Inspector Chen and the Private Kitchen Murder

Inspector Chen and the Private Kitchen Murder
Author: Qiu Xiaolong
Publisher: Severn House Publishers Ltd
Total Pages: 212
Release: 2021-09-01
Genre: Fiction
ISBN: 1448305543

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.

The Detective Inspector Chen Novels Volume One

The Detective Inspector Chen Novels Volume One
Author: Liz Williams
Publisher: Open Road Media
Total Pages: 935
Release: 2018-07-03
Genre: Fiction
ISBN: 1504054725

Three paranormal mysteries in an “exotic amalgam of police procedural, SF, comic fantasy, and horror . . . a delight from start to finish” (Locus). Det. Inspector Wei Chen of Singapore Three’s Thirteenth Precinct is “a detective whose beat reaches to the fringes of Heaven and Hell” (Booklist). Along with his demon partner from Hell’s vice squad, Zhu Irzh, Chen is the man to turn to for paranormal problems that are literally out of this world. Snake Agent: This “entertaining supernatural mystery” introduces an occult detective who is as serious as his beat is strange (Publishers Weekly). With a demon for his beloved wife, Det. Inspector Wei Chen possesses a comfort with the supernatural that most mortals cannot match. But his journey to Hell to find the waylaid ghost of Pearl Tang, the deceased daughter of a wealthy industrialist, will take him further into the abyss than ever before—to a mystifying place where he will need the help of a demonic detective to survive. Getting into Hell is easy. Getting out is another story. “Snake Agent combines disparate elements of Chinese mythology, urban fantasy, science fiction and mystery to create a rich milieu and a highly entertaining story.” —Jacqueline Carey, New York Times–bestselling author The Demon and the City: In this “wildly imaginative” second novel, demon Zhu Irzh has been assigned to aid the Singapore Three police department as they investigate cases that overlap this world and the world to come (Publishers Weekly). With Detective Inspector Chen on a well-deserved vacation, Zhu Irzh’s first murder case involves the savage killing of a rich would-be witch outside of the occult market. Soon he’s unearthed a supernatural conspiracy that proves Hell holds no monopoly on evil. Chen just may have to cut his vacation short. “Uniquely imaginative . . . [a] surreal fusion of Chinese mythology, paranormal high jinks, and satisfyingly suspenseful sleuthing.” —Booklist Precious Dragon: Chen and Zhu Irzh have been assigned to escort the Heavenly functionary Mi Li Qi on a diplomatic mission to the underworld. Soon after they check in to their hellish hotel, Qi vanishes into the abyss. Now they must follow her into the bowels of a demonic bureaucracy, where they will be forced to dodge all manner of otherworldly dangers if they wish to avoid a political incident with apocalyptic ramifications. “One of the most colorfully imaginative packages in recent fantasy.” —Booklist

Becoming Inspector Chen

Becoming Inspector Chen
Author: Qiu Xiaolong
Publisher: Severn House Publishers Ltd
Total Pages: 217
Release: 2021-02-01
Genre: Fiction
ISBN: 1448304911

Inspector Chen is excluded from a poetry case as he awaits possible disciplinary action, leaving him to reflect on his career . . . but does his past hold a clue to the poetry case? After a number of grueling cases Chief Inspector Chen is facing mounting pressure from his superiors, many of whom are concerned with where his loyalties lie. What's more, he is excluded from an investigation into an incendiary poem posted on an online forum. Wracked with self-doubt and facing an anxious wait to discover the fate of his career, Chen is left to reflect on the events that have led to where he is now - from his amateur investigations as a child during the Cultural Revolution, to his very first case on the Shanghai Police Force. Has fighting for the Chinese people and the morals he believes in put him in conflict with the Party? Why is he being kept away from the new case? As well as his career, is his life now also at risk?

Inspector Chen and Me

Inspector Chen and Me
Author: Xiaolong Qiu
Publisher:
Total Pages: 150
Release: 2018
Genre: Chen, Inspector (Fictitious character)
ISBN: 9781720197720

A collection of five Inspector Chen short stories.

