Raven Valley is a rural community where the Public Security Bureau spends most of its’ time on minor offenses. Inspector Lu Fei, the deputy chief, is called to the scene when the body of Yang Fenfang is discovered by her neighbor. Fenfang returned to Raven Valley when her mother took ill and recently died. Now she has been found with her heart, lungs and liver removed. The main suspect is Zhang Zhaoxing, who went to school with Fenfang and believed her to be his girlfriend. Zhang is more like a frightened boy who would not have had the skills to carefully remove the organs but there is pressure for an arrest. The magistrate issues an arrest warrant and considers the case closed.

Help arrives from Beijing when Lu Fei contacts the CIB. Superintendent Song brings crime scene technicians and Dr. Ma to investigate. After meeting Zhang, Song and Lu Fei look further into Fenfang’s life. An apartment in the city of Harbin, designer clothes and a monthly deposit into an account suggest that someone of influence has been supporting her. The investigation takes another turn when Song and Lu Fei look for similar murders and discover that two other women were killed in a similar fashion.

Lu Fei was educated at the top police college but a conflict with a superior in Harbin resulted in his exile to the smaller community. He often spends evenings at the Red Lotus Bar, which is run by Yanyan, a young widow that Lu Fei is secretly in love with. He reflects on situations with poetry and quotes from Confucius and while his superiors are concerned with quick resolutions, he is more concerned that justice prevails. Brian Klingborg has taken a thrilling mystery and incorporated brief looks at Chinese history and culture, which makes Thief of Souls a fascinating tale. I would like to thank NetGalley and St. Martin Press/Minotaur for providing this book for my review.

I love a good, atmospheric mystery filled with characters I can get to know over an array of books. The new mystery series, by author Brian Klingborg, The Inspector Lu Fei Mysteries, is set in a smaller Chinese city, and checks all the boxes. There is a collection of interesting characters in the town, a murder, and lead central character with a shadowy past, that really makes this an entertaining book. The mystery is a gruesome murder of a local young woman, that has Lu Fei navigating a colorful cast of local characters, from nosy neighbors, to Communist bureaucrats. As he hunts the killer, we start to get to know Lu Fei. If you enjoy the Inspector Gamache mysteries, by Louise Penny, I think you would like this book. With all the local townspeople, it reminded me of that series. I look forward to learning more about this character and his world in future novels.

What I Liked:

Setting:

The author has spent several years living in China, so he is uniquely qualified provide insights that make this novel authentic (without the repercussions a Chinese citizen might experience) . The book is not shy about showing how police work in Communist China is vastly different from that in America. No search warrants are needed, suspects can be roughed up, and if someone is charged with a crime, they are virtually guaranteed to be found guilty. And the punishment for murder is a swift execution without time for appeals. The book shows these differences without judgement. Lu Fei feels a responsibility to make sure they arrest the right person, and not just to quickly solve a murder by falsely convicting an innocent person.

There are also little touches that abound showing Chinese customs that I found really interesting, especially concerning rituals about death and mourning. I didn't know anything about some of these customs, like joss money being put in the mouth of the deceased person, and Chinese thoughts on cremation. I also found it fascinating how traditions that have existed for thousands of years have been influenced by the current Communist government.

Characters:

Detective Lu Fei, the main character, is a single man in his late thirties who had a promising career in the police force, but now has been assigned to a small, rural city. You'd think he would be bitter, but he seems okay with it. But is he? He drinks to excess most nights, and pines for the local barmaid, stumbling home to eat instant ramen. I liked that he is very principled, but it is to his detriment. He wants to ensure that the actual killer is found. He doesn't want to just wrap up a case by finding the most convenient suspect.

I also liked Lu Fei's various co-workers, from the younger constables who are already disillusioned by the low pay, and disrespect they receive, to the Police chief, who is more concerned with easy resolutions than getting to the truth. The author shows some compelling reasons for their lack of commitment.

Story:

The story follows a violent murder with some ritualistic elements. Why did the killer mutilate the corpse? Can that be a clue as to who did the crime? As Lu Fei investigates the murder, we get a look at rural Chinese society and customs. We also see the challenges that occurs when higher ups from Beijing get involved, local independent media starts playing up the more gory details of the crime, and influential businessmen start to throw their weight around. What are they trying to hide?

