Red Mandarin Dress: Inspector Chen 5 (As heard on Radio 4) - Tapa blanda

Wonderful. * Washington Post * Gripping . . . Chen stands in a class with Martin Cruz Smith's Russian investigator, Arkady Renko, and P.D. James's Scotland Yard inspector, Adam Dalgliesh. * Publishers Weekly * Qiu Xiaolong is one of the brightest stars in the firmament of modern literary crime fiction. His Inspector Chen mysteries dazzle as they entertain, combining crime with Chinese philosophy, poetry and food, Triad gangsters and corrupt officials. * Canberra Times, Australia * A vivid portrait of modern Chinese society . . . full of the sights, sounds and smells of Shanghai . . . A work of real distinction. * Wall Street Journal * The usual enjoyable mix of murder, poetry and contradictions of contemporary Chinese culture. Chen is a splendid creation. * Independent on Sunday * The first police whodunnit written by a Chinese author in English and set in contemporary China . . . its quality matches its novelty. * The Times * With strong and subtle characterisation, Qiu Xiaolong draws us into a fascinating world where the greatest mystery revealed is the mystery of present-day China itself. -- John Harvey Chen is a great creation, an honourable man in a world full of deception and treachery. * Guardian * Atmospheric and rich in behind the scenes detail . . . Morse of the Far East. * Independent * Xiaolong's astute rendering of the many contradictions of contemporary Chinese life centres on the brilliant Inspector Chen . . . A series that might well get you hooked. * Sunday Telegraph * A thrilling crime story and also an absorbing look at modern China. * The Herald * Intriguing ... pertinent ... intelligent * New York Times *

Now a BBC Radio 4 Drama Series. Political corruption, capitalist greed and past injustices are all revealed when Inspector Chen investigates a serial killer in Shanghai. An early morning jogger found her. Clad in nothing but a red mandarin dress, she had been dumped, barely concealed, on a traffic island. The death of a dancing girl was unpleasant but this was particularly unusual in that she had been left openly in the centre of town. She had probably angered one of the Mr Big Bucks that were taking over and transforming Shanghai. Inspector Chen is an intuitive investigator, a talented poet and an honourable man on the edge of a nervous breakdown. Desperate to find a way to release himself from the perilous police career that had been chosen for him, he takes time off to begin an MA in Literature. Then another girl is found dead . . . With a serial killer on the loose. Chen is pulled back to work and into his most dangerous assignment yet.