How many sweet spots did this book hit for me? Lots! First, mystery is my favorite genre and this is a good one! Second, I love learning things when I read and Mr. Klingborg deftly weaves Chinese history throughout the book without being condescending to the reader. It was informative and interesting. Third, I really liked the characters. Inspector Lu wants to do a good job and find the killer. He does not like the political nature of being a police officer. His dislike of it is almost political in its own way. I am excited to see there is a second book coming out soon!

I probably wouldn't have picked up this book on my own. I received an email from NetGalley promoting it and thought I would give it a try. The book started out a little slow and I had a little trouble keeping some of the characters straight as their were a lot introduced at the beginning. But by the halfway point, I really wanted to know who the killer was. I enjoyed the main character Lu. He was genuinely a good man trying to do his job. He's a bit complicated and I found I liked him more and more as the book progressed. The mystery gets resolved with a fair number of twists. The ending was done well and I felt satisfied with the resolution. I appreciated some of the insights into the Chinese culture as I'm not familiar with it. I received an advance copy from NetGalley and am voluntarily leaving a review.

Thief of Souls by Brian Klingborg takes the reader on a journey into Northern China where Police Inspector Lu Fei is called in on his night off to investigate the murder of a beautiful young woman. Throughout the novel, Lu Fei is quoting poetry and literature and intersperses it with a sardonic wit that makes me laugh. I love the nicknames he gives to people.

Along with a mind boggling murder to solve, author Klingborg introduces the reader through the eyes of Lu Fei to Northern China, the politics and culture as well as the people. Interesting characters and definitely not the same old same old mystery novel. Pacing in one section will be fast and in another section slow, but as the book wraps up its mystery it all comes together smoothly! Definitely a worthy read!!!

So enjoyed this read and looking forward to more in the series hopefully coming out soon. I could imagine this novel would make a great movie! My favorite parts were learning more about China and it felt like an up close and personal view!

Thank you to NetGalley, author Brian Klingborg, St. Martin's Press and Minotaur Books for this temporary advance review copy for me to read and enjoy. As always, my opinions are my own!!!

Thief of Souls tells the story of inspector Lu Fei as he tries to solve the murder of a young woman in his small, rural, Chinese town. Can inspector Lu solve the case?

This book was so different from any other police procedural I have read. I loved how much Chinese culture was imbedded into the story. The author did a phenomenal job of making sure the reader understood everything without going into too much detail. I gained a much deeper understanding of Chinese burial rituals and their culture. The crime itself was so symbolic which made for an even better story. This is definitely a slow burn novel so make sure you go into it knowing that. The ending, however, had me on the edge of my seat trying to get to the end. I was shocked by who actually did it. I was stumped the whole book and then it is so obvious. I loved Lu's character and how compassionate, kind, and intelligent he was. I cannot wait to read more from this author and this character in the future. Such a good book to read if you are trying to broaden your horizons!!

I was hooked from the first sentence. The author provides a masterful and immersive narrative creating a riveting twisted string of reveals that propelled the story forward. The mystery in this book is intriguing and although I could predict who the murderer was I still had such a blast reading it! I look forward to more books by this author.

Inspector Lu Fei is satisfied with his role in small town policing after the hustle and politics of Beijing, but when a murder occurs in Raven Valley, he is immediately involved. A young woman is murdered and her body is disfigured as if an autopsy has been performed. Lu discovers some of her organs are missing and she had joss paper stuffed in her mouth, A local, mentally challenged man is immediately arrested, but Lu knows Zhang could not have committed the murder. Because of the bizarre nature of the killing, Lu wonders if there were similar cases in other nearby towns. With the help of a big wig in Beijing police, Inspector Lu Fei solves the case. A chilling, exciting race against time to find the ritualistic killer before he strikes again.

Rating: 4 stars – A great start to a new series!

