"WHEN RED IS BLACK" by Qiu Xiaolong

As I had noted in my sidebar, there was a good review of the "Detective Chen" novels and I wanted to read them. The two that I recently read are excellent. This one was written in 2004, four years after introducing Detective Chen Cao in "Death of a Red Heroine." I really like the story and particularly appreciate the writer's use of authentic, recent, cultural, history as the backdrop in the Shanghai murders.

Chen enjoys writing and reading poetry, a talent that he once considered as his vocational calling. But China's cultural revolution propelled him into police workChen uses his vacation time to moonlight as a translator for a well-connected businessman. Only later does he realize that he has purposely been sidetracked to keep him from being the lead investigator in a murder with political overtones.
. He thinks he may be too old to consider a career change now that it is safe to do so.

Chen's assistant, Sergeant Yu, is assigned the lead. Yu is a dedicated policeman but no match for the forces underlying the murder. With some resentment, Yu is relieved when Chen offers to "help out" with the investigation. Yu knows that Chen is much more attuned to the political aspects of the case and knows how to work the system in his favor. In addition to quoting Chinese poets throughout the novel, the author gives the reader snippets of Mao's policies of the sixties as well as some Confucion wisdom. Det. Chen does not like Confucianism, though his father tried to instill it in him. Chen feels that it caused, rather than solved, the suffering of prior generations of Chinese. And yet, he believes in some Confucian ethical principles; for example, that work for the country is a first priority, even more so than family considerations.
Through Chen, the author shows the respect that people pay each other by listening well, taking the time to allow the talker to get to the point, and finding something upon which to compliment the other person. The author also gives us a look at the type of food that is usual fare in China ... none of it appealed to my squeamish stomach. Especially the ending of the story where everyone sat down to enjoy dinner. "It was a huge, monstrous turtle. With its head cut off and its shell strewn with sliced ginger and chopped scallions, it filled the small room with a dreamlike aroma." (Uh, no thanks, I'll just skip dinner tonight).