Qiu Xiaolong

Now a BBC Radio 4 Drama Series. Shanghai in 1990. An ancient city in a country that despite the massacre of Tiananmen Square is still in the tight grip of communist control. Chief Inspector Chen, a poet with a sound instinct for self-preservation, knows the city like few others. When the body of a prominent Communist Party member is found, Chen is told to keep the party authorities informed about every lead. Also, he must keep the young woman's murder out of the papers at all costs. When his investigation leads him to the decadent offspring of high-ranking officials, he finds himself instantly removed from the case and reassigned to another area. Chen has a choice: bend to the party's wishes and sacrifice his morals, or continue his investigation and risk dismissal from his job and from the party. Or worse . . .

Inspector Chen 1

Death of a Red Heroine

Assigned to help the wife of an important witness to reach the United States safely, U.S. marshal Catharine Rohn learns that the woman has vanished, while inspector Chen reluctantly assumes the task of saving face.

A Loyal Character Dancer

Chief Inspector Chen Cao of the Shanghai Police Department finds himself caught up in a dangerous case when the bodies of two young women dressed in identical red mandarin dresses turn up, igniting fears of the city's first sexual serial killer.

An Inspector Chen Novel

Red Mandarin Dress

Now a BBC Radio 4 Drama Series. When Chief Inspector Chen Cao is offered a week's break at a luxurious resort near Lake Tai, he accepts immediately. Increasingly worn out by the politics of his job, the opportunity to relax and recover sounds like heaven. But the beautiful lake he remembers is much changed: covered by algae, its waters have been polluted by waste from local manufacturing plants. Even the local food is dangerous to eat. Is this the cost of progress in the new China? Then his holiday is fatally disturbed: the boss of one of the most polluting businesses has been murdered and the leader of a local ecological group is the prime suspect. Inspector Chen must tread carefully if he is to uncover the truth behind the death and find justice for both the victim and the accused.

Inspector Chen 7

Don't Cry, Tai Lake

Asked to take the lead in a corruption investigation in which the principal figure and his family have alreadly fled to the U.S., Inspector Chen Cao of the Shanghai Police Bureau is charged to uncover the culprit's partners-in-crime and their organization, following a trail from Shanghai to the U.S. and a reunion with Inspector Catherine Rhon of the U.S. Marshal's service. 25,000 first printing.

A Case of Two Cities

"Fascinating... Xiaolong writes with both urgency and grace about modern China is another well-crafted mystery" - Booklist Starred Review Inspector Chen is on the case of a serial murderer when he is called away to report on environmentalists trying to tackle the pollution issues in China. Chief Inspector Chen and Detective Yu Guangming are brought into a serial murder case when the Homicide squad proves incapable of solving it. But before Chen can make a start, he is called away by a high-ranking Party member for a special assignment: to infiltrate a group of environmental activists meeting to discuss the pollution levels in the country and how to prompt the government into action. Chen knows it will be a far from simple task, especially when he discovers the leader of the group is a woman from his past. Meanwhile, Yu is left to investigate a serial murder case on his own. Both Chen and Yu face pressure from those above to resolve the cases in a satisfactory way . . . even if that means innocents face the punishment.

Hold Your Breath, China

"The system has no place for a cop who puts justice above the interests of the Party. It's a miracle that I survived as long as I did." For years, Chen Cao managed to balance the interests of the Communist Party and the promises made by his job. He was both a Chief Inspector of Special Investigations of the Shanghai Police Department and the deputy party secretary of the bureau. He was considered a potential rising star in the Party until, after one too many controversial cases that embarrassed powerful elements in the Party, Chen Cao found himself neutralized. Under the guise of a major promotion, a new position with a substantial title but no power, he's stripped of his job duties and isolated. But that's still not enough, as it becomes increasingly clear that someone is attempting to set him up, for public disgrace and possibly worse. Chen Cao is technically in charge of the corruption case of a "Red Prince"---a powerful, high Party figure who embodies the ruthless ambition, greed, and corruption that is increasingly evident in the new China. This "Red Prince" has the kind of connections and power to deflect any attempts to bring him to justice. Now with no power, few allies, and with his own reputation on the line, the former Inspector Chen is facing the most dangerous investigation of his career, and his life.

Shanghai Redemption

Chief Inspector Chen Cao of the Shanghai Police Department is often assigned cases considered politically "sensitive," and now the Minister of Public Security insists that Chen personally take on a 'special assignment.' Leery of international embarrassment, the party is concerned about rumors related to Chairman Mao. Jiao, the granddaughter of an actress who had a 'special relationship' to Mao has moved into a luxury apartment and become involved with a new social set centered around the remnants of pre-Communist Shanghai society. All without any visible means of support. Worried that Jiao has inherited some sort of artifact that could prove damaging to Mao's reputation, Chen has been given a few short days to infiltrate her social circle, determine if the feared material exists and, if it does, retrieve it quietly. And if he fails to solve this 'Mao case,' the consequences will be unpleasant for all concerned.

The Mao Case

Inspector Chen investigates a young woman, the granddaughter of an actress who was once close to Mao, who may be in possession of an object that would bring dishonor to the Chairman's memory.

