This was a great read, though much darker than I had expected.
The setting in China made for a great deal of social commentary and
Cultural color.Falun gong and tianemen square are a few of the touchstones The characters were well drawn, with a bit of good guy/bad guy simplicity
That was fine for this kind of book. The plot was easy to follow without being too simplistic.
Will definitely try more by this author ( )

I always loved the covers on these books but not being a mystery fan, I figured I'd never get around to reading them...until this past week when I got myself into a situation for class and ended picking this one up at the last minute. Could Shamini Flint turn me into a mystery reader? The jury's still out on that, but I will definitely be sure to read the other books in this series. I loved Inspector Singh's role as "the corpulent copper," who loves his curries, cold beer, and cigarettes (clearly more culturally a Sikh than religiously) nearly as much as he loves solving a tricky murder. I loved the sense of place Flint created here--the setting was so well-constructed, I was totally immersed, wandering through the streets, markets, and restaurants of Beijing as well. I loved the peculiarities of all the characters, with even the bad guys being so bad they were delightful. And even though grisly murders pepper the novel, it sustains a quaint level of humor throughout that it's just totally charming. My only regret is that, per the parameters of my RA class, I started with the latest installment in the series, not that it really seems to matter necessarily the order they're read, but it does bristle my OCD tendencies to read an author/series chronologically. Ah well, I'll be happily starting at square one with Singh and enjoy the ride.

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Serendipitously counting for my "takes place in Asia" criteria for the Read Harder challenge. ( )

Inspector Singh again finds himself with an overseas posting. Not that he will have authority A crime has been committed against a Singaporean national in Beijing and he is being sent to represent Singaporean interests. The First Secretary at the Singapore embassy in Beijing has personally requested him. No one is suggesting that he will be able to solve the crime. In fact he suspects that his superiors are hopeful that his involvement will in some way be terminal and that he will not return to Singapore.

This series is a delightful read and this title is no exception. Throughout the series Singh's character has become stronger and I think he has become a better detective. In Beijing he is given a disgraced retired detective as his offsider and interpreter and between them they actually make a formidable pair. The setting is very topical because it involves land development in Beijing, the removal of century old hutongs and their replacement with modern buildings, but it also involves graft and corruption at the highest level even in the police force. In the background there is the handling of protest through re-education, and a sniff of other forms of corruption.

Singh steams on, sampling local cuisine with gusto, and following his intuition.

Recommended. ( )

The First Secretary at the Singaporean embassy to the People's Republic of China asks for Inspector Singh to look into the murder of her son, which the Chinese authorities seem too ready to write off as a mugging gone wrong.

As usual, despite the semi-comic figure of Inspector Singh, the author does not flinch from looking at political and social issues which some might say are nastier than individual crimes. ( )

I love the book cover, its mysterious and suggests of historical elements, my pure interpretation.

This is my second book reading from the series, in a mixed order. It did not seemed a problem, every one can read them either by order or not.

I like the dialog between inspector and his wife, although it does not make any further influence on the story, the episode with her made me lough, so typical of a Singaporean national. I could seriously picture in my mind an Indian aunty speaking with her husband, picture their HDB apartment and neighboring gossip ladies.

The plot touches another important topic - illegal/ under law system in China, corruption and illegal donor forced providers, adultery in the middle of it all & vengeance . There are so much injustice what lower grade people has to face, the possibility of being sucked and face political penalties just because of one democratic mindset.

The book partly was so emotional and I felt so bad for main characters and then for bitter personalities, I wish to give the book full 5 or 4 stars, although applying critical view while reading I found some parts unclear and would have expected the plot to have more depth on the issues related to the story.

Still looking to read the rest of the stories from the series.