Enigma of China

While discussions on modern China usually take a heavy tone – or sometimes a flippant or sarcastic one – novelist Qiu Xiaolong has instead navigated a successful path of combining the issues of the moment with a charming whodunit. Enigma of China marks the eighth installment of the Inspector Chen series, which star the poetry-quoting senior policeman Chen Cao (Chief Inspector of the Shanghai Police Bureau, first deputy Party secretary of the bureau and member of the Shanghai Communist Party Committee) with a reputation for being honest and doing the right thing.