The third of the Inspector Chen crime series concentrates more on life in 1990s Shanghai than on murder, as characters try to come to terms with Deng's economic revolution replacing Mao's cultural one. Recommended as truly out of the ordinary, with a gentle pace which allows the expat author to include poems (some) and recipes (lots).
When Yu had first entered the police force, his objective was a clear one: to do better than his father, Old Hunter, who, though a capable policeman, never rose higher than sergeant in rank .... As a detective, he was one notch higher, but he did not feel nearly as good as Old Hunter used to feel.
