Inspector Chen and the Private Kitchen Murder

by Qiu Xiaolong

Overview

Chen Cao has been removed from his chief inspector role, but that doesn't stop him investigating a 'private kitchen' murder that has similarities to a Judge Dee story. No longer a chief inspector, Chen Cao finds himself as director of the Shanghai Judicial System Reform Office. To outsiders it's a promotion, but Chen knows he's being removed from the spotlight as he's immediately placed on involuntary 'convalescence leave' to stop him interfering with any cases. However, with various high-profile crimes making headlines and fears escalating over vigilante reprisals, Chen's superiors know he must at least appear active. One case revolves around Min Lihau, a mingyuan, who runs a 'private kitchen' for powerful figures in Shanghai. Min's accused of murdering her assistant, yet Chen is struck by its similarities to a historic case involving the famous Judge Dee. When an acquaintance of his is murdered in connection with Min, Chen knows he can't stand idly by . . . but he must act in secret, under the cover of writing a Judge Dee novel.

Product Details

ISBN-13:	9781780298160
Publisher:	Severn House
Publication date:	05/31/2022
Series:	An Inspector Chen mystery , #12
Edition description:	Main
Pages:	224
Product dimensions:	5.40(w) x 8.40(h) x 0.70(d)

About the Author

Anthony Award winning author Qiu Xiaolong was born in Shanghai and moved to Washington Universityin St Louis, US, to complete a PhD degree in comparative literature. After the Tiananmen tragedy in 1989 he stayed on in St Louis where he still lives with his wife. Qiu's sold over two million copies of his Inspector Chen mysteries worldwide and been published in twenty languages. On top of his fiction, he is a prize-winning writer of poetry. All the titles in the Inspector Chen series, including Hold Your Breath, China, have been dramatized in BBC Radio 4 productions. www.qiuxiaolong.com

Editorial Reviews

Fascinating ... Xiaolong writes with both urgency and grace about modern China in another well-crafted mystery

China Booklist Starred Review of Hold Your Breath

Gripping ... A scathing indictment of contemporary China

Booklist on Becoming Inspector Chen

2021-07-14
A particularly intriguing case triggers a sleuthing rebirth for a former police detective.

In the twilight of his career, veteran inspector Chen Cao has been eased out of the Shanghai Police Bureau, put on sick leave, and given the nominal post of director of the Shanghai Judicial System Reform Office. Considering his frequent scrapes with Communist Party loyalists and the outsider status his literary passions have earned him, this ought to be the perfect spot in which to live out his golden years. But when his former colleague “Old Hunter” mentions the plight of young Min Lihua, Chen's professional curiosity is piqued. It doesn’t hurt that Min shares Chen’s literary soul or that Old Hunter flatters Chen by continuing to call him Chief. Min, whose private dinner parties have made her something of a celebrity, has been arrested for the murder of an attendee. As Chen investigates, he realizes that the juiciest thread in the case involves high-ranking Party official Judge Jiao, whose sex video has turned up on the internet. The Party’s fervid desire to transfer Min far away from the public eye also makes the detective suspicious. As in Chen’s dozen previous cases, bits of verse and references to favorite writers and books are woven into the tale. Chen’s identification with the righteous fictional sleuth Judge Dee fuels his quest for justice. The plot is full of unpredictable detours and sidebars that intensify the pleasure of following Chen’s vibrant curiosity.

An exhilarating blend of recent history, mystery, and the writer’s craft.

Kirkus Reviews