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Death of a Red Heroine [Paperback]

Qiu Xiaolong (Author)
4.2 out of 5 stars  See all reviews (21 customer reviews)
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Book Description

Publication Date: 13 July 2006
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 . . .

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Death of a Red Heroine + A Loyal Character Dancer + When Red is Black
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Product details

  • Paperback: 480 pages
  • Publisher: Sceptre; New Ed edition (13 July 2006)
  • Language: English
  • ISBN-10: 0340897503
  • ISBN-13: 978-0340897508
  • Product Dimensions: 12.9 x 3.6 x 19.7 cm
  • Average Customer Review: 4.2 out of 5 stars  See all reviews (21 customer reviews)
  • Amazon Bestsellers Rank: 215,976 in Books (See Top 100 in Books)

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Review

'Stupendous . . . It does what detective fiction can do best: it captures the details, the grit of everyday life . . . A matchless pearl.' (Fresh Air, National Public Radio, USA )

'Blends history, plenty of poetry and a compelling mystery: the murder of Guan Hongying, a former national role-model worker, a beautiful young woman who slipped from patriotic fame into loneliness and depravity . . . We get to see, smell, taste and hear an amazingly evocative portrait of a country.' (Chicago Tribune )

'Chen is an irresistible protagonist, likable and determined to make the honourable choices, no matter how dangerous. Qiu's portrait of China in transition, a potential eye-opener for many of his Western readers, is an equally compelling attraction.' (Kirkus Reviews )

'Superb . . . brilliant' (Newsday )

'Marvellously assured . . . engrossing, immensely readable' (Wall Street Journal )

'Riveting and convincing' (Far Eastern Economic Review )

From the Inside Flap

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 . . .

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Customer Reviews

4.2 out of 5 stars
21 reviews
4.2 out of 5 stars
Most Helpful Customer Reviews
23 of 24 people found the following review helpful
5.0 out of 5 stars Brilliant Debut 21 Nov 2002
By A. Ross TOP 500 REVIEWER
Format:Paperback
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.

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3 of 3 people found the following review helpful
5.0 out of 5 stars A cracking read 8 Feb 2007
By Pas de plume
Format:Paperback
I enjoyed this enormously. Its really a novel about life in transitional China, but full of great insight in to the human condition in general. A very satisfying read with a wonderfully subtle characterisation of the main protagonist.

Thoroughly recommended
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3 of 3 people found the following review helpful
4.0 out of 5 stars An unexpected treat 9 Dec 2006
By S. Hill TOP 1000 REVIEWER VINE™ VOICE
Format:Paperback
I bought this book having read a review, but not knowing quite what to expect.

It is more police procedural than golden age. There is a murder, and it is central to the plot, but there is very little real detective work described.

The book is well-written and very discursive: there are descriptions of food, relationships, a great deal about China in the 1990s and how the Party works and - for me the best bit - a great deal of poetry. The main character, Chief Inspector Chen, is a poet (and translator of crime novels) as well as a detective. This creates many opportunities for the author to insert couplets or (rarely) longer excerpts from Chinese poetry in a very natural, charming and unpretentious way. I have certainly sought out Chinese poetry as a result of what I read in this book.

Recommended.
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Most Recent Customer Reviews
4.0 out of 5 stars "A man, once bitten by a snake, will be nervous all his life at the...
Chinese poet, translator, and fiction writer Qiu Xiaolong has created in Inspector Chen of Shanghai, a kind of alterego, a poet who is also a policeman of impeccable honesty, a man... Read more
Published 1 month ago by Mary Whipple
3.0 out of 5 stars Entertaining
When inspector Chen is called to investigate the finding of a dead woman in a backwater, he doesn't know that his career can come to an end. Read more
Published 2 months ago by RAMON
5.0 out of 5 stars A peep under the bamboo curtain
'Death of a Red Heroine' (2000) by Qiu Xiaolong is a really good read. If the writer's name foxed you, make sure you've mastered the pronunciation of certain Chinese characters in... Read more
Published 5 months ago by Bob
3.0 out of 5 stars Mainly interesting for its view of China
The part which details various aspects of living in China, including the myriad contradictions involved in the society as it evolves is quite fascinating. Read more
Published 5 months ago by Mark Gittins
4.0 out of 5 stars hot on local colour
Great for a taxi ride around Shanghai. Revealing on the party politics angle. Probably not your all-action thriller but an absorbing read round this part of the world.
Published 5 months ago by wuxiren
4.0 out of 5 stars Very satisfying debut crime/poetry/commentary on political change in...
This is not "just a police procedural in an exotic country", but far more ambitious. It mostly succeeds, although the poetry can sometimes be too much, and I suspect it does not... Read more
Published 18 months ago by T. Eagan
3.0 out of 5 stars slow dance on the bund
This is an interesting picture of modern china at the end of the 20th century. Chief inspector Chen is a poetry loving translator of American detective novels. Read more
Published on 9 Feb 2011 by A. Browne
5.0 out of 5 stars Knocks Larrson for Six!
A really excellent read - a highly intelligent mix of narrative, of description of life in 1990s Shanghai with the new market system coexisting uneasily with the privileges of the... Read more
Published on 18 Oct 2010 by Ronald G. Young
5.0 out of 5 stars Death of a Red Heroine
What a great book. Having read this one I was compelled to read all the detective stories by this author. Read more
Published on 30 Aug 2009 by Pat45
5.0 out of 5 stars a pleasant window on china
This is my first qui xialong's novel, and it was a marvellous surprise. The suggestion came from top 10s Sampson's asian novels (The Guardian). Read more
Published on 13 Aug 2009 by Leone Riello
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