A Loyal Character Dancer

A Loyal Character Dancer
Author: Qiu Xiaolong
Publisher: Soho Press
Total Pages: 369
Release: 2003-09-01
Genre: Fiction
ISBN: 1569477949

The second book in the Inspector Chen investigations Inspector Chen’s mentor in the Shanghai Police Bureau has assigned him to escort US Marshal Catherine Rohn. Her mission is to bring Wen, the wife of a witness in an important criminal trial, to the United States. Inspector Rohn is already en route when Chen learns that Wen has unaccountably vanished from her village in Fujian. Or is this just what he is supposed to believe? Chen resents his role; he would rather investigate the triad killing in Shanghai’s beautiful Bund Park. Li insists that saving face with Inspector Rohn takes priority. So Chen Cao, the ambitious son of a father who imbued him with Confucian precepts, must tread warily as he tries once again to be a good cop, a good man and also a loyal Party member.

The Foreign in International Crime Fiction

The Foreign in International Crime Fiction
Author: Jean Anderson
Publisher: A&C Black
Total Pages: 257
Release: 2012-06-14
Genre: Literary Criticism
ISBN: 1441177035

'The foreigner' is a familiar character in popular crime fiction, from the foreign detective whose outsider status provides a unique perspective on a familiar or exotic location to the xenophobic portrayal of the criminal 'other'. Exploring popular crime fiction from across the world, The Foreign in International Crime Fiction examines these popular works as 'transcultural contact zones' in which writers can tackle such issues as national identity, immigration, globalization and diaspora communities. Offering readings of 20th and 21st-century crime writing from Norway, the UK, India, China, Europe and Australasia, the essays in this book open up new directions for scholarship on crime writing and transnational literatures.

Enigma of China

Enigma of China
Author: Qiu Xiaolong
Publisher: Macmillan
Total Pages: 289
Release: 2013-06-18
Genre: Fiction
ISBN: 125002580X

The eighth novel in Qiu Xiaolong's acclaimed Chinese crime series sees Inspector Chen confronted by a terrible choice between Party politics or his principles - with his career at stake

Death of a Red Heroine

Death of a Red Heroine
Author: Qiu Xiaolong
Publisher: Soho Press
Total Pages: 445
Release: 2003-07-01
Genre: Fiction
ISBN: 1569472424

Qiu Xiaolong's Anthony Award-winning debut introduces Inspector Chen of the Shanghai Police. A young “national model worker,” renowned for her adherence to the principles of the Communist Party, turns up dead in a Shanghai canal. As Inspector Chen Cao of the Shanghai Special Cases Bureau struggles to trace the hidden threads of her past, he finds himself challenging the very political forces that have guided his life since birth. Chen must tiptoe around his superiors if he wants to get to the bottom of this crime, and risk his career—perhaps even his life—to see justice done.

Hold Your Breath, China

Hold Your Breath, China
Author: Qiu Xiaolong
Publisher: Severn House Publishers Ltd
Total Pages: 190
Release: 2020-04-01
Genre: Fiction
ISBN: 1448304164

"Fascinating... Xiaolong writes with both urgency and grace about modern China is another well-crafted mystery" - Booklist Starred Review Inspector Chen is on the case of a serial murderer when he is called away to report on environmentalists trying to tackle the pollution issues in China. Chief Inspector Chen and Detective Yu Guangming are brought into a serial murder case when the Homicide squad proves incapable of solving it. But before Chen can make a start, he is called away by a high-ranking Party member for a special assignment: to infiltrate a group of environmental activists meeting to discuss the pollution levels in the country and how to prompt the government into action. Chen knows it will be a far from simple task, especially when he discovers the leader of the group is a woman from his past. Meanwhile, Yu is left to investigate a serial murder case on his own. Both Chen and Yu face pressure from those above to resolve the cases in a satisfactory way . . . even if that means innocents face the punishment.

When Red Is Black

When Red Is Black
Author: Qiu Xiaolong
Publisher: Soho Press
Total Pages: 203
Release: 2005-08-01
Genre: Fiction
ISBN: 156947396X

When the murder of a woman is reported to the Shanghai police while Inspector Chen is on vacation, Sergeant Yu is forced to take charge of the investigation. The victim, Yin Lige, a novelist known for her banned book, has been found dead in her tiny, humble room off the stairwell of a converted multi-family house. It seems that only a neighbor could have committed the crime, for the building is kept locked at night. But there is no apparent motive. Sergeant Yu tries to unravel the reclusive woman’s past and begins to realize it may have larger political implications. The Cultural Revolution might be more than 30 years in the past, but its effects can still be felt at every level of Chinese society.