A Loyal Character Dancer

One morning in the park by the Bund, Chief Inspector Chen finds a dead body with precisely 18 axe wounds. He decides to take up the case - however, he is also ordered to escort a U.S. Marshal (Catherine Rohn) and assist her with her investigation. In this case, it means going to look for the wife of a witness in a human-smuggling investigation who will not talk unless his wife is with him. Things are complicated by the fact that the woman has gone missing.

Commentators enjoyed both the main character and the book's portrait of an evolving China.^[3] Kirkus Reviews said "Likable, admirable Chen makes a sturdy protagonist, but it’s China in transition—always interesting, often bewildering—that gets the star turn here."^[1] London Review of Books also found the portrait of China key to this novel and the whole series, with their analysis of misplaced nostalgia for the Cultural Revolution and focus on the "benign cultural force" of food.^[2] Similarly, Mystery Tribune praised the character of Chen Cao, "a poetry-quoting cop with integrity", but noted that "the main concern in the books is modern China itself. Each book features quotes from ancient and modern poets, Confucius, insights into Chinese cuisine, architecture, history, politics, herbology and philosophy as well as criminal procedure."^[4]