Brian Klingborg has written an intriguing first entry in his new police procedural mystery series. “Thief of Souls” is set in modern day China, in a rural northern town in the province of Heilongjiang. We meet Inspector Lu Fei as he begins his work to discover who sexually assaulted and brutally murdered a young woman in a backwater village where crime rarely occurs. Lu Fei is a complex character who is more honorable and philosophical than the police force in the larger city or Harbin where he was stationed. Hence his ‘promotion’ to the small Raven Valley Township.

I enjoyed being treated to a slice-of-life view of today’s China. The author gave me a real sense of place and time, both geographically and politically. I haven’t travelled to China, but after reading this book, I felt like I understood it better. Lu Fei continued in his detective work even after the Criminal Investigation Bureau (CIB) police officers arrived from Beijing. The interplay between the local and national police forces was interesting to watch unfold.

This first entry in the Inspector Lu Fei mystery series was engaging. It holds read promise for the continuation of the series. I think that Lu Fei is a character who I could easily become attached to, and learning more about China is always a plus. I’d gladly read the next book in the series when it is published.

I’d recommend this book to mystery readers who like intelligent police procedurals, especially those set in foreign locations.

I received a complimentary copy of this book from the publisher via NetGalley. These are my honest thoughts.

This is the first book I have read by this author, but it will definitely not be the last. I enjoyed the mystery and suspense. I also enjoyed learning about the many different ways of the Chinese cultures. Mr Brian Klingborg if you keep writing them I will keep reading them!

Set in post-Mao China with quotes from the former leader opening each chapter, this book fulfills my requirements for an entertaining read. The description of recent life in China were informative. It is a police procedural with an inspector as our guide to the investigation of the crime(s). We get to know him well. There are words and phrases in Chinese that are left untranslated. This does not detract from one's comprehension of the story.. The one thing that did bother me and prevent me from assigning 5 stars to this novel was the author's use of American slang terms and idioms coming from the mouths of Chinese policeman. Using a verb like "whack" or the term "offing" someone yanked me right out of China in back into a Hollywood cop TV show. My thanks to the author and NetGalley for a complimentary copy.

Many thanks to NetGalley and the publisher, Minotaur Books for this Advanced Reader Copy and the opportunity to review “Thief of Souls by Brian Klingborg.” All opinions are my own.

Inspector Lu Fei of the Raven Valley Public Security Bureau (the Chinese equivalent of a police department) likes to drink. That doesn’t stop him from being a good policeman. And in “Thief of Souls,” he is going to get his chance.

A young woman is murdered inside her home, in a rural area outside the city. The investigation begins, and a culprit soon identified and charged. Case closed, according to most of the other officers, including a high-flying team from Beijing. But Fei doesn’t believe it, and he begins his own investigation, revealing a cast of characters and situations that rivals anything you’ll come up against in a “western” setting. Add to that the juxtaposition of modern Chinese settings with ancient traditions and passions, and you have a crackling, intelligent story that will keep you absorbed from page to page. There is a lot of description in this book, but it’s needed, providing a look at a culture most readers will likely know very little about.

For good measure chapter headings are quotations from Mao Zedong. Nothing in China is far from reminders of the Chairman, apparently.

There’s a lot of methodical police work, and the author puts it together very well. Be advised that there is also a lot of rather graphic description – the autopsy for instance, and later, when the murderer is revealed and tracked down. This is reading for adults. I’m not a fan of getting into the murderer’s head, but it is included in this book.

The book ends with an epilogue, tying up all the loose ends. I enjoyed the investigation, the look into Inspector Lu Fei’s life and the other characters, and the outlining of how the past still underscores the present in modern-day China. “Thief of Souls” is well-written and fast-paced, a thought-provoking addition to fictional police procedurals.

Inspector Lu Fei is a good cop in a corrupt society. “China’s last unicorn”, so to speak. Lu is assigned to assist the cynical and ambitious Deputy Director of the Criminal Investigation Bureau (CIB) in a brutal murder of a local female and territories get marked and egos get bruised. When the investigation becomes linked to other crimes, then the hunt for a serial killer is on.

The story starts slow, but the momentum of the search for a killer takes over and it’s a race against time to save the next victim which ends in a predictable, but no less gripping finale.

