Mystery a rich blend of Chinese poetry, politics
Few crime writers have made the kind of debut that Qiu Xiaolong made in 2000 with "Death of a Red Heroine," which won the Anthony Award for best first novel. The book was not only a smartly crafted whodunit, but a revelatory look at China following Mao's Cultural Revolution.
Qiu, who was born in Shanghai and now lives in St. Louis, writes about China with both respect and sadness. Although his two detectives, Chen Cao and Yu Guangming, are not dissidents, it doesn't take much reading between the lines to figure out that Qiu is not enamored of the state of affairs there.
The author subtly weaves both politics and poetry into his crime writing. In order to boost his finances, chief inspector Chen, an accomplished poet, translates mysteries into Chinese, including books by Ruth Rendell and P.D. James.
In fact, Qiu has a doctorate in comparative literature from Washington University and it shows. He references poetry from both Chinese and Western sources in a way that always seems thoroughly organic to the story.
"When Red Is Black" is the third of the Chen mysteries and continues the strong lineage of poetic and political musings.
He takes us into the same corners of Chinese society where people are shoehorned into overcrowded apartments; where the shadow of the Cultural Revolution has left billions suffering from a form of post-traumatic stress disorder; and where the bureaucracy and venality of contemporary Chinese government keeps the citizenry in a limbo between Western materialism and political freedom on the one hand and communalism and oppression on the other.
At the same time there's a fondness for the contemporary Chinese melting pot of Eastern tradition (herbal medicine, martial arts) and Western progressivism (greater personal and political freedom), as well as a heartfelt sympathy for those whom a market economy has left behind.
Chen and Yu recall the mentor/
mentee relationships of Western mystery writers, and Qiu has obviously plugged into the moral complexity one finds in Rendell and Patricia Highsmith. On the other hand, there's a minimalism to his writing that, along with the overt politics, adds up to a unique voice.
Unfortunately, that voice is not as rich as it was in "Death of a Red Heroine" and "A Loyal Character Dancer." Qiu seems as if he's already growing tired of the two detectives; there's a languor to their actions as well as to the writing, which is not nearly as sexy and adventurous as in "Death of a Red Heroine." It's almost as if Qiu has succumbed to the same trappings of middle-class luxury that some of his characters have.
Still, Qiu delivers more than the great majority of his Western counterparts. Here, Yu is investigating the death of a former Red Guard who met the love of her life in a re-education camp. Meanwhile, Chen is on vacation lapping up luxury offered by a patron who has grown rich under the relaxation of rules that allow for capitalist entrepreneurship.
As in "Death of a Red Heroine," there is a sense of the tragedy that ensues when human emotions are degraded in order to make a great communal leap forward. Sooner or later, the lid explodes. You could subtitle the book: How you gonna keep them down on the rice paddy when they've seen the bright lights of Shanghai?
The capitalists and the communists both want their due. It's up to Chen and Yu to find an honorable path when both forces are trying to tempt them into doing the wrong thing.
Watching them try to find that path is half the fun of "When Red Is Black" and Qiu's other mysteries.
Ed Siegel can be reached at siegel@globe.com.
