Death of a Red Heroine
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Product Description
Chicago Tribune
‘Blends history, plenty of poetry and a compelling mystery'
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 )
'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 )
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Customer Reviews
Most Helpful Customer Reviews
20 of 21 people found the following review helpful
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.
3 of 3 people found the following review helpful
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
Thoroughly recommended
3 of 3 people found the following review helpful
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.
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
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 6 months ago by T. Eagan
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 15 months ago by A. Browne
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 19 months ago by Ronald G. Young
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 Pat Bunce
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
a great book :)
this book is really cool :P
the hero and sidekick are decent people which is really nice for a change and the book just gave me strangely cose feeling when i read it lol... Read more
the hero and sidekick are decent people which is really nice for a change and the book just gave me strangely cose feeling when i read it lol... Read more
Published on 1 Aug 2009 by FUTURESTARdelux
Enjoyable!
I decided on a whim to invest in a number of detective novels based outside of the UK/Scandinavian cities that I have read. Read more
Published on 25 Jun 2009 by G. Davies
4.5 Stars - Poetry and policework
First Sentence: The body was found at 4:40 p.m., on May 11, 1990, in Baili Canal, an out-of-the-way canal, about twenty miles to the west of Shanghai. Read more
Published on 9 April 2009 by L. J. Roberts
Subtle, political crime novel
Fans of crime fiction will enjoy this fresh angle on the genre, which combines the classic cop story with the complexities of 1990s Chinese politics. Read more
Published on 10 April 2008 by BookWorm
I thought I'd hate it, but I absolutley loved it and went straight out...
`Death of a Red Heroine' is set in 1990's Shanghai. A woman's body is found in a canal and it is quickly discovered that she has been sexually assaulted and asphyxiated. Read more
Published on 8 Jan 2008 by Sarah Durston
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