Product Details

The New York Times - Marilyn Stasio

"Runaway capitalism can be held accountable for a multitude of social sins, but can it be blamed for the acts of a serial killer? That s one of the many intriguing questions posed by the poet and translator Qiu Xiaolong in his latest Inspector Chen mystery Red Mandarin Dress"

Publishers Weekly

Bringing 1990s Communist China alive, Qiu's masterful fifth Inspector Chen mystery (after 2006's A Case of Two Cities) finds Shanghai terrorized by its first-ever serial killer. The murderer dresses his victims' corpses in fancy red mandarin dresses before leaving them in public places. Insp. Chen Cao of the Shanghai Police Department has taken a step back from his professional life to pursue an advanced literature course instead of investigating a politically sensitive corruption case, but now he must return to active duty and help in the manhunt. He learns that the symbolic garb may be connected to the corruption scandal, but not before a young female officer falls prey. The solution may strike some as a little pat, but the first-rate characterizations and elegant portrait of a society attempting to move from rigid Maoist ideologies to an accommodation with capitalism will keep readers engaged and eager for more. (Nov.)

Jo Ann Vicarel - Library Journal

Shanghai Police Chief Inspector Chen is making one last stab at attaining his graduate degree in literature. However, he is asked to take a look at a case involving financial corruption on a high level. Then there are the murders of young women clad in red mandarin dresses. Whether he is chasing a serial killer or a thieving bureaucrat, Chen is at his best dodging political land mines and solving personal dilemmas. In this fifth entry in an outstanding series (Death of a Red Heroine), author Qiu captures the bustling atmosphere of modern China coming to grips with its Communist roots. Patrons who enjoy mysteries set in today's China, such as those by Peter May, will want this one. The author lives in St. Louis.

Kirkus Reviews

A methodical serial killer's method baffles Shanghai police. A morning jogger discovers the corpse of a beautiful young woman in a vintage red Mandarin dress. With Chief Inspector Chen Cao (A Case of Two Cities, 2006, etc.) on a leave of absence to pursue an advanced degree in literary studies, the case falls to his uninspired second-in-command, Det. Yu, who's eager to fly solo and make a favorable impression. Chen's leave doesn't stop an influential member of the Shanghai People's Congress from insisting that Chen investigate a politically sensitive case involving a local housing project. So Chen's literary investigation gets folded in with metropolitan police pursuits and such arcane studies as the sociological and sexual symbolism behind the red Mandarin dress. A second dead girl in identical attire prompts police to look for patterns. This second victim was a "three-accompanying girl" (a prostitute) and the first worked long hours in a hotel to avoid such a fate. Clues lead police to a local dance club, where they set up a sting in which eager young policewoman Hong acts as a decoy. The plan goes so terribly wrong-Hong vanishes and is later found dead in a red Mandarin dress-that Chen puts his studies on hold to unravel the complex psychology of the killer. The author's heady plot highlights his strengths, elegantly capturing China in transition. A fascinating read.