Regular marked price: $13.00Discount Price: $10.40
Cost Savings: $2.60 (20%)Price fluctuation possible.
How soon does it ship: Normal ship time within one day
Shipping? Absolutely FREE if you qualify for Super Saver Shipping.
Type of bind: Paperback
Dewey Decimal Number: 813
EAN num: 9781569473962
ISBN number: 156947396X
Label: Soho Crime
Manufacturer: Soho Crime
Quantity: 1
Page Count: 320
Printing Date: August 01, 2005
Publishing house: Soho Crime
Sale Popularity Level: 34752
Studio: Soho Crime
Other books you might be interested in perusing:
Editor's Notes and Comments:
Product Description:
'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 very 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.
User popularity level:
Rated by buyers 
-
I am not very discerning about him because I think all his books are wonderful. while the culture is so different than mine, you can feel real empathy for the detective.
Rated by buyers 
-
It's hard to explain as to why I didn't find this book as rewarding as the very first two, but it may be that it lacked the 'smooth' transitions that made them so intriguing. Many of the 'eureka' moments of the book seem to come out of nowhere, while others seem way too long in coming to the fore. It just may be that I expect too much from the author, or that he rushed this one into publication. I have noticed that his books have gotten drastically shorter, and that might reflect a lack of attention to details. (The very first book was over 400 pages, the second over 350, this one is 320.)
There was much less character development and explanation in this book than the previous two, though the poetry was as strong as ever and very appropriate to the story. His major additional character ('white cloud') is always referred to by her english translation, and she tends to be a very one-dimensional person. His does do a good job is rounding out his partner Detective Yu and his wife Peiqin.
But all in all (except for some of the comments on the 'Cultural Revolution') I found this novel lacking the interest of the very first two.
Rated by buyers -
In this detective novel, Qiu Xiaolong gives a detailed account of the tragic effects of the Cultural Revolution on ordinary -- and extraordinary -- people living in Shanghai in the 1990's. I could not solve the mystery, but I adored the poetry-spouting detective (who is probably quite a bit like the author) so much that I ordered Qiu's anthology of Tang and Song poetry.
Rated by buyers -
This is the third novel in Qiu Xiaolong's Inspector Chen mysteries.
The murder of a dissident author comes at an inconvenient time for Inspector Chen. He has just taken a break from his "iron rice bowl" job to engage in some highly paid free-lance translating. At very first he is content to leave the investigation of the murder to his deputy, Sergeant Yu, but pressed by Party Secretary Li and by his own growing curiosity, he becomes fully involved in the unravelling of the murder case.
His translating job, however, continues. He has been given the task by Dynasty karaoke club owner Mr Gu (introduced in the previous novel A Loyal Character Dancer). Mr Gu, who has Triad connections, has also supplied Chen with a xiaomi, or personal secretary, the young and attractive White Cloud.
By coincidence, the murder has taken place in a shikumen, one of the traditional styles of housing created during the era of the Foreign Concessions in Shanghai; the translation undertaken by Chen is of an investment proposal for a major commercial, retail and residential precinct in the heart of Shanghai designed in the shikumen style. The author creates an interesting tension between the reality of life in the shikumen that is the murder site (no privacy, too many families living in incredibly cramped conditions) and the proposed New World project, the sucess of which, according to Chen "would depend on a myth - on nostalgia for the glitter and glamour of the thirties, or to be exact, on the recreation of that myth - blending the past into a delicious brew, a cup of cappuccino, to delight customers in the nineties" (p. 23).
Having been to Shanghai's model renovation in the shikumen style, the area known as Xintiandi, I can relate to the author's bemused sense of contradiction: the little museum and founding site of the Chinese Communist Party (my destination) is hardly noticeable among the yuppified coffee shops and bars of the new New China!
As with his previous novels, Qiu Xiaolong intersperses his narrative with insightful sociological observations. Some of these relate to the Cultural Revolution, which forms a backdrop to the murder, whilst others clearly reflect the author's concern with the growing gap between rich and poor that emerged in the wake of Deng Xiaoping's reforms: "The New World could turn out to be like present-day China, full of contradictions. On the outside, the socialist system under the rule of the Communist Party, but on the inside, capitalist practice in whatever disguise. Could the combination of the two really work?" (p. 139).
Nor would it be a Chinese novel without reference to food. White Cloud turns out to be an accomplished cook: "She finally emerged, carrying a large tray with a broad smile. `From the Dynasty Club,' she announced, placing on the folding table an impressive dinner that included some delicacies he had never seen before. One was a small dish of fried sparrow gizzards, golden crisp. How many sparrows had gone into the making of that dish, he wondered. The other dish, of duck, was also original - it was duck heads with the skulls removed, so people could easily reach the tongues, or suck out the brains. It was the sauna shrimp, however, that really impressed him. River shrimp were brought to the table in a glass bowl, live, still jumping and wriggling. She also provided a small wooden pail whose bottom was covered with blue hot stones. She poured some wine into the bowl of shrimp, then took the drunken shrimp from the bowl and put them into the pail. There was a shrill hiss, and in two or three minutes, a plate of sauna shrimp appeared." (p. 108).
Some western reviewers have found the narrative pace and unexpected thrills of the mystery genre lacking in this novel; however, it is an intriguing tale and a pleasure to be transported back to a familiar Chinese setting.
Michael Williss
Rated by buyers -
Another engaging Inspector Chen mystery, but this time his sidekick Detective Yu is more involved, which adds breadth to the story. But this is not so much a mystery as a portrait of modern Shanghai, which in spite of its economic boom is still haunted by the horror of the Cultural Revolution. Although the denouement seems a bit dragged out, this is a finely written piece of work.
Find other books like this one:
