Death of a Red Heroine

Qiu Xiaolong

Wheeler Pub., Apr 5, 2006 - 701 pages

An Anthony Award WinnerAn Edgar Award NomineeContemporary Shanghai comes vividly to life in this new mystery series. Inspector Chen of the Shanghai Police must find the murderer of a National Model Worker. To the Party it is a political case and must be conducted with speed, silence, and sensitivity. Chen disagrees. To him it is a murder case, and he will risk his own life and career to see that justice is done.

What people are saying

Review: Death of a Red Heroine (Inspector Chen Cao #1)

User Review  - Jill Andersen - Goodreads

Interesting story. A bit too graphic.

Review: Death of a Red Heroine (Inspector Chen Cao #1)

User Review  - Dave - Goodreads

Well a really pleasant surprise. Imagine Adam Dalgleish transported to Shanghai just after Tianamen Square - there's even a sly direct reference to PD James in the story. Add in a messy murder with ...

Editorial Review - (c) 2000

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) 

About the author

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 been translated into seven languages, and A Loyal Character Dancer.

Bibliographic information

• Title: Death of a Red Heroine; Wheeler Large Print Book Series; Inspector Chen Series; Wheeler Softcover
• Author: Qiu Xiaolong
• Edition: large print, reprint
• Publisher: Wheeler Pub., 2006
• ISBN: 1597222089, 9781597222082
• Length: 701 pages
• Subjects: Chen, Inspector (Fictitious character); Chen, Inspector (Fictitious character)/ Fiction; Fiction / Mystery & Detective / General; Fiction / Mystery & Detective / Police Procedural; Large type books; Mystery fiction; Police; Police - China - Shanghai; Police/ China/ Shanghai/ Fiction; Shanghai (China)