What I Was Mixed About:

Story:

As much as I loved the story, I also found the details of the murder to be really disturbing. If gory violence upsets you, beware! This had several scenes that were seriously creepy. Plus, the finale involves a violent scene with a woman being attacked. If violence such as this is triggering to you, you might now want to read this book.

TRIGGER WARNING FOR VIOLENCE AGAINST WOMEN

*3.5 stars. This new mystery, the first in a proposed series featuring Deputy Chief Inspector Lu Fei, is a police procedural set in rural northern China. A young woman is found murdered in her deceased mother's home. Some electronics are missing--was it a robbery gone wrong? No, the body was too perfectly staged. Lu feels he and his inexperienced team at the the local Public Security Bureau will need help in this investigation so he calls in the Crime Investigation Bureau, much to the chagrin of his chief.

'A homicide investigation is rarely just about the homicide itself. There's always some degree of politics involved. The cops, the local party representatives and government officials, the prosecutors--everyone has an agenda. a desire to advance one's career. Often at the expense of others. Sometimes at the expense of the truth.'

Each chapter begins with a quotation from Chairman Mao Zedong, which contrasts nicely with this view of modern-day China and how the system functions there. Lu, college-educated, is also fond of quoting Confucius and snatches of poetry. He is an interesting character, around 40 and never married, but carrying a torch for a local widow who runs his favorite bar. He can be opinionated and violent at times and sadly mistaken on occasion. Perhaps it's fortunate he's not a climber and is happy being deputy chief at a rural security bureau.

The mystery itself is intriguing but, being long-time mystery readers, both my husband and I easily guessed the murderer fairly early on, so that detracted somewhat from our reading experience. The conclusion was still very exciting. I'll look forward to reading more to come from this author.

I received an arc of this mystery from the publisher via NetGalley in exchange for an honest review. Many thanks for the opportunity.

From the first sentence, I was hooked. A woman's corpse, 'hollowed out like a birchbark canoe' is discovered. Meanwhile, Inspector Lu Fei of the Public Security Bureau is alone in a bar planning to 'get gloriously drunk' on warm wine to the sound of traditional Chinese fiddle music. Lu is smitten with the barkeep, Yanyan, a beautiful widow. Then his cell phone rings; it is his night off but the unthinkable has happened in his rural, backwater township: a woman has been murdered, and her organs removed.

I will admit, when I was offered Thief of Souls, I downloaded it to look at, never suspecting I would devour it in 24 hours. The mystery is good with red herrings and a deranged murderer and interdepartmental conflicts. There are chilling scenes, and threatening scenes, and emotional scenes, and a hearty dash of wit and humor.

But what charmed me was the location and the characters.

Lu quotes Master Kong--Confucius to us--revealing his traditional, unmodern, unCommunist values. Lu believes in love before marriage, filial piety, and most brazenly of all, he believes in justice, not convenient arrests and forced convictions. It gets him into trouble with his superiors, this insisting on finding the woman's killer when they already have a man in custody.

As Lu follows the trail into Harbin city, he unveils corruption, is pursued by thugs, kills a man in self defense, and unearths the underground gay culture.

Klingborg does an excellent job of succinctly explaining how Chinese police, law, and government works, and readers learn about the lives of rural and city Chinese people. Central to the story are traditional Chinese beliefs about death.

Stability takes precedence over public safety, we read, involving the suppression of information, quick, although not always accurate solving of crimes, and fiddling with the statistics. And of course, deniability is par for the course: "Our justice system doesn't wrongly convict innocent people."

I look forward to reading another Inspector Lu Fei mystery.

I was given a free galley by the publisher through Net Galley. My review is fair and unbiased.

