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"
Wall Street Journal
Marvellously assured . . . engrossing, immensely readable