The latest in Qiu Xiaolong's critically-acclaimed series about crime in modern China, featuring Shanghai Police Chief Inspector Cao Chief Inspector Chen Cao of the Shanghai Police Department is in an unusual situation―a poet by training and inclination, he was assigned by the party to the Police Department after he graduated college, where he has continued to shine. Now he's a rising cadre in the party, in line to take over the top politic position in the police department, while being one of most respected policeman in the department. Which is why he's brought in by the Party to sign off on the investigation into the death of Zhou Keng. Zhou Keng―a trusted princeling, son of a major party member―was head of the Shanghai Housing Development Committee when a number of his corrupt practices were exposed on the internet. Removed from his position and placed into extra-legal detention, Zhou apparently hanged himself while under guard. While the Party is anxious to have Zhou's death declared a suicide, and for the renowned Chief Inspector Chen to sign off on that conclusion, the sequence of events don't quite add up. Now Chen will have to decide what to do – investigate the death as a possible homicide and risk angering unseen powerful people, or seek the justice that his position requires him to strive for. Qiu Xiaolong's Enigma of China is one of Publishers Weekly 's Best Mystery/Thriller Books of 2013 Praise for Enigma of China : "Superb...This installment approaches the levels of Eliot Pattison and James Church's similarly themed novels, and the series has gotten stronger with age." ― Publishers Weekly (starred review) "In addition to being a wonderful character study and surprise-packed mystery, Qiu's latest is a many-faceted study of contemporary China.." ― Booklist Praise for Don't Cry, Tai Lake : “When Chief Inspector Chen Cao of the Shanghai Police Department lucks into an all-expenses-paid getaway package, we veteran mystery readers anticipate that more snooping than snoozing will soon be on Chen's vacation itinerary. We are not disappointed.” ― NPR on Don't Cry, Tai Lake “Chen's seventh ( The Mao Case , 2009, etc.) is again peppered with poetry and told with clarity and elegance. Its portrait of modern China is as intriguing as its slow-rolling whodunit.” ― Kirkus Reviews on Don't Cry, Tai Lake “Thought-provoking, poetic and suspenseful.” ― The Wall Street Journal on Don't Cry, Tai Lake 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 . ONE CHIEF INSPECTOR CHEN CAO, of the Shanghai Police Bureau, was attending a lecture at the Shanghai Writers’ Association, sitting in the audience, frowning yet nodding, as if in rhythmic response to the speech. “The enigma of China. What’s that? Well, there’s a popular political catchphrase—socialism with Chinese characteristics—which is indeed an umbrella term for many enigmatic things. Things that are called socialist or communist in our Party’s newspapers but are in practice actually capitalistic, primitive or crony capitalistic, and utterly materialistic. And feudalistic, in that the children of high cadres—or princes—are themselves high cadres: the ‘red trustworthy,’ or the successors in our one-party system. “In spite of the Party propaganda machines chunking away at full throttle, Chinese society is morally, ideologically, and ethically bankrupt, yet still going, going like the rabbit in an American television commercial.” After tapping his pants pocket, looking for a pack of cigarettes, Chen stopped and thought better of it. It was one of those controversial yet permissible lectures. The speaker was a well-known scholar named Yao Ji, a research law professor at Shanghai Academy of Social Science. Not exactly a dissident, Yao was nonetheless considered a potential troublemaker because of his open criticisms of the problems in society. He had published a number of contentious articles and posted even more unpublishable articles on several blogs online. A gaunt, angular man, he spoke with his hands on the podium, his body leaning slightly forward, and his prominently balding head reflecting the light pouring in through the stained-glass window. He looked like a hallowed figure, as in a time-yellowed painting. Chen happened to know a thing or two about Yao due to an internal blacklist memo circulated in the police department. But it wasn’t his business, Chen told himself. He adjusted the amber-colored glasses along the ridge of his nose and pulled down the French beret just a little. He hoped he looked like anything but a cop. Here and now, it wasn’t a good idea to be recognized, even though several members of the association knew him fairly well. For the moment, Chen fo