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Red Mandarin Dress
By Qiu Xiaolong
Several years ago I read A Loyal Character Dancer by Qiu Xiaolong. It was different, so I reviewed it and enjoyed it. Red Mandarin Dress reminds me that this author is a pleasure to read. Xiaolong is a poet as well as a storyteller that can put a very good mystery together.
Chief Inspector Chen Cao lives in Shanghai and his "real job" is to solve sensitive cases for the Shanghai Police Department. He is also writing a paper for his course on Chinese literature, and takes time off whenever he can to work on it.
Chen has lived through the Cultural Revolution in China, and now that those years are over, it is sometimes a difficult job to tip toe with lip service to the Communist Government Party, while watching the country going full speed ahead with capitalism running rampant! The former Red Guards are now despised by all, and this provides the background for this fascinating tale.
Chen is at a critical point in trying to finish his literary paper , when a case explodes in the city involving a serial killer. The victims are young girls found murdered and all are dressed in exquisite red mandarin dresses.
The police have no clues, and Chen is forced to return to his job as chief inspector to try to discover the psychological reasoning behind these macabre murders.
The reader is treated to a view of the rapidly changing way of life in present day China, as well as looking back to the terrible days of the Cultural Revolution. The plot is intricate and challenging, and the characters involved are wonderful, colorful, and unpredictable. The poetry that keeps appearing in appropriate and relevant sections of the mystery add to the charm and mystique of China today.
Mr. Xiaolong was born in Shanghai, but has lived in St. Louis, Missouri, since 1988. He is a poet and a translator and has an M.A. and Ph.D.. from Washington University. Inspector Chen appears in several of his previous novels.
Published: St. Martin's Press
175 Fifth Avenue
New York, NY 10010
Copyright: © 2007 by Qiu Xiaolong
Reviewed: 01/28/08 - 240
Copyright: © 2008 by Joan G. Smith
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