A story to eat with a Mandarin

I have never read any books by this author, but will look out for them now.
Quite an interesting book, and one that can stand alone - I did not feel lost because I had not read any of the preceeding books, as you can with some other books that are part of a series.
A good read for someone just getting into chapter books - the writing is uncomplicated and easy to read through.
170 pages - I read it in an afternoon.