Death of a Red Heroine

Rating:
Summary: A Chinese Take on the Police Procedural
Review: As a mystery writer with my first novel in initial release, I have been quite impressed as Qui Xiaolong's DEATH OF A RED HEROINE has swept nominations for every major first novel award in the mystery genre. It deserves this recognition. On one level, it is a simple police procedural. A police detective (who happens to also be a scholar and a poet) is investigating the death of a "model worker." While presenting this story, Qui Xiaolong paints a portrait of contemporary China as it and its people are lured into world affairs and a market ecomony. Fascinating work.

Rating:
Summary: Brilliant Debut
Review: 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.

Rating:
Summary: If you like bad kung fu movies, this book is for you
Review: This is easily the worst book I have read this year, and really I have to think way back to remember a book as bad as this one. Let's start with the plot. This is supposed to be a murder mystery. That would normally imply intriguing plot twists, misdirection, exciting discoveries, and a surprise ending. In this book, there is only one murder suspect; he is identified in the middle of the book; and (how's this for a shocker?) he ends up being the killer. How exactly is that a mystery? Now for characters.... There are a bunch of them, and some are mildly entertaining in a mindless, childish sort of way. None is truly memorable, not even Chief Inspector Chen who "solves" the case. They are all, without exception, one-dimensional and stereotypical to the point of insulting the reader. And lastly, prose. This book reads like a bad kung fu movie dubbed into English. During most of the dialogue I couldn't help imagining the characters on the big screen, with their lips moving about two seconds before or after the words are spoken.

Please tell me there won't be a sequel.