I don’t believe I have ever read a novel set in China, especially a police procedural but this story kept me engaged. The mystery was good and it was well written. I believe that I learned a lot about the area.
Many thanks to St. Martin’s Press and to NetGalley for providing me with a galley in exchange for my honest opinion.

This was a dramatic thriller that captured me through and through. The cover art certainly was a selling point, as well as the synopsis, but after reading it, it's one of those books that LOOK good and actually are good.

Interesting book. Lots of Chinese customs I was not aware of. A good mystery and I am interested in reading the next book in the series.

As a former Nancy Drew kid, I love a good mystery series. These days I especially appreciate a mystery set in a culture and/or country that's unfamiliar to me, giving me the opportunity to learn a little something while I'm reading. So the chance to read this book was one I couldn't pass up. It's set in a small town in Northern China, and the author has studied China and Asia and has also lived in China. His knowledge keeps the book feeling grounded in reality - nothing feels over the top as far as the locale and characters are concerned. The mystery is a good one - there's the murder of a young woman in a small town where there are very few serious crimes, and the detective, Inspector Lu Fei, realizes there's a possible connection to at least one other murder. Fascinating location, interesting characters, and a good mystery - I look forward to the next installment in this new mystery series.
My thanks to Netgalley and St. Martin's Press for providing a copy for an unbiased review.

“Thief of Souls” opens on Saturday, and a quote from Chairman Mao Zedong sets the tone as each new day begins. Readers learn everything they need to know in the first sentence.

“On the night the young woman’s corpse is discovered, hollowed out like a birch bark canoe, Inspector Lu Fei sits alone in the Red Lotus bar, determined to get gloriously drunk.”

The grammar and present tense construction create a sense of immediate action, of conscious time, of being in the moment evolving along with the plot. The week and a half that follows are filled with a slow deliberate investigation, increasing in intensity till the frantic dramatic end.
It is exceedingly cold in Heilongjiang in January. Chinese citizens regard The Public Security Bureau, the institution of law enforcement in the People’s Republic, as equivalent to a pit of quicksand. However, solving crimes and catching criminals is part of the job, and there has been a murder. This death has very unusual aspects that point to something very sinister, more than just any “ordinary” murder. Her heart is missing.

The investigation is organized and methodical with a mixture of traditional procedures and modern technology. As one might expect, there is also some degree of politics involved. However, the rules of investigation are different in China. There is no right to remain silent and a lawyer is not required to present during police questioning. As a result, threats (such as going down to the station to let the sergeant here pry off a few toenails) are used to encourage the “sharing “of information.

“Thief of Souls” is compelling and surprising; it provides an insight into the rapidly evolving modern Chinese society. The strategies, people, and atmosphere are all unique; however, the goal is the same as in any crime fiction-- solve the terrible crime. I received a review copy of “Thief of Souls” from Brian Klingborg, St. Martin’s Press, and Minotaur books. This has everything a reader expects in a great mystery – unexplained murders, complex situations, a dedicated investigator, a little light hearted humor, and a surprise ending. As a bonus, it is set in an uncommon location. It is listed as book one in a series, so I cannot wait to find out what adventures await Inspector Lu Fei in the next books.

Thief of Souls by Brian Klingborg

Many authors attempt to transport their readers to exotic locations but few do it as successfully, and with as much effective subtlety, as Brian Klingborg in Thief of Souls. The locale, a small township in The People's Republic of China, where the local police discover the body of a young girl, is vividly portrayed without the author screaming "Look, I've been to China and here's everything I learned!" Likewise the characters, steeped in a culture that can seem quaint and perplexing to Americans, are so well crafted that their stories unravel naturally. The central mystery is fairly formulaic but everything that surrounds it is superb.

I found this book a little hard to get into at first. By the time I finished the first chapter, however, I like Inspector Lu and wanted to see more of where the story was going. I'm glad I stuck with it and very much enjoyed the book. One of the things I enjoyed was not knowing who the killer was for most of the book. There were a few moments where I feel some of the conclusions Lu came to were a bit of a stretch based on evidence given at the time, but those seem to be tied up at the end of the story. I really enjoyed reading from Inspector Lu's perspective and am looking forward to more books in the series.

A fast-paced thriller filled with culture, action, and mystery.

After the peculiar death of a young woman in his rural town, Inspector Lu Fei sets out to find her killer. The story takes us throughout their small town, as well as into the city where Lu Fei used to work, in pursuit of solving the case. The story is well-developed, the imagery is very vivid, and the cultural elements add a lot of depth -- this held my attention through the end!

