A Loyal Character Dancer [Hardcover]

Anthony Prize-winner Qiu's second Inspector Chen mystery (after 2000's Death of a Red Heroine) offers an intriguing if somewhat labored glimpse of Chinese life in a period of evolution from communism to a more westernized culture. Former dancer and party loyalist Wen Liping has vanished just when she was to leave for the U.S. to join her husband, a key witness against a smuggling ring suspected of importing aliens to America. The same day higher authorities refer this case to Chen, who is a likable senior police agent with a love of literature, a badly mutilated body turns up in Shanghai's Bund Park. It takes many pages and train trips around China for Chen, in the company of visiting U.S. Marshal Catherine Rohn, before the two cases are finally linked, but the wait is worth it. Punctuated by proverbs from Confucius and ancient and modern Chinese poetry, Chen's reports show how he and Catherine gradually learn of Wen's unhappy past being programmed as a child to dance holding a "Loyalty" placard for Mao's Red Guards, later suffering brutal abuse by her husband. The more unsavory elements of modern Chinese society are revealed, from prostitution houses masking as karaoke clubs to vicious rival triads battling for turf, while materialism at its worst overcomes traditional values. Qiu's writing style can be somewhat stilted, and dialogue occasionally resembles "partyspeak," but the characters manage to achieve an engaging realism and charm, even while showing the underside of China in transition.
Copyright 2002 Cahners Business Information, Inc.

Inspector Chen (Death of a Red Heroine) of the Shanghai police tries to figure out the fate of a missing woman, a former Red Guard member who may be in trouble with her husband's criminal colleagues. Solid and eventful.
Copyright 2002 Reed Business Information, Inc.

In Death of a Red Heroine (2000), Xiaolong introduced us to a refreshingly complex new character in police procedurals: Chief Inspector Chen Cao of the Shanghai Police Bureau. Chen Cao majored in English literature in college, but he was assigned to the police under the cadre system. Cao rankles under authority but never rebels, except for pursuing his own modernist poetry and translations of Western literature. Chen's closest cousin may be Stuart Kaminsky's Chief Inspector Rostnikov of the Moscow Police. Both work within systems they know are corrupt and changeable, counting on their own moral compasses to steer them right. In the second Inspector Chen novel, Chen pulls diplomatic detail in the first Chinese American joint action against illegal immigration. Everything hinges on Chen's finding the disappeared wife of a refugee. He works with an American woman from the U. S. Marshal's Office, and the sexual tension between them ratchets up the suspense. Engrossing insights into contemporary China in an intricate mystery. Connie Fletcher
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'This is a fascinating and thought-provoking read, rich in descriptions of delicious meals, beautiful gardens and impossibly cramped housing. Not to be missed.' -- Guardian 'A luminescent synthesis of a thriller and a literary novel.' -- Independent 'Another wonderful novel featuring Inspector Chen of the Shanghai Police Bureau.' -- Maureen Corrigan, Washington Post 'A sequel that in many ways is even more impressive' -- Chicago Tribune 'Likeable, admirable Chen makes a sturdy protagonist, but it's China in transition - always interesting, often bewildering - that gets the star turn here.' -- Kirkus Reviews 'The travelogue aspects of this novel don't overwhelm its critical intelligence. The murder and mayhem provide a cover story for a larger investigation of social mysteries - in this case the fate of educated Chinese, many of whose lives were made a waking nightmare by the cultural revolution, and the future of Chinese communism itself.' -- Chicago Sun Times 'The combination of ancient and modern Chinese history with modern police work has produced an excellent procedural novel, filled with atmosphere and carefully illustrating life in China today. Inspector Chen is likeable, thoughtful, and appealing.' -- Dallas Morning News 'The miracle is that, while he provides good suspense, Qui Xiaolong has transcended his genre [while] fulfilling all genre expectations by solving and linking two triad-related crime cases.' -- Persimmon 'Intriguing...Gang wars, rampant prostitution (even in Karaoke clubs!), and the slavish greed and trend-sucking of China's rising entrepreneurial class almost overcome the erudite, but never pedantic, detective's belief in his country's ancient wisdom and current potential.' -- Raleigh News and Observer --This text refers to the Paperback edition.

Praise for Qiu Xiaolong:

"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

"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’s Fresh Air

"The travelogue aspects of the novel don’t overwhelm it’s critical intelligence. As in all hard-boiled [mysteries], the murder and mayhem provide a cover story for a larger investigation of social mysteries."—Chicago Sun-Times

Inspector Chen’s mentor in the Shanghai Police Bureau has assigned him to escort U.S. Marshal Catherine Rohn. Her mission is to bring Wen, the wife of a witness in an important criminal trial, to the United States. Inspector Rohn is already en route when Chen learns that Wen has unaccountably vanished from her village in Fujian. Or is this just what he is supposed to believe? Chen resents his role; he would rather investigate the triad killing in Shanghai’s beauteous Bund Park. But his boss insists that saving face with Inspector Rohn has priority. So Chen Cao, the ambitious son of a father who imbued him with Confucian precepts, must tread warily as he tries once again to be a good cop, a good man, and also a loyal Party member.

Qiu Xiaolong, a prize-winning poet and critic in China, now teaches at Washington University in St. Louis, where he lives with his wife and daughter.


From the Trade Paperback edition.

Qiu Xiaolong, a prizewinning poet and critic in China, now teaches at Washington University in St. Louis, where he lives with his wife and daughter.