Detective Inspector Chen Series
Written by Qiu Xiaolong
Narrated by David Shih
3.5/5
()
About this series
Chen is debating whether to translate the ‘Wuhan File’—a diary of life during the Wuhan disaster smuggled to him by a close friend—and expose the CCP’s secrets to the world when to his surprise he is summoned by a high-level party cadre to help investigate a series of murders near a local Shanghai hospital.
Under pressure from the Party to reach a quick conclusion and help maintain political stability, Chen investigates, aware that he too has been placed under omnipresent, omnipotent surveillance.
And as he works, determined to uncover the truth, no matter what, he risks everything by deciding to translate the Wuhan Files. For one thing is true in China: you must be absolutely loyal to the Party. Otherwise, you are considered absolutely disloyal, and the consequences are dark indeed …
Titles in the series (5)
- Death of a Red Heroine
1
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.
- A Loyal Character Dancer
2
Inspector Chen's mentor in the Shanghai Police Bureau has assigned him to escort U.S. 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.
- When Red Is Black
3
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 thirty years in the past, but its effects can still be felt at every level of Chinese society.
- Inspector Chen and the Private Kitchen Murder
12
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.
- Love and Murder in the Time of Covid
13
The Covid crisis is at its height in China. Ex chief inspector Chen Cao is horrified by the way the Chinese Communist Party are using the pandemic as an excuse to put the Chinese people under blanket surveillance and by the soaring number of deaths caused not by Covid, but by the CCP’s inhuman ‘zero Covid’ policy. Chen is debating whether to translate the ‘Wuhan File’—a diary of life during the Wuhan disaster smuggled to him by a close friend—and expose the CCP’s secrets to the world when to his surprise he is summoned by a high-level party cadre to help investigate a series of murders near a local Shanghai hospital. Under pressure from the Party to reach a quick conclusion and help maintain political stability, Chen investigates, aware that he too has been placed under omnipresent, omnipotent surveillance. And as he works, determined to uncover the truth, no matter what, he risks everything by deciding to translate the Wuhan Files. For one thing is true in China: you must be absolutely loyal to the Party. Otherwise, you are considered absolutely disloyal, and the consequences are dark indeed …
Qiu Xiaolong
Qiu Xiaolong was born in Shanghai and, since 1988, has lived in St. Louis, Missouri. A poet and a translator, he has an MA and a Ph.D. from Washington University. He is the author of several previous novels featuring Inspector Chen, including the award-winning Death of a Red Heroine and A Case of Two Cities.
Related to Detective Inspector Chen
Related audiobooks
Inspector Chen and the Private Kitchen Murder Rating: 4 out of 5 stars4/5The Assistant Rating: 5 out of 5 stars5/5The Shadow of the Empire Rating: 4 out of 5 stars4/5Duplicate Keys Rating: 3 out of 5 stars3/5The Shadow District Rating: 4 out of 5 stars4/5A Loyal Character Dancer Rating: 4 out of 5 stars4/5Love and Murder in the Time of Covid Rating: 5 out of 5 stars5/5When Red Is Black Rating: 4 out of 5 stars4/5The Rat Catchers' Olympics Rating: 4 out of 5 stars4/5Little Drummer Rating: 3 out of 5 stars3/5A Death in Summer: A Novel Rating: 4 out of 5 stars4/5The Indian Bride Rating: 5 out of 5 stars5/5Hell Fire Rating: 0 out of 5 stars0 ratingsA Cure for Night Rating: 3 out of 5 stars3/5The Delightful Life of a Suicide Pilot Rating: 4 out of 5 stars4/5This Poison Will Remain Rating: 5 out of 5 stars5/5The Chill Factor: Suspense and Espionage in Cold War Iceland Rating: 0 out of 5 stars0 ratingsDon't Eat Me Rating: 4 out of 5 stars4/5The Villa of Mysteries Rating: 5 out of 5 stars5/5Let the Dead Lie Rating: 4 out of 5 stars4/5A Carrion Death: Introducing Detective Kubu Rating: 4 out of 5 stars4/5I Shot the Buddha Rating: 4 out of 5 stars4/5Hudson's Kill: A Justice Flanagan Thriller Rating: 4 out of 5 stars4/5Lucky Rating: 0 out of 5 stars0 ratingsThe Magistrate Rating: 0 out of 5 stars0 ratingsDeath In Shanghai Rating: 4 out of 5 stars4/5
Crime Thriller For You
The Godfather: 50th Anniversary Edition Rating: 5 out of 5 stars5/5And Then There Were None Rating: 4 out of 5 stars4/5Finn Rating: 4 out of 5 stars4/5The Stillwater Girls Rating: 4 out of 5 stars4/5Woman in the Library, The Rating: 4 out of 5 stars4/5Perfume: The Story of a Murderer Rating: 4 out of 5 stars4/5Hit and Run Rating: 4 out of 5 stars4/5Mystic River Rating: 4 out of 5 stars4/5Razorblade Tears: A Novel Rating: 5 out of 5 stars5/5The Club: A Novel Rating: 4 out of 5 stars4/5Murder on the Orient Express: A Hercule Poirot Mystery: The Official Authorized Edition Rating: 4 out of 5 stars4/5Death on the Nile: A Hercule Poirot Mystery: The Official Authorized Edition Rating: 4 out of 5 stars4/5Hallowe'en Party: A Hercule Poirot Mystery: The Official Authorized Edition Rating: 4 out of 5 stars4/5Notes on an Execution: A Novel Rating: 4 out of 5 stars4/5The Colorado Kid Rating: 4 out of 5 stars4/5The Devil's Song Rating: 4 out of 5 stars4/5The Fifth Suspect Rating: 4 out of 5 stars4/5Thriller: Stories to Keep You Up All Night Rating: 4 out of 5 stars4/5Fractured: A Will Trent Thriller Rating: 4 out of 5 stars4/5The Murderer's Maid: A Lizzie Borden Novel Rating: 4 out of 5 stars4/5The Murder of Roger Ackroyd: A Hercule Poirot Mystery: The Official Authorized Edition Rating: 5 out of 5 stars5/5Still Life: A Chief Inspector Gamache Novel Rating: 4 out of 5 stars4/5Win Rating: 4 out of 5 stars4/5These Silent Woods: A Novel Rating: 4 out of 5 stars4/5Lucky Rating: 4 out of 5 stars4/5Orphan X Rating: 4 out of 5 stars4/5Saving Noah Rating: 4 out of 5 stars4/5Two for the Dough Rating: 4 out of 5 stars4/5River Wild: A Thriller Rating: 4 out of 5 stars4/5Cleaning the Gold: A Jack Reacher and Will Trent Short Story Rating: 4 out of 5 stars4/5
Related categories
Reviews for Detective Inspector Chen
660 ratings0 reviews