Cover of When Red Is Black

When Red Is Black

Book 3 of the Inspector Chen Cao series

Inspector Chen Cao of the Shanghai Police Bureau is taking a vacation, in part because he is annoyed at his boss, Party Secretary Li, but also because he has been made an offer he can't refuse by Gu, a triad-connected businessman. For what seems to be a fortune—with no apparent strings attached— he is to translate a business proposal for the New World, a complex of shops and restaurants to be built in Central Shanghai, evoking nostalgia for the "glitter and glamour" of the 1930s.

It is up to Detective Yu, Chen's partner, to take charge of a new case. Yin, a novelist, has been murdered in her room. At first it seems that only a neighbor could have committed the crime, but when one confesses, Yu cannot believe that he is really the killer. As Yu looks further into Yin's life, ample motives begin to surface, even on the part of Internal Security. But it is only when Inspector Chen steps back into the investigation that the culprit is apprehended. And then Chen discovers how Gu has played him and how he, in turn, can play the new capitalist system.

Genre
mysterycrimethrillerdetectivehistorical mystery
Themes
police
Setting
2000schinashanghaiasia
Audience
adult
Length
medium · 310 pages

Click a tag to see books like this one that share it.

Read it? Sign in to help tag it.

Liked When Red Is Black? Here’s where I’d start.

These suit anyone who liked When Red Is Black. Sign in and mark a few books for picks shaped around your own taste.

  1. The Eye of Jade Shares mystery, china, crime
  2. The Interior Shares mystery, china, fiction
  3. The Killing Room Shares mystery, china, crime
  4. The Hua Shan Hospital Murders Shares china, mystery, crime

“People who read When Red Is Black tend to reach for these next.”

  1. The Lord of Death
  2. The Boat to Redemption
  3. Inspector Imanishi Investigates
  4. Death at the Crossroads

“If you want more of the same (mystery about police), start with these.”

  1. The Shanghai Murders
  2. Dragon's Eye
  3. Chinese Whispers
  4. Celebrated Cases of Judge Dee

“If it was the china that hooked you, try one of these.”

  1. The Chinese Jars
  2. Flower Net
  3. Paper Butterfly
  4. The First Excellence ~ Fa-ling's Map

“These start from a similar idea, even if they go somewhere else with it.”

  1. Nine Dragons
  2. The Adventure of the Golden Pince-Nez
  3. Her Last Love Affair
  4. Killer Look