The Reputable Chen.....
An Inspector Chen mystery, the tenth in the series, and a special assignment for Chen. Being Chen he is sure to get results. Well written mystery with a likeable protagonist in the reputable Chen. Not the absolute best in this long running series but each is always a guaranteed to be a satisfying read.

I came to this series via the BBC Radio 4 adaptations. This book has a potentially interesting plot but is weighed down by exposition and repetition. The prose is also creaky in places but perhaps because this is an uncorrected proof.

The positives - the insights into contemporary China, the atmosphere, the sense of place. The radio drama gives you all that but without the bagginess of the novels so if you're interested in this series I'd start there.

While attached to an investigation into a serial killer, Shanghai's Inspector Chen is tapped to assist a senior party official in a discreet investigation into activists agitating over air pollution. Neither the serial killer nor the air pollution can be permitted to become public issues as a major party conference approaches.

Chen's political masters do not realise that he has a link to the activists in question, a situation that he seeks to exploit, albeit very carefully. He also does his best to assist with the murder inquiry at the same time.

I thought this was an OK book, although I suspect that coming to this series so late in the piece limited my enjoyment of it. It was interesting to see how the influence of the party governed the way the detectives went about their work, a consideration not present in most of the crime fiction that I have read.

Shanghai murders!

A serial murderer and extreme air pollution activists in China are the focus of Shanghai Chief Inspector Chen and Detective Yu Guangming, with of course, the requisite People's Party attendant. Chen however is diverted away from the murders and directed by Zhao, "Comrade Secretary Zhao, the retired first secretary of the Party Central Discipline Committee," to investigate a group of activists researching and filming about the pollution levels in the country. The figure of Zhao whom for Chen, "had been something of a political patron, having entrusted [Chen]with several high-profile cases and backed him up on a number of occasions. Chen could have long been crushed by his adversaries, as whispered in the inner circle, but for Zhao’s speaking out for him at the top."
Complex and intriguing developments are set against the modern Chinese background.
I must admit that I have long puzzled about how very wealthy Chinese people can exist in and side by side with that country's communist ideal.
I understood more when Chen referred to the "red princes." I was fascinated to discover that the Red "Princes [and Princesses] are are the descendants of prominent and influential senior communist officials in People's Republic of China."(according to Wikipedia). Their antecedents might go back to those involved with Mao on The Long March, or at least prior to the cultural revolution. Chen it seems has run afoul of those from this hierarchy in a previous case.
One of the activists is a woman Chen had spent time with some years before. A woman who inspired a poem he'd had published that had caught the public's imagination.
Various threads run throughout the plot framing the story. I did struggle in the beginning placing the relationship between the characters, having not read any prior novels of Inspector Chen. Fortunately, I didn't feel too far adrift and was soon into the swing of things.

A Severn House ARC via NetGalley

Inspector Chen and Detective Yu find themselves working on two different cases in the latest installment in a long running series. Yu is working a serial murder investigation while Chen has been assigned to deal with a group of environmentalists. Why are the latter such a threat? Anyone who has been to China will have experienced the horrid air pollution. Chen's got a personal connection but he's also under political pressure. How does this link up with Yu? No spoilers but it works. I'd not read any of the preceding novels and this worked fine for me as a standalone. Thanks to Netgalley for the ARC. For procedural fans looking for a different setting. Well done.

I've read and enjoyed the previous Inspector Chen books - I find the series very interesting as it gives a glance into the culture and society of modern China, seen through the eyes of Chen, who is an outlier due to his connections to the West and his questioning mind. I found the investigation and topics in this entry quite interesting, especially the examination of air pollution and its effect on society.
It's also interesting that the author has pulled the setting into the immediate present as the rest of the series is set about 20-25 years ago.
As mentioned by another reviewer, the writing style seems disorganized, rushed or just suffering from a lack of editing. I often had to go back a few pages or re-read to get sense out of jarring location changes, and there was a lot of sloppy word choice. Hoping that a new edition may address these problems as the characters deserve it.