The gruesome murder of Yang Fenfang, a beautiful young woman, is the tentpole of this procedural that is as interesting for its insight into policing in China as it is for the mystery. Inspector Lu, thanks to a conflict with a supervisor, is working in a small town but his nose for truth remains sharp. Yang was autopsied and her organs removed from her corpse, which makes it unlikely, he believes, that the intellectually challenged man who worshipped her was the culprit. How did she get Louboutin shoes? Where is her television and tablet? Lu finds himself in the midst of politics and local corruption as he tries to get answers. Each chapter is framed by a quote from Mao and Klingborg includes statistics and commentary in each chapter. That doesn't mean, btw, that this is dry. Lu has a love interest in YanYan, who owns the bar where he drinks- she's a wise one. This kept me engaged right up to the end( even though I more or less guessed the villain) because the path to identifying him was so well done. Thaks to the publisher for the ARC. A very good read - I'm looking forward to the next installment.

I was intrigued by the premise of this book. I have a background in Chinese history and geography studies and thought this could be an interesting read.

I really liked it even if it is not my favorite genre. It was a bit too gritty for my everyday reading but I stuck with it. The story is set in a small town in northern China.
I find it interesting that this is the second book in a row that I recently read that has to do with harvesting body parts. Must be the hot topic for police procedurals.

I found the inner thoughts of the killer a provocative turn of events.

This was a page turner. I was given an ARC e-book copy from Netgalley. I am not required to leave a positive review.

Thief of Souls (Inspector Lu Fei Mystery) by Brian Klingborg 

I don't think I've ever read a book that takes place in China and certainly not a modern day story. Inspector Lu Fei, who graduated from the police academy at the top of his class, has been exiled to a tiny rural town where nothing much happens. But Lu is happy here, he has his work, which he does with great attention to doing the job well, he has his drink and his favorite drinking location, a bar owned by a young widow. Unlike most men in his circumstances, he doesn't want a trophy wife, he wants to marry for love even if that means not ever marrying at all. 

This is a dark story with explicit violence. The temps hover below freezing and even indoors can be freezing. When a woman is found murdered in her home, with her organs removed, the body is well preserved due to the temps. Outside help is summoned and Lu then has to answer to Superintendent Song, Deputy Director of the Criminal Investigation Bureau. Politics play heavily in every aspect of life in China and that fact drives the investigation, whether it means ignoring the misdeeds of those in power or trying to railroad persons of interest into confessing something they might not have done. This is not Lu's way and he butts heads with Song, until they develop an uneasy partnership. 

Soon, Lu is checking on other murders that are similar to the one in his town. Lu is a good cop but he's not adverse to finding the information he needs even if he has to slip through the cracks to get past his superiors. He wants to find the killer and he wants to keep more women from dying. We are there for the violence against women but also for the violence inflected on Lu by members of the police force who do not like him. I did see humor in the story at times but mostly I was sad at how hard things appear to be for the people and how much corruption thrives in the politics of the country and those who have power over others. 

Thank you to St. Martin's Press/Minotaur Books and NetGalley for this ARC.

Thief of Souls is the first book in a new series, Lu Fei Mysteries #1. I had never read a detective novel based in China, and this is what initially intrigued me to try this book. After reading, it drives home the point that people are somewhat the same, all over the world. However, as I had hoped, I got an insight into life in China with all the little details that make a story sing.

Lu Fei has been banished to a backwater town in northern China, even though he has sound credentials and is skillful at his job, but he offended his boss in Beijing. Nothing much normally happens in the little town until the ritualistic murder of a young woman disturbs the peace. The higher ups want to pin the crime on a half witted neighbor boy, but Lu Fei is convinced the young man does not have the skills necessary to have carried out such a murder. When he is able to link it to other similar murders, suddenly the big brass in Beijing are interested.

I'm not skillful at talking about plots without giving too much away so I will talk about the aspects I enjoyed. One of the most pleasant surprises was the amount of humor when the various members of the police department interacted with each other. The dialogue and minor annoyances they faced with each other every day helped flesh out the characters as well lead to a good amount of amusement. Inspector Fei proved himself to be a thoughtful and thorough detective, although he did make a few errors in judgement. I found the mystery itself to be satisfying, as it ultimately incorporated aspects from Chinese culture in the final solution. I did figure out who the bad guy was just a couple of pages before Inspector Fei, however I felt that this was the way the author had wanted the solution to unfold, so we could take full pleasure in seeing the ending play out with no last minute surprises.

