Death of a Red Heroine Audiobook By Qiu Xiaolong cover art

Death of a Red Heroine

Inspector Chen Series, Book 1

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Death of a Red Heroine

By: Qiu Xiaolong
Narrated by: David Shih
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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.

©2000 Qiu Xiaolong (P)2017 Tantor Crime Fiction International Mystery & Crime Mystery Police Procedural Fiction China Crime Suspense
Intriguing Plot • Insightful Cultural Details • Distinctive Character Voices • Unique Twist Ending
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Narrator David Shih is pretty good, but the storyline is far too slow-moving for the first half. I appreciated the picture of Chinese history, along with the subtleties, and terrors, of party politics. Qiu’s perspective is valuable, and I will read more to see if his plots get better, and clearer.

worth it for the history

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The book was a nice peek into Chinese culture and how PRC society functions. The ending had a different version of a plot twist; but nevertheless, it illustrated well how the government twist things to continue it's control over the population. The added literary references an added bonus.

interesting insight into Chinese an Chines Culture

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The story keeps your interest until the very end.. But it is also intriguing because of its description of everyday life in the 1990's in Communist China . There is tension between the character's desire to live an honorable life seeking justice and what is "in the best interests of the Party". Also notable in presenting both modern and traditional poetry and descriptions of food.

Very good!

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Not really a detective story but rather a police procedural novel with insight into the impact of communist party struggle between old and new. A bit sad as recently in China. the party has grown in power.

Interesting but slow

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I was interested in this b/c it is on a top 100 mysterious list. while there is a murder and it does get solved, it is really an examination of the social and political climate in China after Tiannimen Square incident. I know I didn't spell that right. Even though I don't necessarily care about that, the story kept my interest and I was informed. I was grateful I consumed this on audio b/c I never would have known how to pronounce the names and that would have been distracting to read.

not what I was expecting

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the story is nteresting for cultural context. but the investigation itself lacked suspense and intrigue.

interesting for cultural context.

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So much for western bourgeois decadence- sex sells
I wouldn’t recommend this book other than a slight glimpse of what is headed down the road for cultural reassignment in the good old us of a

Exhausting

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Slow start, but as the story unfolds the mementum builds. The Chief Inspector is a likable character, a poet at heart and also very committed to solving the murder case.
I gained a lot of insight on the culture and values in China.

Murder, politics and poetry

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Along with a good detective story we get lots of details on food: how wonderful green onions smell floating in soup; how a snake looks when it’s skinned. Politics: which it turns out is the same everywhere. And poetry: lots of poetry.

China in depth

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This marks the beginning of Qiu Xiaolong's Inspector Chen novels, and it does not disappoint.

Narration by David Shih is outstanding.

The Beginning

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