Don't Cry, Tai Lake
An Inspector Chen Novel
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4.1 • 14 Ratings
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- $12.99
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- $12.99
Publisher Description
"Dark, gorgeous…feels authentically Chinese and it works like a charm." --Washington Post Book World on A Case of Two Cities
Chief Inspector Chen Cao of the Shanghai Police Department is offered a bit of luxury by friends and supporters within the Party – a week's vacation at a luxurious resort near Lake Tai, a week where he can relax, and recover, undisturbed by outside demands or disruptions. Unfortunately, the once beautiful Lake Tai, renowned for its clear waters, is now covered by fetid algae, its waters polluted by toxic runoff from local manufacturing plants.
Then the director of one of the manufacturing plants responsible for the pollution is murdered and the leader of the local ecological group is the primary suspect of the local police. Now Inspector Chen must tread carefully if he is to uncover the truth behind the brutal murder and find a measure of justice for both the victim and the accused.
PUBLISHERS WEEKLY
Edgar-finalist Qiu's enjoyable seventh Inspector Chen novel (after 2009's The Mao Case) takes the vacationing Shanghai police officer to the exclusive Wuxi Cadre Recreation Center on the shores of Tai Lake, where Chen befriends Shanshan, a female environmental engineer who works at one of the most successful chemical companies in the region. When the idealistic Shanshan gets into trouble at work, Chen's good-natured offer to meet a local admirer of his, a recent police academy graduate, gives Chen an opportunity to help Shanshan, though his efforts soon lead him to investigate the murder of the head of Shanshan's factory. That serendipity sometimes furthers the detective work won't bother those for whom this mystery's chief appeal is its insights into many of the contradictions of present-day China, a classless society where you have to be a high-ranking party cadre to gain free access to a park renowned for its scenic beauty and where industry booms at the cost of severe water pollution.
