'Another wonderful novel' - Washington Post - in the internationally acclaimed Inspector Chen crime series

Now a BBC Radio 4 Drama Series.

Former dancer and party loyalist Wen Liping vanishes in rural China just before she was to leave the country. Her husband, a key witness against a smuggling ring suspected of importing aliens to the US, refuses to testify until she is found and brought to join him in America.

A few days later, a badly mutilated body turns up in Shanghai's Bund Park. It bears all the hallmarks of a triad killing.

The US immigration agency, convinced that the Chinese government are hiding something, send US Marshal Catherine Rohn to Shanghai to join the investigation.

Inspector Chen, an astute young policeman with twin passions for food and poetry, is under political pressure to find answers fast. When Catherine Rohn joins him he must decide what is more dangerous: to hide the truth, or to risk unleashing a scandal that could destroy his career.

"A sequel that in many ways is even more impressive" - Chicago Tribune

"A luminescent synthesis of a thriller and a literary novel." - 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

"Chen is a great creation, an honourable man in a world full of deception and treachery." - Guardian

"The first police whodunnit written by a Chinese author in English and set in contemporary China . . . its quality matches its novelty." - The Times

"The usual enjoyable mix of murder, poetry and contradictions of contemporary Chinese culture. Chen is a splendid creation." - Independent on Sunday

"A vivid portrait of modern Chinese society . . . full of the sights, sounds and smells of Shanghai . . . A work of real distinction." - Wall Street Journal

"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

"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

"Wonderful." - Washington Post