The Beijing Opera Murder (Inspector Bao Zheng Mysteries)

'Everything one could ask for in a crime novel - pace, excitement and a skilfully contrasted cast of characters.' Simon Brett.

China, 1990.

A nation struggles to reconcile its ancient traditions, the strident rhetoric of the Party, and the economic and social upheavals of change. Memories of the events on Tiananmen Square, from one year before, also haunt the city.

Inspector Bao Zheng is a middle-ranking Beijing detective caught in these conflicting currents.

For some relaxation, the inspector attends an evening of traditional opera – but the night proves far from relaxing. A murder is committed in the auditorium, and he has to investigate.

Bao soon finds himself involved with the renascent Triads, a young woman that his superiors would like to frame and the possibility of corruption at a high level.

He must also deal with the political consequences of Tiananmen.

Enemies are keen to expose Bao as sympathetic to the protestors, which would endanger his career and possibly his life.

The Inspector realizes that to solve the case and to save himself he must put himself in peril. But will this judgement prove fatal?

Originally published as Death of a Blue Lantern, The Beijing Opera Murder is the first in a series of crime novels set in China during the decade it changed from an inward-looking ‘sleeping giant’ to a global economic superpower.

Chris West is a British writer. He works in a range of genres: business, psychology, history and crime / general fiction. His China Quartet, four mysteries written in the 1990s, were among the first crime novels to be set in the contemporary People's Republic of China.

Praise for the Inspector Bao Zheng series:

‘Does for China what Gorky Park did for Russia.’ OLINE COGDILL, Fort Lauderdale Sun Sentinel

‘Few authors since Robert van Gulik have been able to create such a wonderful picture of Chinese society.’ IRA ASHCROFT, Mystery Review

‘A perfect melding of character, plot and atmosphere. My number one read for the year.’ G. MIKI HAYDEN, Mid-West Review