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will love Sign up for LibraryThing to find out whether you'll like this book. Good Chinese atmosphere. (  ) gilly1944 | Jun 5, 2009 |  I love the Chinese atmosphere and the political backdrop. A very good crime story with good characters. ( ) gilly1944 | Jun 5, 2009 | Detective story set in Shanghai. The chief detective is a poet and along the way we learn much about the major changes transforming 21st century China. Better than average. (  ) Gary10 | Dec 10, 2008 | As always, the interesting thing is not so much the mystery itself, but instead the glimpse of life in Communist (but changing) China. And in the book, Xiaolong writes even more about the effects of the Cultural Revolution on academics. It’s a favorite theme of his. First they are in vogue, then they are sent to the countryside to rehabilitate themselves, then the Cultural Revolution is over and they are back in vogue again. (Full review at my blog) ( ) KingRat | Jun 16, 2008 | This is a wonderful mystery, one of a series about a Chinese police inspector, Inspector Chen, in Shanghai, China. These books can be read in any order, and still enjoyed. The storyline is intriguing, the characters are real, and life in modern China is vividly described. I especially like the Chinese poetry quoted. This story is worth reading, and rereading :) ( ) Springsun | Apr 6, 2008 |  no reviews | add a review
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| Book description |
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"Sublime . . . complex and riveting."-Maureen Corrigan, The Washington Post Book World
"A vivid picture of modern Chinese society . . . a work of real distinction."-The Wall Street Journal
"[A] terrific series. . . . [Qiu's] perspective on China gives the mystery genre a cultural twist and unusual direction that make his books unique and well worth reading."-The Rocky Mountain News
Inspector Chen Cao of the Shanghai Police Bureau is taking a vacation, in part because he is annoyed at his boss, Party Secretary Li, but also because he has been made an offer he can't refuse by Gu, a triad-connected businessman. For what seems to be a fortune-with no apparent strings attached- he is to translate a business proposal for the New World, a complex of shops and restaurants to be built in Central Shanghai, evoking nostalgia for the "glitter and glamour" of the 1930s.
It is up to Detective Yu, Chen's partner, to take charge of a new case. Yin, a novelist, has been murdered in her room. At first it seems that only a neighbor could have committed the crime, but when one confesses, Yu cannot believe that he is really the killer. As Yu looks further into Yin's life, ample motives begin to surface, even on the part of Internal Security. But it is only when Inspector Chen steps back into the investigation that the culprit is apprehended. And then Chen discovers how Gu has played him and how he, in turn, can play the new capitalist system.
Qiu Xiaolong was born in Shanghai and received an MA in English and American literature in China. He received a PhD in comparative literature from Washington University in St. Louis, where he now teaches. He is the author of Death of a Red Heroine, which has now been translated into seven languages, and A Loyal Character Dancer, both available in paperback from Soho Crime.
(retrieved from Amazon Wed, 06 Jan 2010 01:35:14 -0500)
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