I really enjoyed this book. Each new chapter was the dawn of a new day, so we saw the pace of the detectives as they went about solving the case. I look forward to future adventures of Lu Fei!

Thank you to NetGalley, St. Martin's Press and author Brian Klingborg for allowing me to preview this ARC.

Interesting crime novel set in China which was new and very interesting to learn the culture and police process. Sometimes, however, it felt a little more like a text book when the author had to explain a ton of cultural things. While it was maybe necessary, it just sometimes really pulled you out of the action.

THIEF OF SOULS is such an engrossing tale: it takes place in modern China with characters and settings that are so lively, they jump from the page. I haven’t been to China but reading this book was like a mini-vacation in the year of the pandemic. Except for the murder mystery, which was a well-done piece of writing; the solution makes sense when it’s revealed. But the tale moves forward in a variety of interesting ways and is engrossing. Author Brian Klingborg has created a wonderful detective for this series. I can’t wait to read the next one. I received my copy from the publisher through NetGalley.

Great. Googly. Moogly. That was QUITE the ride.

I honestly didn't know what to expect when I got this book - sometimes something looks good and it ends up being horrible and a terrible misrepresentation of the country or people the story is trying to portray and then sometimes, in a "perfect world", you get a book that does almost everything right and it ends up being a really good read. THIS was that book. Mr. Klingborg does a really good job of telling a tale of a lonely policeman in a small-town, just trying to get through each day. It felt believable and you can feel the frustration that Lu Fei feels when trying to deal with this backwater people [people will call the police when their internet is out - it is THAT backwater].

The murder is gruesome and the evidence leads everyone on a wild goose chase - it is Lu Fei's determination to do right by the dead girl that keeps them looking for information rather than taking the easy road of blaming the "obvious" person and the reveal is done very well. I actually knew who the killer was before our esteemed detective, but it didn't take away from the story [though when the light bulb finally went off for the detective, I may or may not have smacked my head and yelled "FINALLY!!!" LOL] at all - it was interesting to see just how they go about finding the killer.

My only issue with this book was there was a lot of Chinese stuff that isn't explained [words, slang, saying, and money] and I spent a good chunk of the book looking stuff up [thank goodness for Google]. While I appreciate it as it makes it more authentic, some footnotes with what these things meant would have been a good idea and made for a smoother read. Ultimately, this is minor and the book is still an excellent read. If you like a good mystery, this one could be for you!

Thank you to NetGalley, Brian Klingborg, and St. Martin Press/Minotaur Books for providing this ARC in exchange for an honest review.

I received a free electronic ARC of this mystery novel from Netgalley, Brian Klingborg, and a special request from St. Martin's Press - Minotaur Books. I have read this novel of my own volition, and this review reflects my honest opinion of this work. I am pleased to recommend Brian Klingborg to friends and family. He writes a tight, complex mystery with personable characters. He is an author I will follow.

Lu Fei is a 30-year-old Constable with the local Public Security Bureau Station in the small community of Raven Valley Township in China. In more familiar locales, the PSB would compare to a western police department, with branches at the provincial, county, municipal and local levels just as it would be in the U.S. Lu Fei and his co-workers are all well presented, individual and with personalities that we will all recognize instantly among our co-workers, friends, and family.

I found this a very good, well-paced mystery, with the added benefit of dissolving some of the mystique that has always surrounded our Chinese neighbors in most American minds. The bridge between their life and ours seems much less threatening today. This is good, because May 1, 2021, is the First Day of Asian American and Pacific Islander Heritage Month. We have many walls that need to come down.

I read a lot of cozy and historical mysteries, so this was an interesting detour into the gritty world of this police procedural. The high point was the unique setting and glimpses of Chinese culture.

This was the first in a new series, which has the burden of setting the stage and introducing several characters. Because of this, I didn’t get to know any of the characters very well.

I was also a little disappointed that I guessed who the murderer was the minute the character was introduced. It made me think Inspector Lu was a bit dense to not figure it out earlier.

