Real Rating: 3.75* of five

Not really any great shakes in the whodunit genre, more a howsolvedit...the solution to the mystery is uncovered in bits by Luo Wen and Yan Liang; honestly, why did they choose this case to invest in isn't clear to me. There are other cases as urgent...but it's not really a fruitful speculation. It's also interestung that these two are pretty critical of their lazier colleagues. Cutting corners seems offensive to these quixotic crime-solvers. Wuxia deeply influenced this story.

I'm really interested in other cultures' attitudes to crime fiction. US crime writing is pretty solidly copaganda; I'm wondering if other country's crime solvers are the same. These two, well, they're motivated by ma'at but also seem not to have institutional investment. They're really influenced by the Rightness of crime solving. It's deeply refreshing.

I'm not hugely excited by the prose; it does its job, but it's not very energetic. I'm not that interested in superintelligent cat-and-mouse battles of wits. I've seen and read the Sherlock Holmes œuvre. Do something unusual with it and I'll get more intrigued.

So that's why we're at a quarter-star less than four. I'm not trying to be discouraging, I am not a bit sorry I read the story. I'm not going to shove it at you but I definitely think its ebook is very good value for money spent.

I enjoyed reading this crime story. It kept me interested and there were enough twists and turns to keep the story paced.
Many thanks to Amazon Crossing and to NetGalley for providing me with a galley in exchange for my honest opinion.

I recieved this book free from Net Galley. And I enjoyed it!

I am not used to the Chinese names and got a little confused about who was who until I got them sorted out. I am a fast eeader so the short similar names werent sticking as quickly.

I have read a couple bad reviews about figuring out the serial killer early on, but that was the authors whole point. He wasn't hiding it and used it to present a different sort of mystery. Not a who done it, but why done it! I really disliked the ending but I truly enjoyed reading this book. I will read more by this author if his other works are translated as well.

Lately China gives me great satisfactions, and this book is undoubtedly one of them. The two main characters, Professor Yan, once an expert criminologist fallen out of favor because of his piety, and Luo, himself a former expert in forensic techniques, whose past is tormented by the sudden disappearance of his wife, daughter and even dog, vanished into thin air overnight, they play a kind of fascinating game of chess, in which one infers details and reasons for the series of crimes that for three years disrupted an ordinary Chinese town and the other covering the traces, letting the assumptions never find evidence confirming them.
There are two remarkable main protagonists, but all the other characters that fill the book are on their way perfect and very enjoyable miniatures.
A novel that is difficult to leave and that, despite the curiosity to know who of the two top cops eventually win the game, you would never to come to an end.
Thank AmazonCrossing and Netgalley for giving me a free copy in exchange for an honest review.

I liked the discussion of forensics and criminal behavior in this book. It sometimes got bogged down in detail without as much action as I like, but overall the story was good and intriguing. It did seem to end a bit abruptly with everyone confessing in the last few pages.