Product Description

Shanghai in 1990. An ancient city in a country that despite the massacre of Tiananmen Square is still in the tight grip of communist control. Chief Inspector Chen, a poet with a sound instinct for self-preservation, knows the city like few others.

When the body of a prominent Communist Party member is found, Chen is told to keep the party authorities informed about every lead. Also, he must keep the young woman’s murder out of the papers at all costs. When his investigation leads him to the decadent offspring of high-ranking officials, he finds himself instantly removed from the case and reassigned to another area.

Chen has a choice: bend to the party’s wishes and sacrifice his morals, or continue his investigation and risk dismissal from his job and from the party. Or worse . . .

Product Details

• Amazon Sales Rank: #16530 in Books
• Published on: 2006-07-13
• Original language: English
• Binding: Paperback
• 480 pages

Chicago Tribune
‘Blends history, plenty of poetry and a compelling mystery'

Review
‘Stupendous . . . It does what detective fiction can do best: it captures the details, the grit of everyday life . . . A matchless pearl.’ (Fresh Air, National Public Radio, USA )

‘Blends history, plenty of poetry and a compelling mystery: the murder of Guan Hongying, a former national role-model worker, a beautiful young woman who slipped from patriotic fame into loneliness and depravity . . . We get to see, smell, taste and hear an amazingly evocative portrait of a country.’ (Chicago Tribune )

‘Chen is an irresistible protagonist, likable and determined to make the honourable choices, no matter how dangerous. Qiu’s portrait of China in transition, a potential eye-opener for many of his Western readers, is an equally compelling attraction.’ (Kirkus Reviews )

‘Superb . . . brilliant’ (Newsday )

‘Marvellously assured . . . engrossing, immensely readable’ (Wall Street Journal )

‘Riveting and convincing’ (Far Eastern Economic Review )

Wall Street Journal
‘Marvellously assured . . . engrossing, immensely readable’

Customer Reviews

Brilliant Debut
The first book in the Inspector Chen series (followed by A Loyal Character Dancer) is a spellbinding meld detective procedural and portrait of China in transition following the Tiananmen Square massacre. Set in Shanghai in the Spring of 1990, the story starts with the discovery of the body of a "national model worker." The case falls into the hands newly promoted Det. Inspector Chen Cao and his subordinate Detective Yu, who work under the watchful eyes of old Commissar Zhang and Party Secretary Li.

Communist China makes for an instantly compelling and intriguing setting, as the police must wend their way through labyrinthine political considerations in a country where one's standing in the Party is paramount but change is clearly underway. The mystery and investigation proceed in a leisurely fashion, and the true challenge is not identifying the murderer, but being able to gather the necessary evidence and piecing together a motive.

Inspector Chen and Detective Yu are instantly likable and deeply-drawn characters, as is their circle of friends and family. Woven into the story are the their personal lives, which the author uses to paint a vivid picture of China just a decade ago. Most memorable are the cramped housing conditions, the continued reverence for elders, and the many many mouthwatering descriptions of food. Hardest to imagine for Western readers will be the influence of Party standing and its intrusion into personal relationships, especially when it comes to love.

This is a long, but never boring story that deserves wide readership amongst mystery readers as well as those with an interest in China. A well-deserved winner of the Edgar for best first novel.

Death of a red Heroine - a review
Thoroughly enjoyed this contemporary murder mystery set in China which centres around the death of a prominent communist party member.The plot itself is not like your typical Agatha Christie murder mystery which has twists and turns on every page,this story takes it's time, fleshes out the characters and makes them interesting before developing the plot.
The whole thing has an authentic chinese flavour to it and the author takes care to enrich the story with many small and interesting details that make western life so different from life in the Orient.
What loses the book it's valuable fifth star is that the ending is a slight let down although i don't think the author meant it to be an out and out surprise but more of a logical conclusion to end the proceedings with.
All in all a highly enjoyable read and will look out for this author's books in the future.

A cracking read
I enjoyed this enormously. Its really a novel about life in transitional China, but full of great insight in to the human condition in general. A very satisfying read with a wonderfully subtle characterisation of the main protagonist.

Thoroughly recommended