This was my first book of Klingborg's and I will be on the lookout for more to come!

Thank you to the publisher and Net Galley for the opportunity to read and review an advance copy of this book!

Thief of Souls is the start of a new mystery series (Inspector Lu Fei Mysteries #1), written by Brian Klingborg. It's the first time (I think) that I've read a murder/mystery series based in China, so I was really excited to dive into this novel.

A brutal murder has occurred in a rural village in Northern China. While everyone is shocked by its brutality, most people are more interested in gossip than justice. Fortunately, Inspector Lu Fei is not one of those people.

Unfortunately, Inspector Lu Fei is facing pressure on all sides to merely close the case and walk away. The people have made up their minds on whether justice was deserved, and the government isn't interested either. Yet Lu Fei can't walk away from this one.

“On the night the young woman’s corpse is discovered, hollowed out like a birchbark canoe, Inspector Lu Fei sits alone in the Red Louts bar, determined to get gloriously drunk.”

I've read many mysteries over the years where I was fascinated by the investigation while annoyed by the protagonist. That's the case here, though admittedly, I wasn't incredibly annoyed with Inspector Lu Fei. I just didn't like him all that much.

But if he gets the job done, that hardly matters, does it? It was fascinating to see this tale (the murder of which felt very familiar in some ways) in such a different setting. The cultural and political implications of it all completely changed the story, at least for me.

I should mention that the violence within this book does get fairly...detailed. I tend to assume the worst when it comes to graphic descriptions when reading a murder/mystery, but it still feels like a good idea to warn about here.

Overall, I found that the inclusion of all the details (specifically the ones I mentioned earlier) helped to raise Thief of Souls up higher in my mind. Still, I found myself torn on how to rate it. It's somewhere between a three and a four, and for systems where I can use half stars, I'd feel very comfortable with a three and a half star rating.

2.5 rounded up.

As an avid thriller and police procedural reader, I was really excited to dive into one with a totally different setting- modern day China.

The crime at the heart of the story was interesting, but ultimately this book wasn't a win for me for a few reasons. A big one is the lead character Lu Fei. I love an unlikable, dark detective with a backstory. Unfortunately, we just get a lot of whining from him with little context . It can be hard to get that balance right in a first book of a series. His constant use of quotes felt performative instead of substantive. The pacing was also slow. I enjoyed learning about Chinese politics and the way the police is run, but the balance between backstory/setting the environment and heart of the crime made for a slower and disjointed read.

It's also important to note that the book is written by a white man. Klingborg has studied Chinese Cultural Anthropology and lived and worked in China, but this is not an own voices book.

This is just my reading experience and I know many others enjoyed it. I encourage you to seek out other reviews, and particularly own voices reviews, to make your own decision.

Thank you to Minotaur, St. Martin's Press and Netgalley for the gifted ecopy for review.

This is my first book by Brian Klingborg. I was a little hesitant about reading a book based in China. Sometimes there are phrases or actions that don’t make sense to an American mind, haha. But in Thief of Souls the author thoughtfully explains all that to the reader. Inspector Lu is investigating the murder of a young woman who’s heart, liver and lungs are removed from her body. I really enjoyed the journey that ensued, although the killer is obvious upon meeting him. It was fun to see Lu figure out the clues.

This was an awesome read. Fast-paced but still well developed. Definitely a crime thriller. I have already recommended to friends!

I enjoyed this mystery and hopefully first in a series. Lu is investigating a murder and the victim is missing organs and has other evidence that suggests some type of ritual killing.

The mystery keeps you guessing and the story and series is set in China and I enjoyed learning and reading about the Chinese investigative process and insights into their history and culture.

Great story and I look forward to more books in this series.

Thanks to the publisher for a review copy via NetGalley.

This book caught my attention because I like mysteries and I wanted to know more about China. It met both goals. It is a police procedural, but as it is set in northern China, police procedures are often very different from those in other parts of the world.

Lu Fei has great credentials, but has chosen to work in a small town in northern China. When a grisly murder happens, it garners a lot of attention, and other branches of the government are sent to help. Of course, the obvious solution is not the correct one, and I enjoyed reading about the investigation as different clues were uncovered. I also enjoyed reading about the setting and the people.

Lu Fei is a strong main character. He has a drive to do what is right, and I liked the way he treats his colleagues and subordinates. He's also good at fighting, which I liked :)

The way the cultural aspects were incorporated into the story was interesting, and added to the plot.

Thanks to the publisher and netgalley for an ARC of this book!

