Death of a Red Heroine (An Inspector Chen Investigation)

Many crime novels have been claimed to have "transcended the genre". (Is that a good thing?) Yet few have. Somewhere along the way, the formula descends and locks in the humanity of the work, restricting it -- usually toward the end. "Death of a Red Heroine" beats the formula. While a serious crime has been committed, and while serious and convincing detection is going on, Qiu Xiaolong's loving embrace of all his characters(there is no evil in the work) makes this not just a great crime novel but a great novel. Delirious in its romanticism -- the growing connection between Inspector Chen and journalist Wang Feng is so beautifully done, as is the marital love between detective Yu and his wife Peiqin --, the reader aches for emotional pleasures one can probably never know. Aside from the occasional reactionary politics, Qiu's greatest love is for his Shanghai and all it contains. You will also be yearning for the many Chinese poets introduced in the work, and especially the classical novel "The Dream of the Red Chamber" -- exposed to us in one of the loveliest scenes between a husband and wife I've ever read. A great book.

The first book in the Inspector Chen series (followed by A Loyal Character Dancer) is a spellbinding meld detective procedural and portrait of China in transition following the Tiananmen Square massacre. Set in Shanghai in the Spring of 1990, the story starts with the discovery of the body of a "national model worker." The case falls into the hands newly promoted Det. Inspector Chen Cao and his subordinate Detective Yu, who work under the watchful eyes of old Commissar Zhang and Party Secretary Li.Communist China makes for an instantly compelling and intriguing setting, as the police must wend their way through labyrinthine political considerations in a country where one's standing in the Party is paramount but change is clearly underway. The mystery and investigation proceed in a leisurely fashion, and the true challenge is not identifying the murderer, but being able to gather the necessary evidence and piecing together a motive.Inspector Chen and Detective Yu are instantly likable and deeply-drawn characters, as is their circle of friends and family. Woven into the story are the their personal lives, which the author uses to paint a vivid picture of China just a decade ago. Most memorable are the cramped housing conditions, the continued reverence for elders, and the many many mouthwatering descriptions of food. Hardest to imagine for Western readers will be the influence of Party standing and its intrusion into personal relationships, especially when it comes to love.This is a long, but never boring story that deserves wide readership amongst mystery readers as well as those with an interest in China. A well-deserved winner of the Edgar for best first novel.

Death of a Red Heroinetakes a police procedural to a new place: Modern china. Inspector Chen Cao is a poetry writing and loving special investigator,and here he lands a dangerous case. The "model party worker" who is fishes out of the water is not what she appears to be,and the inspector must go against his superiors and the "party interests" to solve the case. All of this is pretty mundane in this genre, though the locale,the heavy stench of mao and the cultural revolution linger throughout,along with the marvelous meals, and the excellent descriptions of daily life in "modern ' China. The delicacy of chinese manners comes across very well, the sexual retinence,the deep repect of elders still alive. Part sociology,part history mostly a damn good read. Unlucky in love,lucky in work, inspector Chen Cao is an interesting addition to the genre .The novel has many conventional mystery formulas, then takes different turns. Highly recommended!

This novel merits attention not only because it is excellent, but also because it is groundbreaking. As fas as I know, it is the first English-language police procedural set in contemporary China that is written by a Chinese author. Of course, I would love to be proven wrong on this since it would mean that there was other material out there for me to read. To my knowledge, most previous mysteries and thrillers set in China have been by Western authors. The most famous are probably van Gulik's classic Judge Dee mysteries. Unfortunately, more recently we have suffered from inane thrillers in which a Western protagonist becomes entangled in some sort of incomprehensible and fundamentally absurd political intrigue, confronts a series of diabolical but paper-thin villains, and receives assistance from some sort of beautiful and exotic love interest. Finally, with Red Heroine, we have a detective novel written by an insider with Chinese protagonists, Chinese villains, and only incidental roles for Westerners. I hope very much this is the beginning of a trend. Now for my discussion of the novel itself. The novel worked well on three levels. First of all, it was the sort of slow-paced, atmospheric police procedural that I like the most. In many ways, it reminds me de Wetering's Grijpstra and de Gier series, Mankell's Kurt Wallander novels, or Sjowall and Wahloo's Martin Beck novels. It uses a criminal case and the accompanying investigation as a lens through which to view contemporary society. The pace is leisurely, it provides a very strong sense of place, and has nicely realized, complex, and mostly authentic characters. So if you like reading about Grijpstra and de Gier, Wallender, or Beck, you will like this book. Second, I thought it was an excellent and very authentic portrait of life in urban China in the 1990s. The author takes advantage of the possibilities offered by the narrative form of the procedural to introduce characters from many different walks of life and show how they have been affected by the turbulence of previous decades and by the uncertainty created by the rapid economic and political change of the 1990s. Generational conflicts, economic and social clevages, and political change all play a role. The portrait of life is so complete that I am weighing the possibility of assigning the novel when I teach my class on Chinese society next year. The book's focus on the mundane details of everyday life sets it apart from much of the other English-language fiction about China that seems to focus so much on the exotic. Third, I really appreciated the quality of the prose. Reflecting perhaps the author's apparent background in literature, the imagery in many of the passages was really evocative. I have spent a fair amount of time in China, and the authors' descriptions of people's homes, restaurants, typical street scenes, and so forth all really resonated. The novel is not perfect, reflecting perhaps the fact that it is the author's first

I read books to either A.) be entertained, or B.) to learn something. In The Death of a Red Heroine, I got both. While not a traditional whodunit, it still provides plenty of mystery. I also learned something about Chinese culture and politics, without having to read a dry textbook. I highly recommend this book, and look forward to the next installment with Inspector Chen.