Inspector Lu is a great protagonist with his martial art skills, his Confucius quotes, high morality, and disregard of the immoral authority figures in his profession. His sarcastic wit and dedication to finding the killer are to be commended considering he is fighting an uphill battle with the unscrupulous and unprincipled turpitude of the higher-ups in the Chinese government. He also reveals his romantic side shown by his quiet, but earnest interest in the widow who owns the bar he frequents.

Many characters in the story are essential to the story, such as Lu’s chief, colleagues, his love interest, and other witnesses and suspects that keep the story moving.

Mr. Klingborg also captures the reader’s attention by describing in great detail the inner workings of Chinese law enforcement as well as little tidbits about the Chinese healthcare system, religion, and political unrest.

I recommend this smart and engrossing police procedural with a fascinating location and a wonderful cast of characters.

Thank you to Mr. Klingborg, St. Martin’s Press, and Netgalley, for giving me the opportunity to read this book with no expectation of a positive review.

Engrossing mystery that drew me right in.I was fascinated by the setting of China the characters the police procedures.Being introduced to another culture to life in Chiba kept me turning the pages.This is a great start to a series I will be following and recommending,

Engaging new series featuring crime and detecting in China!

I rather think Klingborg has nailed it with his introduction of a new Police Officer and his crimal investigations in the countryside of modern Northern China.
Inspector Lu Fei lives in a rural region as an officer with Public Security Bureau by preference. When a particularly grotesque murder is revealed right in his backyard, he contacts the Criminal Investigations Bureau in Beijing. An uneasy alliance ensues with Superintendent Song.
The inquiry leads Lu to some strange places, including evidence of Party graft and corruption, and to the conclusion that they have a serial killer on their hands.
A commentary on life in general in China, of how Lu came to be where he is, of historical happenings in the recent past effecting Lu’s decisions about his life, I found fascinating, as are the chapter introductions wth quotes from Chairman Mao.
I must admit I wondered about Klingborg’s understandings but reading his bio shows that he is indeed qualified to write from Lu’s viewpoint. He’s a Harvard Graduate of the East Asia Studies program, has lived in South East Asia. He also studies and writes about martial arts.
It so happens Surprise! Surprise! that Lu Fei is a martial arts proponent earning the name Bruce Lu during his school years. I must say Lu’s reactions are realistic if not always graceful.
I enjoyed looking at life through his laconic, rather cynical lens after the mode of the ‘hard boiled detective with heart’ trope.
I’m pleased to say that Inspector Lu joins the other modern Chinese detecting / police novels I enjoy such as Inspector Chan, Rei Shimura and Inspector Chen Cao.
The way Lu looks at his life, his passion for duty, and respect he displays are aspects I enjoyed.
I’m hooked!

A Minotaur Books/St. Martin's Press ARC via NetGalley
(Opinions expressed in this review are completely my own.)

When readers pick up a mystery, they expect to be entertained. Educated or enlightened? Not so much. Thief of Souls by Brian Klingborg does all three.

The story is well-plotted; characters are fully-formed, distinct individuals. What surprised me most (aside from how purely enjoyable a read it was) was the insight the book gave into the Chinese people. I had somehow seen Chinese society as monolithic and conforming. Klingborg (who did post-graduate studies on China and lived there for several years) set my thinking in a new direction.

As deputy director of a small police bureau in Northern china, Fu Lei is dealt a gruesome murder to solve. He is a well-educated, well-read man. What I loved most was his sly humor and commentary on the politics rampant in his profession -- and on the culture at large.

When Fu's sergeant, Bing, chides him "What you do not want done to yourself, do not do to others," Fu asks if he is quoting Confucius. "No," Bing replies. "I thought that was something the Christian god Yesu said." Fu answers: "Hm. Perhaps Yesu was a Confucian?"

I thoroughly enjoyed reading this memorable book. Thanks to NetGalley and St. Martins Press for an advance readers copy.

