When Red is Black - Hardcover

Xiaolong, Qiu

Hardcover

ISBN 10: 1569473692 ISBN 13: 9781569473696

Publisher: Soho Press, 2004

Synopsis

Praise for A Loyal Character Dancer:

"Another wonderful novel featuring Inspector Chen of the Shanghai Police Bureau … for Sinophiles like myself who fantasize about taking an insider’s tour of Shanghai."—Maureen Corrigan, NPR, "Fresh Air," Washington Post Book World

"A sequel [to Death of a Red Heroine] that in many ways is even more impressive . . . [Qiu] has moved from the poetic, exotic milieu of his first book (although plenty of elements remain) into a tougher, wider, probably more commercial and modern version of China as seen by America."—Chicago Tribune

Inspector Chen Cao of the Shanghai Police Bureau is taking a vacation, in part because he is annoyed at his boss, the Party Secretary, but also because he has been made an offer he can’t refuse by a triad-connected businessman. For what seems to be a fortune—with no apparent strings attached—he is to translate into English 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 ’30s.

So Detective Yu, Chen’s partner, is forced to take charge of a new investigation. 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, Detective Yu cannot believe that he is really the murderer. As the policeman looks further, 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 real culprit is apprehended. And then Chen discovers how the triad has played him.

Qiu Xiaolong was born in Shanghai. He is the author of two previous Inspector Chen Mysteries, Death of a Red Heroine and A Loyal Character Dancer. He lives in St. Louis with his wife and daughter.

About this title

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.

Reviews

Qiu, born in Shanghai and now residing in St. Louis, made a splashing debut in 2000 with the award-winning Death of a Red Heroine. Critical response differs for his third Inspector Chen mystery. Some offered effusive praise for Qiu’s poetic literary style and sociological flavor, reflecting on China with both respect and sorrow. Others wondered why this plodding book was shelved in the mystery section. Hard-boiled mystery lovers may want to take a pass; those intrigued by the culture in China and the right expectations for this mystery will be satisfied.

Copyright © 2004 Phillips & Nelson Media, Inc.

Like its predecessors Death of a Red Heroine (2000) and A Loyal Character Dancer (2002), Qiu's third Inspector Chen mystery provides an insightful look into modern China. When Yin Lige, the author of a banned book, is found murdered in her Shanghai apartment, detective Yu Guangming and his boss, Chief Inspector Chen Cao, must solve a case that may have far-reaching political and social implications. (The "red" of the title refers to Mao Zedong's Red Guard, the "black" to the supposed enemies of the working class denounced during the Cultural Revolution.) Yu doggedly pursues all leads, even as personal misfortunes threaten to ruin his life. Chen must help from afar as he takes time off to earn extra income translating business documents for an ambitious entrepreneur. Suspects range from the poignant "shrimp woman," who peels shrimp for a living, to possible enemies from the distant past. Yu soon uncovers the long-ago romance between the victim and Yang Bing, a college professor. This love affair, delicately rendered, allows the author to include many fragile but beautiful Chinese poems. Deftly depicting a China fractured along class and party lines even in matters of love, Qiu also dramatically demonstrates how the past affects the daily lives of Chinese people today. Only a banal solution to the mystery spoils an otherwise engrossing read.
Copyright © Reed Business Information, a division of Reed Elsevier Inc. All rights reserved.

*Starred Review* The third Inspector Chen mystery--the second, Death of a Red Heroine (2000), won the Anthony Award)--is set in today's Shanghai, a city of 13 million people and an uneasy mixture of political and cultural movements, new and refusing to die. What better way to navigate this city than through the adventures of the detectives who handle homicides and disappearances for the Special Case Squad, the unit that deals with politically sensitive crimes? Inspector Chen, a former English major, poetry lover, and dedicated gourmand, briefly steps aside here (he has a translation project taking up his vacation time) and lets his subordinate, the housing-oppressed Detective Yu, handle the murder of a dissident writer, the female author of a novel considered highly critical of the new China. This woman, who lived in a traditional Shanghai shikumen house, had become a social isolate in that most social of buildings. In a somewhat heavy-handed contrivance, Chen's translation project involves a proposal for a modern galleria based on the communal shikumen model, drawing him inevitably back into the investigation. The Chen mysteries proceed at a stately, slow pace, not unlike the meals that Chen enjoys. Plot is secondary to food, to poetry, to politics, and to Chen's highly complex character. For those with similar taste and metabolism, these are mysteries to savor. Connie Fletcher
Copyright © American Library Association. All rights reserved

Edition details

• Publisher: Soho Press
• Publication date: 2004
• Language: English
• ISBN 10: 1569473692
• ISBN 13: 9781569473696
• Binding: Hardcover
• Number of pages: 320