William C. Gordon. Duelo en Chinatown (2006) 292 pp. In Spanish; translated by Tamara Gil Somoza.
In San Francisco in 1960, Samuel Hamilton, ad salesman and aspiring newspaper reporter, investigates the suspicious death of Reginald Rockwood III, who has been run over by a bus. Hamilton knows Rockwood, who is supposedly a millionaire, from the bar that they both frequent. The investigation takes Hamilton to Chinatown, where he encounters the mysterious and powerful Mr. Song, a Chinese Albino, whose herb store holds the key to Rockwood’s death. Gordon’s first novel has taken an unusual path to publication. Written in English under the title “The Chinese Jars,” it was translated into Spanish and published first in Spain.