Thief of Souls is the first book in a procedural series by Brian Klingborg. Released 4th May 2021 by Macmillan on their St. Martin's Press imprint, it's 288 pages and is available in hardcover, audio, and ebook formats. It's worth noting that the ebook format has a handy interactive table of contents as well as interactive links and references throughout. I've really become enamored of ebooks with interactive formats; it makes finding phrases or passages so much easier when reading.

This is a well written modern police procedural set in rural China. I found the characters believable and well rendered, both from their internal motivations and their external interactions with one another and their environs. Despite graduating with honors from the top police university in China, Inspector Lu Fei has had a less than stellar career arc up to this point and has been transferred to a small rural town outside of a major metropolitan area in China. We do become privy to the reasons behind his transfer later in the book (no spoilers). His usual official duties include finding chickens and helping residents with their internet problems. The office is not prepared to deal with a serial killer, yet that's exactly what he's faced with. Soon the CIB (China's FBI equivalent) is called in to help and much of the book turns on the politics of inter-agency investigation and (lack of) cooperation.

Protagonist Lu Fei is both dogged and intelligent and begins to unravel the many layers of complexity tied up in the crimes surrounding the murders as well as uncovering information which powerful local government personnel would strongly prefer to remain hidden. The climax and denouement are satisfying and tensely written. I'm looking forward to future books with Inspector Lu Fei.

Four stars.

Disclosure: I received an ARC at no cost from the author/publisher for review purposes.

When a young woman is brutally murdered Inspector Lu Fei has to abandon his seat at the Red Lotus bar to process the scene. What makes this whodunit/police procedural different is the setting of Northern China under Communist rule. Lu Fei has his thoughts about solving the murder, but government representatives demand a rushed closing and quickly find a scapegoat. Hints of Philip Marlow are laced throughout the story as Lu Fei is attracted to women (who come off as alluring and mysterious) and vice versa, but he maintains a sense of chivalry to females. Klingborg’s mystery has plenty of twists and red herrings but the draw is the Chinese culture that alternates between respect for all things alive and dead to sudden violence and corruption. Savvy mystery readers will identify the murderer fairly early, but that doesn’t take away from the crackerjack climatic showdown.

A different culture, different morals, different police procedures. Took a bit to get into the story but it actually was pretty good. Didn't hate it, didn't love it.

Lu Fei, a competent and well educated policeman, has been assigned to a small town in the back of beyond. The sort of place where "nothing ever happens" - until it does. A woman is brutally murdered, and the CID in Beijing takes enough of an interest to send out its star policeman. Sadly, the effort is geared toward pinning the murder on the first available poor and non-influential suspect, but Lu Fei is not convinced and insists on researching similar murders in the area and looking for connections.

This was an interesting new mystery, one that included a lot of information about China and policing there. There were certainly procedural differences - for instance, there was no need to even knock, much less get a warrant, to come into a house, search it, interrogate the occupants, any of the things we take for granted as least theoretically necessary in the US. Most interesting to me, though, was the fact that the underlying system was not so different - corruption was endemic, and the wealthy and powerful could manipulate the system fairly easily.

And, the story itself is a common one - the intelligent and honest policeman, who insists on seeking truth. No, it's not a new theme - but it's well done and good reading! I'll certainly look for the next in the series.

Thief of Souls by Brian Klingborg, the first of a new series, features Inspector Lu Fei and combines a murder mystery with modern-day China resulting in quite the intriguing read. Inspector Lu, banished to a small rural town, finds himself in the midst of a possible serial killer investigation with the eyes of the top brass on him . Lu refuses to deem the murder solved with the first possible suspect, although those above him would be fine to leave it there. The murder mystery intriguing in itself is supplemented by Klingborg's portrayal of the Chinese bureaucracies and customs as he takes you into the homes and lives of his characters. Inspector Lu is a fascinating protagonist, surprising you when you think you have him figured out. The novel is filled with interesting characters and I look forward to getting to know them better in subsequent books in this series. I highly recommend Thief of Souls and look forward to the second installment of this series.
Thank you very much @StMartinsPress and @NetGalley for the arc of this book.

An engrossing and educational mystery set in contemporary rural China, in a wintry almost unlivable January. Inspector Lu is the deputy chief of police for Raven Valley Township, a quiet position after several years in a small city, smothered under the corruption of his superior. Lu is redeemed by his dedication to poetry, literature, and Daoist classic teachings. When a young woman is brutally murdered in the township, Lu must apply both wisdom and determination to seek out the killer, at great personal sacrifice.