Critics' Opinion:
Readers' rating:
Published May 2012
272 pages
Genre: Mysteries
Publication Information
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.
"Starred Review. Filled with beautiful descriptions and poetry (Chen is poet as well as detective) that
reinforce the beauty that is being polluted and lost. Magnificent." - Booklist
"Told with clarity and elegance, [this] portrait of modern China is as intriguing as its
slow-rolling whodunit." - Kirkus Reviews
"Odd, charming... despite its political edge, the novel has an endearing innocence."
- The Washington Post
"Chen works within a corrupt system and feels acutely the compromises which must be
made for progress, even within the scope of his investigations. Qiu masterfully paints
shades of gray into a very Chinese tale." - The Wall Street Journal
This information about Don't Cry, Tai Lake was first featured
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Any "Author Information" displayed below reflects the author's biography at the time this particular book was published.
Qiu Xiaolong was born in Shanghai, China. He published prize-winning poetry, translation and criticism in Chinese in the eighties, and became a member of the Chinese Writers' Association. In 1988, he came to the United States as a Ford Foundation Fellow, started writing in English, and obtained a Ph.D. in comparative literature at Washington University. He is the author of Death of a Red Heroine (2000), A Loyal Character Dancer (2002), When Red Is Black (2004), A Case of Two Cities (2006), Red Mandarin Dress (2007), The Mao Case (2009), Don't Cry, Tai Lake (2012), Enigma of China (2013), Shanghai Redemption (2015), and Becoming Inspector Chen (in French and Italian, 2016 and 2017) in the critically acclaimed, award-winning Inspector Chen series; a collection of linked stories Years of Red ...
... Full Biography
Author Interview
Link to Qiu Xiaolong's Website
Name Pronunciation
Qiu Xiaolong: chew shao-long (shao rhymes with how)
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