A Loyal Character Dancer [Paperback]

The second book in the Inspector Chen investigations

Inspector Chen’s mentor in the Shanghai Police Bureau has assigned him to escort US Marshal Catherine Rohn. Her mission is to bring Wen, the wife of a witness in an important criminal trial, to the United States. Inspector Rohn is already en route when Chen learns that Wen has unaccountably vanished from her village in Fujian. Or is this just what he is supposed to believe? Chen resents his role; he would rather investigate the triad killing in Shanghai’s beautiful Bund Park. Li insists that saving face with Inspector Rohn takes priority. So Chen Cao, the ambitious son of a father who imbued him with Confucian precepts, must tread warily as he tries once again to be a good cop, a good man and also a loyal Party member.“Another wonderful novel featuring Inspector Chen of the Shanghai Police Bureau.”
—Maureen Corrigan, NPR’s “Fresh Air” andWashington Post Book World

“A luminescent synthesis of a thriller and a literary novel.”
—The Independent

“A sequel that in many ways is even more impressive [than the original] . . . we begin to realize that Chen is ideally suited not only to police work but also to the fine art of political survival. [Qiu] has moved from the poetic, exotic milieu of his first book (although plenty of both elements remain) into a tougher, wider, probably more commercial and modern vision of China as seen by America.”
—Chicago Tribune

“Qiu's second mystery is a treat.”
—St. Louis Post-Dispatch

“Enchanting . . . Shanghai under the masterful literary talents of Qiu Xiaolong, is described with breathtaking realism.”
—Tampa Tribune

“The travelogue aspects of this novel don't overwhelm its critical intelligence. The murder andl“¨