After a number of grueling cases Chief Inspector Chen is facing mounting pressure from his superiors, many of whom are concerned with where his loyalties lie. What's more, he is excluded from an investigation into an incendiary poem posted on an online forum.Wracked with self-doubt and facing an anxious wait to discover the fate of his career, Chen is left to reflect on the events that have led to where he is now - from his amateur investigations as a child during the Cultural Revolution, to his very first case on the Shanghai Police Force.Has fighting for the Chinese people and the morals he believes in put him in conflict with the Party? Why is he being kept away from the new case? As well as his career, is his life now also at risk? "Gripping . Both a scathing indictment of contemporary China and an explanation of how poet Chen came to be Chief Inspector Chen" Booklist"Another elegant mix of recent history and literary embellishments and a richer Chen backstory . Qiu's stylish hybrid is half fictional literary memoir and half crisp whodunit" Kirkus Reviews.