Having lived in Hong Kong for two years and having spent quite a bit of time in China, I was looking forward to reading this book. I love China and the Chinese culture so I knew this would be a book I would enjoy. I was not disappointed. A crime book set in China is right up my street. The main Character, Chief Inspector Chen is fabulous. Although having to toe the part line, he is his own man. A well drawn character he is not cut from the usual Chinese Police mould. For a start he is not only a police officer but a published author and poet, an unusual combination. The cultural aspect is well handled and the interactions between the characters perfect. Chen is funny in an unintentional sort of manner and I like that. The scene is also extremely well set and I could picture it exactly. The plot is good - two different stories which converge and are both handled well. Although Chen is never very sure what he is supposed to be investigating, he still manages to investigate and solve the mystery. There are several twists and turns which kept me reading and I genuinely wanted to know the outcome. I loved the environmental storyline and this was handled sensitively yet strongly. This is the tenth book in the Inspector Chen series but it worked perfectly as a stand-alone. My first book by this author, would I read another. In a heartbeat, in fact I am off to purchase the first book now. Xiaolong is a skilled writer an this is apparent in every word of this book.

Inspector Chen has a reputation as a honest policeman who gets results. He is under the protection of a retiring high racking party member so when he and Detective Yu are called in as consultants on a serial murder Inspector Chen must split his time with a special request from Zhao to check on an environmental activist group.
Chen finds the issue of the ever present smog will bring together his investigations and his past will influence how he sees his future even if it means his leaving the party membership.
This story gives an more in-depth look into a shadow world and culture not much seen.
I was given an ARC of this book by Netgalley and the publisher in exchange for an honest review.

I would like to thank Netgalley and Severn House Publishers for an advance copy of Hold Your Breath, China, the tenth novel to feature Chief Inspector Chen Cao of the Shanghai Police.

There is a serial killer in Shanghai but, for political reasons, Chen’s department has not been involved. Now they are needed but Chen is put on special assignment by high ranking Comrade Secretary Zhao, so the murder investigation is left to his friend and deputy, Yu. Chen, meanwhile faces the daunting and rather nebulous task of investigating a group of environmentalists led by a figure from his past.

This is the first time I have read this series so I wasn’t sure what to expect, but having read a few Chinese thrillers before I was expecting good things. It is very different and much more literary than my previous samplings so I enjoyed it in a different way. In this novel the plot isn’t the thing, being more of a vehicle to explore life in China and various issues, in this case the terrible pollution engulfing everyday life. To be honest I find it hard to believe that it’s as bad as it’s painted in this novel but, at one point, there are statistics offered so it must be so. It sounds like an absolute nightmare, face masks being the order of the day, with The Party doing nothing about it. The details of everyday life are fascinating with the clash of old ways and modern living. I could read about it all day and will probably read some of the other novels for more. It is very well done and immersive.

Chen’s plotline covers all of the above, including the constant surveillance by the state. It is all very nebulous, as I said, as he never really grasps what he has to investigate or why or what will be done with what he uncovers. It’s kind of frustrating from the reader’s point of view as there are no clear goals but it certainly underlines the uncertainties of life in an authoritarian state. From a crime fiction point of view Yu’s investigation is much more straightforward- catch a killer who leaves no forensic evidence and has chosen his victims at random. With guidance from Chen he approaches it logically and methodically.

Chen, in another facet of his life, is a poet, as is the author, so there are lines from his and others’ poems in the novel. I think they resonate but I’m not much on poetry so I didn’t take the time to really absorb them in any meaningful way as that would be a distraction from the storyline. I found the allusions to old Chinese proverbs and writings, notably the thirty-six stratagems that I’d never heard of before, much more interesting.

Hold Your Breath, China is not my normal fare but I found it recalling interesting so I have no hesitation in recommending it as a good read.

Qui Xiaolong is one of my favorite mystery writers. He blends story, social issues, and poetry...his own and ancient Chinese, into his books. I’m sorry to say that this latest entry into the Inspector Chen series is not up to par. The story is every bit as good as its predecessors and while the poetry is sublime and on point, there is less of it than usual. This may be due to the importance of the main poem, which recounts an incident with which series readers will be familiar. The social issue that is the focus of the book, the ever-growing density of air pollution in China and the government’s slow response to it, is as important as any the author has tackled. My disappointment with the book is the quality of the writing and editing. The first and last quarters of the book seem not to suffer as much as the middle half from gravely insufficient editing. The text reads as if it was written in Chinese and translated poorly. Sentences are often fragmented, written in a confusing order, or just hard to interpret. With a strong hand with a blue pencil, Hold Your Breath, China would be worthy of five stars.