Good start to a new series with an interesting twist. Thief of Souls is a good, solid police procedural, and the twist is that the series is set in Northern China rather than the more familiar New York City, Los Angeles or Miami. The action takes place primarily in a small rural village, where a gruesome murder is certainly not the norm. The authorities, both locally and in Beijing, don’t want to acknowledge the possibility of a serial killer and would be satisfied to arrest and convict the first potential suspect they find.

All the authorities, that is, except Inspector Lu Fei. He is an interesting, multi-layered character just different enough to promise to be captivating throughout this series. He is a graduate of China's top police college but because he doesn’t play politics very well he has been banished to this sleepy backwater town, where he hopefully can’t cause much trouble. However, this murder has taken place in his town and he is determined to find the real killer, whatever gets stirred up or uncovered in the process. This makes him even less popular than he already is, jeopardizes his career and puts him and some of the people he is close to in very real danger.

Author Brian Klingborg gives us a fascinating peek into the Chinese culture both in the small towns and big cities, plus a bonus Lu Fei’s quotes from Confucius and quotations from Chairman Mao Zedong to introduce each chapter. Politics are politics the world over, but each culture has its own twist and seeing how things work makes this an interesting read. The plot is well developed and moves smoothly along. Things do bog down a bit here and there with confusing detail and the ending is a bit rushed, but neither detract from the satisfying conclusion. All in all Thief of Souls was a very enjoyable book. Thanks to St. Martin's Press/Macmillan/Minotaur and Criminal Element for providing advance copies for my reading pleasure and honest review. All opinions are my own.

I like a well written mystery and usually don't read much in the hardboiled genre. I make exceptions to that preference when I come across a book like Thief of Souls. It's no cozy. It has darkness and grit and violence but it's not gratuitous violence. The dark theme is lightened by some very good humor from the main character, Lu Fei and his police team. Life in rural China is not an easy existence but Lu, a top notch policeman, having been banished to this backwater sees no reason not to do the very best he can with each case that he deals with. This case, however, needs more to solve it than just Lu and his team. A young woman is found dead in the bathroom of the home of her recently deceased mother. As it is winter and it's Northern China and a rural Chinese house, figuring out how long she had been dead poses a problem. The body has, effectively, been in cold storage. One thing is certain, this is not an average death - the woman was dressed up and some of her organs have gone missing. Lu must seek help from the next department above him, his team is not up to the task.
Superintendent Song, Deputy Director of the Criminal Investigation Bureau joins Lu and there is friction but this is China and politics and bureaucracy are a fact of life. Lu and Song do manage to work together and Lu soon makes connections to other cases. He did, after all, graduate at the top of his class at the police academy and a case is a case no matter the details. He will need all of his skills to catch the killer.
Lu is a well developed character and I would be happy to add him to my list of favorite detectives. He's willing to go against the system to see that justice is done. The setting of present day China was very informative and the mystery held my attention to the last page.
My thanks to the publisher St. Martin's Press/Minotaur and to NetGalley for giving me an advance copy in exchange for my honest review.

A Murder Mystery Set in Modern China

Inspector Lu Fei, although graduating first in his class from the prestigious police academy, has been assigned to a backwater in northern China. Lu is not unhappy. He enjoys his Shaoxing wine and reciting poetry to the attractive bartender, Yanyan. Not much is happening until Lu receives a call. There has been a murder. A young woman has been killled. Lu and his constables find her in the bathroom. Disconcertingly, her heart, lungs, and liver have been removed and the cavity sewn shut with an autopsy type stitch.

Lacking the necessary resources to handle the case alone, he requests a team of investigators from Beijing. However, unlike Lu, the inspector who arrives is more interested in a quick arrest to enhance his reputation. This leads to conflict because Lu is determined to solve the case and not take the easy way out.

The setting in modern China was new to me, but I found it interesting and very well done. The descriptions of the characters and the physical setting are excellent. Some of the writing is almost poetic. The author enhances the feel of China by having Lu quote classical poetry, particularly to Yanyan.

The author starts each chapter with a quote from Chairman Mao Zedong. This sets the stage for the background of modern China where corruption is rampant and striving for position is more important than justice to some officials.

