As heard on Radio 4 Series

Inspector Chen Cao of the Shanghai Police Bureau is summoned by an official of the party to take the lead in a corruption investigation - one where the principle figure and his family have long since fled to the United States, 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. In a twisting case that reunites him with his counterpart from the US Marshall's service - Inspector Catherine Rohn - Inspector Chen must find a measure of justice in a corrupt, expedient world.

Red Mandarin Dress

by Qiu Xiaolong

Published 27 November 2007

When a young girl is found murdered wearing nothing but a torn red mandarin dress, it does not completely surprise Detective Yu. Possibly one of those material girls fallen foul of the triads or a dangerous Mr Big Bucks. Lying low after a corruption investigation that could have tainted him badly politically, Inspector Chen has taken on part-time college studies to improve his chances in the Party system, or to qualify him for an alternative career. But then a second victim, a nightclub entertainer, is found dead in a similar red dress. With the possibility of a serial killer in Shanghai waiting to strike again, Chen is pulled back to work. Struggling with a breakdown under the combined pressure of his academic deadlines and the case, he must try to stop the killer under the most unexpected circumstances.

Enigma of China

by Qiu Xiaolong

Published 18 June 2013

Chief Inspector Chen Cao never had a choice about his career. A poet by training, he was assigned to the Shanghai Police Department after college. To his own surprise, he became an excellent detective, and now he's in line to take over the top political position in the department. Which is why the Party has chosen him for the investigation into the death of Zhou Keng.

Zhou Keng was running the Shanghai Housing Development Committee when a number of his corrupt practices were exposed. Removed from his position and placed into detention, he apparently hanged himself while under guard.

The Party is anxious to have Zhou's death declared a suicide, but the sequence of events doesn't quite add up. Now Chen will have to decide what to do - follow the party line, or seek the justice his position requires and risk angering powerful people...

Death of a Red Heroine

by Qiu Xiaolong

Published 1 July 2003

Now a BBC Radio 4 Drama Series.

Shanghai in 1990. An ancient city in a country that despite the massacre of Tiananmen Square is still in the tight grip of communist control. Chief Inspector Chen, a poet with a sound instinct for self-preservation, knows the city like few others.

When the body of a prominent Communist Party member is found, Chen is told to keep the party authorities informed about every lead. Also, he must keep the young woman's murder out of the papers at all costs. When his investigation leads him to the decadent offspring of high-ranking officials, he finds himself instantly removed from the case and reassigned to another area.

Chen has a choice: bend to the party's wishes and sacrifice his morals, or continue his investigation and risk dismissal from his job and from the party. Or worse . . .

The Mao Case

by Qiu Xiaolong

Published 5 February 2009

Tucked away from the building sites of modernShanghai are the beautiful mansions once owned by the smartest families in 1930sChina. They have since been bought by rich businessmen and high-ranking members of the Communist Party. All except one. The owner is an old painter. Each day he teaches his students, all beautiful girls in their twenties. Each night he holds a glittering party: swing jazz plays for his former neighbours, who dance, remember old times and forget for an evening the terrors that followed. But questions are being asked. How can he afford such a lifestyle? His paintings? Blackmail? A triad connection? Prostitution? Inspector Chen is asked to investigate discreetly what is going on behind the elegant facade. But, before he can get close to anyone, one of the girls is found murdered in the garden and another is terrified she will be next. Chen's quest for answers will take Chen to a strange businessman, triads, Chairman Mao himself and a terrible secret the Party will go to any length to conceal.

When Red Is Black

by Qiu Xiaolong

Published 1 August 2004

When the murder of a woman is reported to the Shanghai police while Inspector Chen is on vacation, Sergeant Yu is forced to take charge of the investigation. The victim, Yin Lige, a novelist known for her banned book, has been found dead in her tiny, humble room off the stairwell of a converted multi-family house. It seems that only a neighbor could have committed the crime, for the building is kept locked at night. But there is no apparent motive. Sergeant Yu tries to unravel the reclusive woman’s past and begins to realize it may have larger political implications. The Cultural Revolution might be more than 30 years in the past, but its effects can still be felt at every level of Chinese society.

Don't Cry, Tai Lake

by Qiu Xiaolong

Published 8 May 2012

Now a BBC Radio 4 Drama Series.

When Chief Inspector Chen Cao is offered a week's break at a luxurious resort near Lake Tai, he accepts immediately. Increasingly worn out by the politics of his job, the opportunity to relax and recover sounds like heaven.
But the beautiful lake he remembers is much changed: covered by algae, its waters have been polluted by waste from local manufacturing plants. Even the local food is dangerous to eat. Is this the cost of progress in the new China?
Then his holiday is fatally disturbed: the boss of one of the most polluting businesses has been murdered and the leader of a local ecological group is the prime suspect. Inspector Chen must tread carefully if he is to uncover the truth behind the death and find justice for both the victim and the accused.

Shanghai Redemption

by Qiu Xiaolong

Published 10 September 2015

'The system has no place for a cop who puts justice above the interests of the Party. It's a miracle that I survived as long as I did.' For years, Chen Cao managed to balance the interests of the Communist Party and the demands made by his job. He was considered a rising star until, after one too many controversial cases that embarrassed powerful men, he found himself neutralised. Under the guise of a promotion, he's been stripped of his title and his influence, discredited and isolated. Soon it becomes clear that his enemies still aren't satisfied, and that someone is attempting to have him killed - quietly. Chen has been charged with the investigation into a 'Red Prince' - a high Party figure who embodies the ruthless ambition, greed and corruption that is on the rise in China. But with no power, few allies, and his own reputation and life on the line, he knows he is facing the most dangerous case of his career.

A Loyal Character Dancer

by Qiu Xiaolong

Published 1 January 2003

Now a BBC Radio 4 Drama Series.

Former dancer and party loyalist Wen Liping vanishes in rural China just before she was to leave the country. Her husband, a key witness against a smuggling ring suspected of importing aliens to the US, refuses to testify until she is found and brought to join him in America.

A few days later, a badly mutilated body turns up in Shanghai's Bund Park. It bears all the hallmarks of a triad killing.

The US immigration agency, convinced that the Chinese government are hiding something, send US Marshal Catherine Rohn to Shanghai to join the investigation.

Inspector Chen, an astute young policeman with twin passions for food and poetry, is under political pressure to find answers fast. When Catherine Rohn joins him he must decide what is more dangerous: to hide the truth, or to risk unleashing a scandal that could destroy his career.