Midnight in Peking: How the Murder of a Young Englishwoman Haunted the… (2011)

French draws an interesting portrayal of Peking in the late 1930s and presents the sad details surrounding Pamela Werner's murder in a clear and accessible manner. I was especially interested by daily life in Peking, the way in which the police approached the investigation and the larger political issues that the inhabitants of the city faced with the Japanese approaching. I highly recommend this book for its informative take and for bringing the case of Pamela Werner to the fore. you could read my full review of the book over at my blog: http://www.rulethewaves.net/blog/?p=3848 ( )

I've never read any true crime book before, I don't think, although given my memory I could be forgetting. Anyway, I was willing to give it a shot. Although I do not think true crime will be my new genre of choice, I definitely do not walk away from Midnight in Peking with a bad opinion of the genre.

From what I understand, which is very little, true crime can go one of two ways: very historical and fact-driven or very fictional and sensational. This is based solely on the covers I've seen and perhaps reviews. The genre seems to straddle the boundary between history and fiction, which is part of why I've avoided it up to now, because I've not been sure precisely what it entails. Whether my assumptions were correct or not, I can say with assurance that Midnight in Peking is definitely a true crime history. French clearly did a lot of research and the book reads like anything I would have read for my history major in school.

Having looked at some reviews of the book prior to writing this one, I know that some people had trouble with the level of detail in the book. I both liked and didn't like that. I don't know much of anything about China during that time period, so learning about it was fascinating, but it didn't always seem to add into Pamela's story particularly. So, I guess, I just want to say that you'll likely enjoy this more if you go into it expecting it to be about the last days of old China, with Pamela's brutal murder serving as a lens through which to view the situation.

Pamela's story is certainly an interesting and, as a woman, completely terrifying one. To be a little bit morbid, I really hope that, should I ever be murdered for some reason, that the killer comes to justice. It may not matter to me, what with the being dead and all, but I feel like I would feel better. The things that people do to women are simply horrifying. Also, the fact that they really should have caught her killer, but that the cops didn't do their jobs...NOT COOL.

Whether French has the correct analysis and killer is unclear, even he openly admits that. His solution does make sense and he's done his research. I greatly appreciated that he pointed out in a section at the end, "The Writing of Midnight in Peking" which parts he wrote entirely on his own, which he got from other investigators, what research he did and how everything could still be different The fact that he's open with the limitations of his research makes me more trusting of his results.

History, mystery and true crimes will likely enjoy Midnight in Peking even more than I did. To that end, I am offering up my copy to one reader. Simply fill out the Rafflecopter below. There's no need to follow my blog, but that's always appreciated. Good luck!
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All the traditional elements of a great murder mystery are here: exotic locale in 1930s Peking, West vs East, a dead young woman who was a bit of a rebel, corrupt or ineffective police, cover-ups, an obsessive father, seamy underbelly of Peking populated by thugs, slimy rich guys, pimps and working girls. A story that could easily have been shifted overseas and written up as fiction by Ian Rankin. ARC from Penguin via Goodreads giveaway. ( )

Sent to me for review ( )

This non-fiction book reads more like a novel of suspense. It opens in 1937 Peking: the Japanese are about to take over the city and an upper echelon European ex-pats' daughter is brutally murdered. The Peking police and the English commissioner are both holding back on the investigation and eventually give it up. The girl's father is determined to find the killer, knowing it was probably the American dentist and his sadistic friends who are responsible. Tracking down the clues while a World War is beginning to brew is a formidable task. I thoroughly enjoyed following the final solution to the crime. ( )