referenced once here. That was nice not having that continually shoved down my throat. The focus was also more on the Russian and Asian part of the world, as Fah Lo had a russian mother and thus wanted to start her own empire by taking over Russia, etc.

The mystery is why this gets 3stars AND why I plan on continuing to read the series, right? Well, it is just pure fun. It is that simple. If it ever stops being fun, then all the issues I have will doom this series to the infernal pit of forgotten history, but until then, I’m enjoying the ride.

★★★☆☆

From the Publisher

Here is another astonishing adventure of Sir Denis Nayland Smith of Scotland Yard--in which he matches wits with the she-devil daughter of his old antagonist, the infamous Dr. Fu Manchu. Now the signal has gone out from the Tomb of the Black Ape, and chiefs of the murderous cults of the East will meet at a hidden oasis to carry out the evil scheme of Fah Lo Suee. And Smith will discover an incredible ally--Fu Manchu himself.

• The Mystery of Dr Fu-Manchu

• The Return of Dr Fu-Manchu

• The Hand of Dr Fu-Manchu