''A Case of Two Cities'' is

Qiu Xiaolong Qiu Xiaolong (, Chinese pronunciation /tɕʰjoʊː ˌɕjɑʊˈlʊŋ/, American English pronunciation ; born Shanghai, China, 1953) is a crime novelist, English-language poet, literary translator, critic, and academic, who has lived for many ...

's fourth Inspector Chen novel (after 2004's ''

When Red Is Black ''When Red is Black'' is Qiu Xiaolong's third Inspector Chen mystery and provides an insightful look into modern China China, officially the People's Republic of China (PRC), is a country in East Asia. It is the world's most populous coun ...

''). Character, poetry, insights into Chinese society and culture, and food all come before story in this

crime novel Crime fiction, detective story, murder mystery, mystery novel, and police novel are terms used to describe narratives that centre on criminal acts and especially on the investigation, either by an amateur or a professional detective, of a crime, ...

Plot summary

Inspector Chen Cao of the

Shanghai Shanghai (; , , Standard Mandarin pronunciation: ) is one of the four direct-administered municipalities of the People's Republic of China (PRC). The city is located on the southern estuary of the Yangtze River, with the Huangpu River flowin ...

Police Department The police are a constituted body of persons empowered by a state, with the aim to enforce the law, to ensure the safety, health and possessions of citizens, and to prevent crime and civil disorder. Their lawful powers include arrest a ...

is assigned a high-profile anti-corruption case, one in which the principal figure has long since fled to the United States and beyond the reach of the Chinese government. But he left behind the organization and his partners-in-crime, and Inspector Chen is charged to uncover those responsible and act as necessary to end the corruption ring though he is not sure whether he's actually being set up to fail. The investigation takes him from Shanghai all the way to the U.S. where he meets his colleague and counterpart from the U.S. Marshall's Service, Inspector Catherine Rhon.

Literary Review

There's something especially brave and noble about a cop who perseveres under difficult circumstances. Readers who love China will be heartened, as this gritty, suspenseful tale unfolds, to discover that Inspector Chen is far from alone in his quest to build a humane Chinese society.
The Washington Post - Richard Lipez Hidden under the surface of the crime novel are some observations by the author. Qiu comments through his tale about the changing scape of China's economy and how new crime and corruption are rising with the general prosperity of China. He also shows many cultural differences that are created or perhaps only now noticed as China changes her economic status and how these simple differences can create hostility. The author also illustrated how cultural differences may lead to hostility or bad feelings, for example, when the Chinese delegation find no water bottles for

tea Tea is an aromatic beverage prepared by pouring hot or boiling water over cured or fresh leaves of '' Camellia sinensis'', an evergreen shrub native to East Asia which probably originated in the borderlands of southwestern China and north ...

in their hotel rooms when visiting the US for the first time, as opposed to China, where there would be water bottles in each hotel room for tea. Therefore, the absence of hot water bottles is an oversight and is equal to an insult. From the American perceptive, a hot water bottle is not a standard requirement item in the hotel room, as offering tea to your guests is not a standard for the Americans.

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Case Of Two Cities, A 2006 American novels Novels by Qiu Xiaolong Novels set in China Novels set in the United States Minotaur Books books