Wed 9 Jun 2010
Reviewed by LJ Roberts: QIU XIAOLONG – When Red Is Black.
Posted by Steve under Bibliographies, Lists & Checklists , Characters , Reviews[3] Comments
Reviews by L. J. Roberts
QIU XIAOLONG – When Red Is Black. Soho Crime, hardcover, July 2004; trade paperback, August 2005.
Genre: Police procedural. Leading characters: Sergeant Yu & Inspector Chen Cao, 3rd in series. Setting: Shanghai, China–Contemporary/1990s.
First Sentence: Detective Yu Guangming of the Shanghai Police Bureau stood alone, still reeling of the blow.
Inspector Chen Cao is taking time off from his role with the police. He has been asked to translate a business proposal for a triad-related businessman. The proposal is for the construction of a new shopping/residential complex in Shanghai called the New World.
Both the salary and the benefits are too good to resist, but Chen ultimately finds everything has strings.
With Chen unavailable, Sgt. Yu must take charge of the newest investigation. Yin was a college teacher and novelist living in a tiny room in a multi-family house. While she wasn’t well liked, she kept to herself. With the house locked at night, was she murdered by a neighbor? If so, why did they ransack her room but not take her money?
Qiu Xiaolong (pronounced “chew shao-long”) has become one of my favorite authors. He creates such a strong sense of place with wonderful descriptions, from the largest panorama to the smallest detail.
The inclusion of both Chinese and western poetry is something I so appreciate and enjoy. Food plays such a significant role in China. Its inclusion is so well done and, even if some of the particular dishes may not appeal to my western palate, I always end up hungry while reading. There is one particular scene when Chen goes to a restaurant with 1930s European style serving supposedly western food which was very interesting.
I learned so much about life during the Cultural Revolution; a period about which I know virtually nothing. It is interesting to read about the lasting impact on those who lived through it as well as the confusion of living in a rapidly changing China.
I very much enjoy Qui’s characters. While I was glad Chen wasn’t completely absent from the scene, it was nice to have Yu and his wife, Peiqin, move to the forefront. Not only did I learn more about them and their lives, but saw all the major characters grow and develop as the book progressed.
The plot is very effective. I find the difference in the style of questioning fascinating but the process of following the leads is the same in all cultures.
My one criticism would be that the confession of the killer seemed abrupt, but that could be a cultural difference as well. I did think the ending was excellent. I highly recommend When Red is Black although, as always, I suggest starting the series at the beginning.
Rating: Very Good.
The Inspector Chen series —
1. Death of a Red Heroine (2000)
2. A Loyal Character Dancer (2002)
3. When Red Is Black (2004)
4. A Case of Two Cities (2006)
5. Red Mandarin Dress (2007)
6. The Mao Case (2009)
7. Years of Red Dust (forthcoming, 2010)
June 9th, 2010 at 6:56 pm
There does seem to be something universal about the appeal of detective and crime fiction across all cultural barriers.
I recall Robert Louis Stevenson writing Conan Doyle from Hawaii to complain that the natives much preferred when he read them Sherlock Holmes adventures to his own stories even though they had no concept of things like trains that figured so importantly in Doyle’s stories.
It’s something about problem solving, uncovering truth, and revealing secrets, but it seems to be a universal human appeal and soon after anything like a free press appears detective stories and crime fiction quickly fill the void.
Although it shouldn’t surprise us, many of the figures from myth and ancient literature behave as ur-sleuths, solving riddles, discovering truth, and defeating the forces of chaos by restoring order — which is what detectives do in any language.
June 9th, 2010 at 7:09 pm
I have the first three in this series, but I have not read any of them yet. I bought them purely as detective stories, of the police procedural variety, but I don’t think Soho Press publishes any detective stories that are just that, detective stories.
Between LJ’s review and David’s critical analysis, I can see what I’ve been missing in putting them farther and farther back in the queue.
Some of the best literature today, I’m convinced, is being printed as “mere” detective fiction.
David, you’re spot on when you say, “…soon after anything like a free press appears detective stories and crime fiction quickly fill the void.”
— Steve
June 10th, 2010 at 1:36 am
Soho Press has been remarkably good to me in the sense that almost everything they publish is worth at least trying, and some of them have become new favorites. And they really are attractive trade paperbacks.