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Qui Xiaolong is my new favorite mystery writer. - Goodreads Police procedural set in Communist China. - Goodreads Character development is great. - Goodreads I also liked Xiaolong's leisurely pace. - Goodreads The author is a very good writer, too. - Goodreads The prose is a little stilted. - Goodreads Review: Death of a Red Heroine (Inspector Chen Cao #1)User Review - Shannah - GoodreadsThe reviews on the cover are absolutely correct, this book is a pearl and you should go get it asap. The writing makes you feel like you're in China, living with the same uncertainty and social ... Read full review Review: Death of a Red Heroine (Inspector Chen Cao #1)User Review - Natalie Ryker - GoodreadsTo be honest, I expected much more from this book. I had read many reviews stating how brilliant this book was. Some parts of the book we're very exciting and encouraged me to keep reading and I ... Read full review Editorial Review - Cahners Business Information (c) 2000 All 140 reviews »Set a decade ago in Shanghai, this political mystery offers a peek into the tightly sealed, often crooked world of post-Tiananmen Square China. Chen Cao, a poet and T.S. Eliot translator bureaucratically assigned to be chief inspector, has to investigate the murder of Guan Hongying, a young woman celebrated as a National Model Worker, but who kept her personal life strictly and mysteriously confidential. Chen and his comrade, Detective Yu, take turns interviewing Guan's neighbors and co-workers, but it seems most of them either know nothing or are afraid to talk openly about a deceased, highly regarded public figure. Maybe they shouldn't be so uneasy, some characters reason; after all, these are "modern times" and socialist China is taking great leaps toward free speech. Chen and Yu make headway when they stumble on Wu Xiaoming, senior editor of Red Star magazine, who apparently was involved with Guan before her death. Tiptoeing around touchy politics and using investigative tactics bordering on blackmail, Chen slowly pieces together the motives behind the crime. The author, himself a poet and critic, peppers the story with allusions to classical Chinese literature, juxtaposing poignant poetry with a gruesome murder so that the novel reads like the translation of an ancient text imposed over a modern tale of intrigue. This is an impressive and welcome respite from the typical crime novel. (June) Related books
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