Red Mandarin Dress by Qiu Xiaolong, 306 pagesColourful Challenge; Global Reading Challenge: Asia, China
Detective Chen is a poet policeman, torn between working on a literature paper, and working on the latest serial killer in Shanghai. Women are turning up dead in nothing but a red mandarin dress. Chen isn't officially on the case, but he begins looking into the historical significance of the mandarin dress.
Great little mystery, with some Chinese history, and a look at modern Shanghai. I liked the progression of the story, the details as the mystery emerged, and great inclusion of the Chinese history of poetry, and folklore.
