A Case of Two Cities: Inspector Chen 4

Description

Now a BBC Radio 4 Drama Series. Inspector Chen Cao of the Shanghai Police Bureau is summoned by an official of the Party to lead a highly charged corruption investigation. Tentacles have spread through the police force, the civil service, the vice trade and deep into the criminal underworld. The principal figure and his family have long since fled to the United States, beyond the reach of the Chinese government. But the network is still intact and it is only a matter of time before it becomes stronger than before. Chen is charged - and it is a job he cannot refuse - with uncovering those responsible, and destroying the organisation from the top down to its roots. In a twisting case that reunites him with his counterpart from the US Marshals service - Inspector Catherine Rohn - Chen must find a measure of justice in a corrupt, expedient world.

Qiu Xiaolong was born in Shanghai. He was selected for membership of the Chinese Writers' Association and published poetry, translations and criticism in China. He has lived in the United States since 1989 and has an M.A. and Ph.D. in Comparative Literature awarded by Washington University. His work has been published in many literary magazines in America and in several anthologies. He has been the recipient of the Missouri Biennial Award, the Prairie Schooner Readers' Choice Award, a Yaddo and a Ford Foundation Fellowship. He lives in St. Louis with his wife and daughter.

'Gripping ... Chen stands in a class with Martin Cruz Smith's Russian investigator, Arkady Renko, and P.D. James's Scotland Yard inspector, Adam Dalgliesh.' -- Publishers Weekly starred review 'With strong and subtle characterisation, Qiu Xiaolong draws us into a fascinating world where the greatest mystery revealed is the mystery of present-day China itself' -- John Harvey 'As modern China's profile rises, so too does the stock of literature from and about it. But Shanghai-born Qiu Xiaolong's Inspector Chen detective series is one of the freshest and most unpredictable of the lot. He is deft at delivering clever insights and plot twists that entangle both Communist Party officials and their critics. His protagonist, Chief Inspector Chen Cao of the Shanghai Police Bureau, tracks down murderers and cheats against the backdrop of ordinary folks struggling to reconcile social upheaval and their lingering nostalgia for Chairman Mao. An honest cop whose personal ethics often conflict with the politically expedient orders from above, Chen embodies the confusion--both ideological and spiritual--that haunts modern China.' -- Newsweek 'Qiu gives a fresh perspective on the forces shaping a new China and the influences of the Cultural Revolution and then Tiananmen in 1989.' -- Sunday Morning Post, Hong Kong 'A CASE OF TWO CITIESis Qiu Xiaolong's fourth novel in a series of compelling Shanghai crime novels... This fast-moving crime novel admirably depicts the intriguing struggles of characters grasping a foothold in a new and rising China.' -- TLS 'A fascinating picture of the new China emerges ... the gentle, erudite Chen is its ideal interpreter' -- Independent on Sunday 'Leisurely, atmospheric and rich in behind-the-scenes detail ... As enjoyable as the scrumptious Shanghai meals often scoffed' -- Boyd Tonkin, Independent 'Chen is a great creation, an honourable man in a world full of deception and treachery' -- Guardian 'A luminescent synthesis of a thriller and a literary novel' -- Independent on A LOYAL CHARACTER DANCER 'Stupendous ... It does what detective fiction can do best: it captures the details, the grit of everyday life ... A matchless pearl.' -- Fresh Air, National Public Radio, USA on DEATH OF A RED HEROINE 'A vivid portrait of modern Chinese society ... full of the sights, sounds and smells of Shanghai.' -- Wall Street Journal 'Gripping ... Chen stands in a class with Martin Cruz Smith's Russian investigator, Arkady Renko, and P.D. James's Scotland Yard inspector, Adam Dalgliesh.' -- Publishers Weekly starred review 'With strong and subtle characterisation, Qui Xiaolong draws us into a fascinating world where the greatest mystery revealed is the mystery of present-day China itself' -- John Harvey