A note about the cover: I love the visual impact of the cover, but it sends the signal that this is a cozy mystery. I think it is to whimsical for a gritty police procedural.

The characters and the setting are unique enough that I want to try the next book in the series when it comes out.

3.5/5

Thief of Souls is a police procedural that unfortunately spends less time on the story and more time explaining each cultural reference included in the story. While I found much of the book interesting and compelling, the extreme violence against women is an overused trope that I'm over with and it really took away from the story and reading experience.
Thank you to Netgalley and the Publisher for the opportunity to read and review this title. All opinions and mistakes are my own.

"On the night the young woman's corpse is discovered, hollowed out like a birchbark canoe, Inspector Lu Fei sits alone in the Red Lotus bar, determined to get gloriously drunk." Though he is not on duty, the deputy chief gets a call from his constable, Huang, "excitable disposition, dumb as a wheelbarrow full of pig shit." So much for getting drunk. So much for a peaceful night off in the modestly sized township of Raven Valley.
When the post mortem reveals that the victim's heart, liver, and lungs have been surgically removed, Inspector Song is called in from Beijing to investigate the case. Although there are vast difference in attitudes, status and wealth of Lu and Song, these characters make magic together. Along with the procedural steps and the daily grind of ordinary Chinese life, there are many surprising outbursts of violence, humor, and shocking situations which embarrass the surprisingly naive Lu,

Lu is a character any mystery reader of consequence immediately wants to know more about. Much like Martin Cruz Smith's indelible Moscow-based Inspector Arkady Renko, Lu, although he is a smart-ass, is a humble, dedicated but incredibly able detective, honest, mostly good-hearted, trying to make his way in a bent system. The ins and outs of Chinese politics and Chinese culture are a mystery to most Westerners, but Klingborg lived in China for a very long time. Readers can sit back and enjoy this book confident that we're in good hands He understands, and he shares his knowledge as Lu navigates a corrupt system in his quest to find the. killer. Along the way, Lu meets old enemies, makes new ones, and even falls in love. Dull moments don't exist in this novel.. I was highly entertained throughout. But most of all, this is a great mystery. It is billed as the FIRST IN A SERIES, HOORAY!!! Let's have more of Lu Fei. Thanks to #NetGalley #MinotaurBooks #ThiefofSouls for an ARC.

Skip this if you only read “cozy “ mysteries because there is graphic description of an autopsy, post-mortem sexual assault, and other gruesome activities. However, if you can overlook these, there are twists and turns as the serial killer is hunted down.. It is also a fascinating look at Chinese police procedure, superstitions, and culture. The characters are vividly conceived and the plot well-drawn. Thanks to #NetGalley and #ThiefOfSouls for advanced digital copy.

I wanted to like this book, especially knowing it was the start of a series. I couldn't really connect with the main character, who seemed to awkwardly try to fit in quotes from Chinese philosophers almost every few words. The story itself fell flat and was predictable.

After he uncovered a scandal and angered the wrong official, Inspector Lu Fei was relegated to a backwater village in northern China where he spends more time dealing with missing chickens than fighting crime. He’s resigned himself to the life, though, as it keeps him away from higher-ranking officers in the nearby city– officers who would rather toe the line and maintain the status quo than dig deeper and fully investigate the crimes that happen in their districts. But the murder of a young woman puts an end to Lu’s quiet life when he is forced to call in his superiors from the city. Those superiors have their sights set on an easy target and a quick closure to the case. Lu suspects there’s more to the story than that, however, and he sets out to find the real killer in spite of those officials who want to keep their secrets buried. With the rise of the surveillance state and governmental insistence on maintaining order over all things, Lu finds himself in hot water at nearly every turn. But if he keeps quiet, he could lose far more than just his reputation or career.

With Thief of Souls, author Brian Klingborg opens a new mystery series set in a far different place than most readers would expect: a village in northern China. It’s unexpected both because few people ever think about small towns in China when the news only talks about Beijing and because when an American reader picks up a mystery series, it is, as a rule, set in a major American city or somewhere in the British Isles. But as the fourth largest country in the world and with more than a billion citizens, China is a more diverse country than most Americans think it is, and its people are both very different from us and also far more similar to us than we think.

