Rating: 
Summary: Solid Sino-Sequel
Review: The second book in the Inspector Chen series is equal in many ways to outstanding predecessor, Death of a Red Heroine. Once again, the reader is drawn into an excellent mix of detective procedural and portrait of China in economic and social transition during the early '90s. Shanghai-based Inspector Chen is assigned to baby-sit a U.S. Marshal who has been sent to collect the wife of the key witness in a federal case against the smuggling of illegal immigrants into America. However, when the pregnant woman disappears without a trace, Chen, Detective Yu, and Marshal Catherine Rohn have only a week to track her down before the trial starts-and without his wife, the witness won't cooperate. At the same time, Chen insists on investigating the bloody murder of an unidentified man in Chen's favorite park (echoes of, or homage to, Martin Cruz Smith's Gorky Park).Since Chen and Yu's histories were established in the first book, there is much less of their personal lives in this volume, which is a bit of a shame. There is also somewhat less about politics and the Party's influence on private life in this book. Instead the hidden hand of the triad gangs menaces Chen and his investigation, with unclear motives and unclear allegiances. In addition, the history and impact of the Cultural Revolution (a subject at the heart of the recent novel Balzac and the Little Chinese Seamstress) becomes more directly relevant to the plot. Another main element is the proliferation of a "gray market" economy, where bribery and corruption are nibbling away at the Communist system. Distasteful as it is, Chen must involve himself with unsavory elements with no solid political backing in order to pursue his investigation, and indeed, possible leaks within his own department. This sequel is quite good to be sure, however there is a running flaw which undermines it somewhat. The brilliance of the first book was in its complete immersion in time and place, by introducing an American outsider as a main character in this story, the author cheapens the experience somewhat. It instantly moves into the realm of "unlikely partners battling crime", which we have seen time and again in fiction and film. This is exacerbated by the rather stilted romantic tension between Chen and the American woman which always seemed rather forced to me. It's also unfortunate that near the end there is a plot contrivance whereby Chen makes an absolutely incredible blunder-it's such an unlikely mistake I had to stop and reread the passage three times to verify that I had understood it properly. Still, there are running mouthwatering descriptions of food, plenty couplets of classic Chinese poetry, and an exciting climax to finish things off. It's well worth reading, both as a crime novel and as a picture of China a decade ago.
Rating: 
Summary: Poetic License
Review: This is a thinly plotted mystery that partially redeems itself with a nuanced evocation of modern day Shanghai. It should be sub-titled 'An Anthology of Chinese Verse' because scarcely a page goes by without some couplet appearing. But these interesting trappings cannot sustain a mystery that fails to be very, well, mysterious. Most of the novel centers on a race between the police and several gangs to locate a woman. The resolution to this race occurs in one sentence and will leave you asking - Did I miss something? It's a microcosm for the novel as whole... great setting, rich characters, nice writing... but no mystery.
Rating:
Summary: Poetic License
Review: This is a thinly plotted mystery that partially redeems itself with a nuanced evocation of modern day Shanghai. It should be sub-titled 'An Anthology of Chinese Verse' because scarcely a page goes by without some couplet appearing. But these interesting trappings cannot sustain a mystery that fails to be very, well, mysterious. Most of the novel centers on a race between the police and several gangs to locate a woman. The resolution to this race occurs in one sentence and will leave you asking - Did I miss something? It's a microcosm for the novel as whole... great setting, rich characters, nice writing... but no mystery.
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