I received this book from St. Martin’s Press for this review.

I received an ARC of this detective mystery. A mystery, lots of twists with a surprising ending. Very thought-provoking with a peek into life in China. Interesting story with vivid descriptions.

The premise seemed interesting. Take the everyday murder mystery and transport it to a country that many of us do not understand the inner workings. This will strip away some of the procedures we are accustomed to seeing in the usual mystery and perhaps give insight into how China handles an investigation. I personally have no clue of what a Chinese policeman would do if a murder occurred, who would have to be involved, and so on. However, the author made it easy to suspend any disbelief with frequent explanations of the workings of Chinese procedures.

This is also the book’s double-edged sword. The explanations were presented and slowed down the action, at times when the action needed to be kept at a faster pace. Yet without the explanations, the book will lose some of its allure, presenting a challenge for author Brian Klingbord.

On the bright side, I did enjoy the character of Lu Fei as well as some of the minor characters. This book is serving to both tell a story and introduce the characters, and the author has set up an interesting cast that I hope to see in future tales. While there aren’t a lot of twists and I did have the killer on my short list, the big reveal is not an obvious one nor does it strain one’s credibility. If you want a solid mystery with a change of background, “Thief of Souls” might be what you are looking for. Four stars.

My thanks to NetGalley and St. Martin's Press for a complimentary electronic copy of this book.

Wow! Book 1 of Inspector Lu Fei mystery series set in China.

I really enjoyed 'Thief of Souls', a police procedural with the point of difference being its intriguing and interesting setting in China. The claws of national politics and corruption reach into the village and rural setting of Raven Valley. Having visited Hong Kong as a child and adult, but never mainland China; and having lived and worked in communist Vietnam, I'll take author, Brian Klingborg's word for it. It seems reliable.

Deputy Chief Inspector Lu Fei is 39 years old. Like Jackie Chan, he's all brains, skills, brawn and good looks. Lu is happily demoted to the rural backwaters of Raven Valley after getting on the wrong side of his corrupt boss in the northern city of Harbin. When a young woman, Yang Fengfang, is found murdered and butchered in her family home in Raven Valley, it gives Lu a break from investigating stolen chickens. His reliable sidekick, Sergeant Bing helps him investigate, along with several constables, two of whom are treacherous.

Into the fray enters Superintendent Song from Beijing's Public Security Bureau (CID), along with forensic technicians and pathologist Doctor Ma to conduct a post mortem. In the often-violent police milieu, so radically different from western policing, martial expert Lu's book smarts and street smarts are needed to keep him alive. Lu is lucky in his supportive Inspector Liang, who sometimes mediates when he gets into scrapes, not all of his making.

In China, crime is mixed with politics—both local and national government. The police force keeps face by detaining and ultimately convicting the first person accused—whether guilty or not unless a stronger culprit is apprehended within a fortnight or so. The said accused is often executed. Truth and innocent people are waste products in an investigation, often sacrificed on the altars of expediency. Like Superintendent Song, you must have an agenda if you want to rise in the ranks, and be posted to a major city.

The quotes from Chairman Mao Zedong at the start of each chapter interestingly paint the picture of current communist ideals. Interspersed in the story, Lu makes enlightening quotes of Confucius—aka Master Kong—that show his modern, liberal views and disinclination to rise to the top on others' backs. He has a love interest slowly kindling in the background. I hope the story of these two lost souls continues, rather than Lu being a lothario in each instalment.

In a grisly murder, explicitly but not gratuitously described, the touches of Daoism and Buddhism in the death rituals were illuminating, and demonstrated literary flair. You will read about hell money and paper computers, houses and clothes that accompany the dead into the afterlife. Sounded like the pyramids of ancient Egypt. Pity those poor souls who die without family, as there'll be no one to care for them in the afterlife. Fascinating tale. I look forward to reading more about Inspector Lu.

This review also appears in Amazon.com, https://www.goodreads.com/review/show/3980157899, https://thereadersvault.blogspot.com/2021/05/thief-of-souls-brian-klingborg-4.html