“Sublime . . . complex and riveting.”—Maureen Corrigan, The Washington Post Book World “A vivid picture of modern Chinese society . . . a work of real distinction.”—The Wall Street Journal “[A] terrific series. . . . [Qiu’s] perspective on China gives the mystery genre a cultural twist and unusual direction that make his books unique and well worth reading.”—The Rocky Mountain News Inspector Chen Cao of the Shanghai Police Bureau is taking a vacation, in part because he is annoyed at his boss, Party Secretary Li, but also because he has been made an offer he can’t refuse by Gu, a triad-connected businessman. For what seems to be a fortune—with no apparent strings attached— he is to translate 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 1930s. It is up to Detective Yu, Chen’s partner, to take charge of a new case. Yin, 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, Yu cannot believe that he is really the killer. As Yu looks further into Yin’s life, 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 culprit is apprehended. And then Chen discovers how Gu has played him and how he, in turn, can play the new capitalist system. 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 now been translated into seven languages, and A Loyal Character Dancer, both available in paperback from Soho Crime.

When Red Is Black

Chief Inspector Chen Cao of the Shanghai Police Department is in an unusual situation-a poet by training and inclination, he was assigned by the party to the Police Department after he graduated college, where he has continued to shine. Now he's a rising cadre in the party, in line to take over the top politic position in the police department, while being one of most respected policeman in the department. Which is why he's brought in by the Party to sign off on the investigation into the death of Zhou Keng. Zhou Keng-a trusted princeling, son of a major party member-was head of the Shanghai Housing Development Committee when a number of his corrupt practices were exposed on the internet. Removed from his position and placed into extra-legal detention, Zhou apparently hanged himself while under guard. While the Party is anxious to have Zhou's death declared a suicide, and for the renowned Chief Inspector Chen to sign off on that conclusion, the sequence of events don't quite add up. Now Chen will have to decide what to do - investigate the death as a possible homicide and risk angering unseen powerful people, or seek the justice that his position requires him to strive for. Enigma of China by Qiu Xiaolong is one of Publishers Weekly's Best Mystery/Thriller Books of 2013

Enigma of China

Il vicolo della polvere rossa

Presents a collection of early Chinese love poems with new English translations arranged chronologically, ranging from the seventh to the eighteenth centuries.

In Chinese and English

Treasury of Chinese Love Poems

Chief Inspector Chen wanted to be a poet, but the authorities gave him a job in the Shanghai Police Department. He is an excellent detective, but he can never escape the struggle between what the Party wants and what justice demands. The first three novels in Qiu Xiaolong's awardwinning series offer a glimpse into a fascinating country on the rise and an honourable man making his way in a world that does not always reward honesty.

Death of a Red Heroine, A Loyal Character Dancer, When Red is Black

The Inspector Chen Collection 1-3

Inspector Chen is excluded from a poetry case as he awaits possible disciplinary action, leaving him to reflect on his career . . . but does his past hold a clue to the poetry case?After a number of grueling cases Chief Inspector Chen is facing mounting pressure from his superiors, many of whom are concerned with where his loyalties lie. What's more, he is excluded from an investigation into an incendiary poem posted on an online forum.Wracked with self-doubt and facing an anxious wait to discover the fate of his career, Chen is left to reflect on the events that have led to where he is now - from his amateur investigations as a child during the Cultural Revolution, to his very first case on the Shanghai Police Force.Has fighting for the Chinese people and the morals he believes in put him in conflict with the Party? Why is he being kept away from the new case? As well as his career, is his life now also at risk?

Becoming Inspector Chen

Published originally in the pages of Le Monde, this collection of linked short stories by Qiu Xiaolong has already been a major bestseller in France (Cite de la Poussiere Rouge) and Germany (Das Tor zur Roten Gasse), where it and the author was the subject of a major television documentary. The stories in Years of Red Dust trace the changes in modern China over fifty years—from the early days of the Communist revolution in 1949 to the modernization movement of the late nineties—all from the perspective of one small street in Shanghai, Red Dust Lane. From the early optimism at the end of the Chinese Civil War, through the brutality and upheaval of the Cultural Revolution, to the death of Mao, the pro-democracy movement and the riots in Tiananmen Square—history, on both an epic and personal scale, unfolds through the bulletins posted and the lives lived in this one lane, this one corner of Shanghai.

Stories of Shanghai

Years of Red Dust

Love and Murder in the Time of Covid

Tödliches Wasser

"Dark, gorgeous...feels authentically Chinese and it works like a charm." --Washington Post Book World on A Case of Two Cities Chief Inspector Chen Cao of the Shanghai Police Department is offered a bit of luxury by friends and supporters within the Party - a week's vacation at a luxurious resort near Lake Tai, a week where he can relax, and recover, undisturbed by outside demands or disruptions. Unfortunately, the once beautiful Lake Tai, renowned for its clear waters, is now covered by fetid algae, its waters polluted by toxic runoff from local manufacturing plants. Then the director of one of the manufacturing plants responsible for the pollution is murdered and the leader of the local ecological group is the primary suspect of the local police. Now Inspector Chen must tread carefully if he is to uncover the truth behind the brutal murder and find a measure of justice for both the victim and the accused.

Qiu Xiaolong

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