Unfortunately, while Thief of Souls clearly wants to give the reader a look into the Chinese lives, culture, and traditions that American rarely hear about, it provides little more than a surface-level survey of its subject with explanations about gay clubs, the Cultural Revolution, and funeral rites shoehorned in to provide context– a method that feels intrusive half the time, and like the author doesn’t expect the reader to be clever enough to figure things out the other half of the time. And while, many American readers may be unfamiliar with the context and consequences of Mao Zedong’s policies in the 1950s-1970s, there are surely better ways of providing that context than diving into Lu Fei’s family history for several pages while he is ostensibly investigating a murder.

Still, Lu Fei is a likable enough character to keep the reader’s interest, and there is enough mystery to keep the pages turning even if the delivery is occasionally stilted and some side characters blend together. And there’s also the matter of plot threads that are picked up halfway through and then seemingly abandoned. Will they be addressed in subsequent volumes, or were they simply forgotten? It’s difficult to say, though it’s hard to imagine Klingborn putting the effort into creating the characters and subplot, only to forget about them two hundred pages in.

While its overall execution and style leave something to be desired, Thief of Souls gets at least an ‘A’ for effort. Mystery fans will likely be able to list half a dozen better writers, but practice makes perfect and though Thief of Souls stumbled as often as it runs, it may be that Lu Fei– and Klingborn– have nowhere to go but up.

-------

Thank you to NetGalley and Minotaur Books for providing me a free ebook in exchange for an honest review. This did not affect my opinion.

Thief of Souls is the first book in the Inspector Lu Fei mystery series. It starts out with a bang (“On the night the young woman’s corpse is discovered, hollowed out like a birchbark canoe . . .”) as we’re introduced to Inspector Lu Fei and his current investigation. He’s a rather unconventional police detective, frequently quoting Chinese poets or citing quotes from Chairman Mao Zedong. Nevertheless, he takes his job seriously and he pulls out all stops to try to determine who killed Yang Fenfang in such a brutal fashion. It had me guessing while coming up with my own theories about the murderer. It took a lot longer for Inspector Lu to come to the same conclusion I did. The story mixes the history of Communist China and modern day China with ancient Chinese spiritual beliefs and ways to honor one’s ancestors. Thief of Souls is an intriguing start to a new criminal mystery series, one I would like to read more of.

***ARC received from Minatour Books and NetGalley in exchange for honest review, opinions are all my own. Thank you!***

I will admit, police procedural mysteries are not a book I would normally reach for but I do love reading books set in Asian setting and this does have an interesting premise and for the most part, it works.

We are introduced to Inspector Lu in a bar because all good leads in a detective (inspector) story has to have a vice. I really liked Lu he’s not a disgruntle disillusioned inspector, he’s a good guy that just wants to see justice for the victims. He’s not 100% by the books though but he isn’t about underhanded tactics or holding innocent people. Its an interesting comparison to others that he works with, many who are all about climbing the ladder so when a murder happens in his small town he is out to see justice done for the murder victim.

The first half of the book is easily the slowest, it has a good start and then slowly begins to drag. I felt at times like the author was more interested in giving backstory and trying to tell more than show. Its clear that the author has knowledge and respect for the Chinese culture but at times I felt like I was getting more of a history lesson than reading a story. Its very jarring to get dragged out of the story for a few paragraphs so you can get an explanation about how the government system works. Lu also quotes lots of sayings and it sometimes feels like an excuse to show the whole poem. This does settle down in the second half and feels more like a character trait. Its about at the half way point that the mystery really gets going and the book settles in with a little less telling and letting the story just flow more freely.

When we do get more explanations in the second half they feel more like a natural part of the story and I didn’t find myself getting pulled out as I did in the first half. Its really fun to learn many of the interesting histories regarding China and Lu’s view of them both positive and negative. One of the strongest points of the story is the dialogue and that was really what kept me interesting when the book began to drag for me. The characters each have a unique voice and the descriptions of the cramped setting of Raven Valley make the city come alive. I am looking forward to reading more on Inspector Lu.