A Yi

On a normal day in provincial China, a teenager goes about his regular business, but he’s also planning the brutal murder of his only friend. He lures her over, strangles her, stuffs her body into the washing machine and flees town, whereupon a perilous game of cat-and-mouse begins. A shocking investigation into the despair that traps the rural poor as well as a technically brilliant excursion into the claustrophobic realm of classic horror and suspense, A Perfect Crime is a thrilling and stylish novel about a motiveless murder that echoes Kafka’s absurdism, Camus’ nihilism and Dostoyevsky’s depravity. With exceptional tonal control, A Yi steadily reveals the psychological backstory that enables us to make sense of the story’s dramatic violence and provides chillingly apt insights into a country on the cusp of enormous social, political and economic change.

A Perfect Crime

A thrilling journey through China's dark criminal underworld, from a celebrated voice in Chinese literature

When Hongyang is found dead after a night of debauched drinking, it looks as if his reign of terror has finally come to an end. Few in this insular community have much reason to mourn his passing: Hongyang is an infamous mob boss, a man with plenty of enemies. But now it seems that his years of crime have also earned him some very dangerous friends.

As his funeral draws near, those who knew him come together to look back on a life characterised by corruption, deceit and a flair for violence. Their recollections will keep Hongyang's legacy alive, with terrifying consequences.

From the master of Chinese noir fiction comes this explosive new novel about the power of one man, unravelled by a tangled web of secrets.

Wake Me Up at Nine in the Morning

E adesso?

« Un des auteurs chinois les plus doués de ces dernières années. » Bei Dao Par une journée ordinaire, dans une petite ville de la Chine provinciale, un adolescent semble vaquer à ses occupations habituelles. Mais qui pourrait soupçonner qu’il est en train de planifier le meurtre de l’une de ses camarades de classe ? Hypersensible et solitaire, il raconte avec un détachement glaçant la méticuleuse préparation de ce geste, les trente-sept coups de couteau, le jeu du chat et de la souris avec la police, sa tentative de suicide et sa décision de se rendre aux autorités. Spécialistes, enquêteurs et journalistes défilent alors pour tenter de percer le mystère de ce crime sans motif apparent... A Yi signe un brillant roman psychologique au coeur d’une société chinoise en pleine mutation sociale, économique et politique. Traduit du chinois par Mélie Chen

Le jeu du chat et de la souris

鸟，看见我了

Seven stories, seven whispers into the ears of life: A Yi’s unexpected twists of crime burst from the everyday, with glimpses of romance distorted by the weaknesses of human motive. A Yi employs his forensic skills to offer a series of portraits of modern life, both uniquely Chinese, and universal in their themes. His years as a police officer serve him well as he teases the truth from simple observation, now brought into the English language in a masterful translation by Alex Woodend. The stories include Two Lives, Attic, Spring, Bach, Predator. The first in the new Flame Tree Press series, Stories from China. FLAME TREE PRESS is the new fiction imprint of Flame Tree Publishing. Launching in 2018 the list brings together brilliant new authors and the more established; the award winners, and exciting, original voices.

A Yi

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