Shanghai Redemption (An Inspector Chen Series) by Qiu Xiaolong

Paperback:  "The system has no place for a cop who puts justice above the interests of the Party.  It's a miracle that I survived as long as I did."

For years, Inspector Chen Cao managed to balance the interests of the Communist Party and the promises made by his job.  He was both a Chief Inspector of Special Investigations of the Shanghai Police Department and the deputy party secretary of the bureau.  He was considered a potential rising star in the Party until, after one too many controversial cases that embarrassed powerful elements in the Party, Inspector Chen found himself neutralized.

Under the guise of a major promotion, a new position with a substantial title but no power, he is stripped of his job duties and isolated.  But that is still not enough, as it becomes increasingly clear that someone is attempting to set him up, for public disgrace and possibly worse.

The threat increases when Inspector Chen is charged with the investigation into a 'Red Prince' - a high Party figure who embodies the greed and corruption of modern China.  This 'Red Prince' has the kind of connections and power to deflect any attempts to bring him to justice.  With no power and few allies, the former Inspector Chen knows he is facing the most dangerous case of his career and his life.

Shanghai Redemption (2015) is the ninth instalment in the marvellous, engrossing, unpredictable and immensely readable Inspector Chen series set in China.  The series portray an honest cop whose personal ethics often conflict with the politically expedient orders from above.  The protagonist embodies the confusion - both ideological and spiritual - that haunts modern China.  Qiu captures China in transition elegantly and with clarity as well as gives a fresh perspective on the forces shaping a new China and the influences of the Cultural Revolution and Tiananmen in 1989.

About the author:  Qiu Xiaolong was born in Shanghai.  The Cultural Revolution began in his last year of elementary school, and out of school, out of a job, he studied English by himself in a local park.  In 1977, he began his studies at East China Normal University in Shanghai, and then the Chinese Academy of Social Science in Beijing.  He was selected for membership of the Chinese Writers' Association and published poetry, translations and criticism in China.  In 1988, he came to Washington University in St Louis, US as a Ford foundation fellow to do a project on TS Eliot.  After the Tiananmen tragedy of 1989, he decided to stay on.  He lives there still with his wife and daughter.

Rating:  5/5