Inspector Chen Cao of the Shanghai Police Bureau is takinga vacation, in part because he is annoyed at his boss, PartySecretary Li, but also because he has been made an offer hecan't refuse by Gu, a triad-connected businessman. For whatseems to be a fortune-with no apparent strings attached-he is to translate a business proposal for the New World,a complex of shops and restaurants to be built in CentralShanghai, evoking nostalgia for the "glitter and glamour"ofthe 1930s.
It is up to Detective Yu, Chen's partner, to take charge ofa new case. Yin, a novelist, has been murdered in her room.At first it seems that only a neighbor could have committedthe crime, but when one confesses, Yu cannot believethat he is really the killer. As Yu looks further into Yin's life,ample motives begin to surface, even on the part of InternalSecurity. But it is only when Inspector Chen steps back intothe investigation that the culprit is apprehended. And thenChen discovers how Gu has played him and how he, in turn,can play the new capitalist system.
CRIME QIU
