Lu Fei is a graduate of China’s top police college but he’s been assigned to a sleepy backwater town in northern China, where almost nothing happens and the theft of a few chickens represents a major crime wave. That is until a young woman is found dead, her organs removed, and joss paper stuffed in her mouth. The CID in Beijing—headed by a rising political star—is on the case but in an increasingly authoritarian China, prosperity and political stability are far more important than solving the murder of an insignificant village girl. As such, the CID head is interested in pinning the crime on the first available suspect rather than wading into uncomfortable truths, leaving Lu Fei on his own. And this is start of what I hope will be a series involving Lu Fei. This is such an unusual storyline and I found the location and use of Chinese phrases fascinating. This is not your typical murder mystery and I was glad....this was different and really enjoyable. Thank you NetGalley for the advanced readers copy for review.

"Thief of Souls" was an enjoyable murder mystery. The book is set in a small town in China, which makes it different from the murder mysteries I usually read, with their US or western European settings. Inspector Lu Fei's night off is interrupted by a call from one of the constables at the local Public Security Bureau station informing him that there has been a murder. The case becomes even stranger when the medical examiner, who has flown in from Beijing, reveals that the deceased had already been autopsied and that she was missing her heart, lungs, and liver. The initial suspect is a young man who is not very bright, but who was infatuated with the victim (Yang Fenfang), claiming she was his girlfriend, and who worked at a factory butchering pigs. Inspector Lu does not believe the suspect (Zhang) is guilty, but political pressure and legal policies keep Zhang in custody. The investigation leads to the city of Harbin, where Fenfang had been living and working, and where Inspector Lu used to work (with a former boss who is none to pleased to see Lu back in town), but also involves investigations into stolen property, possible organ theft, a possible serial killer, illegal social behavior, and corruption.

One thing I particularly appreciated about the book was that the author utilized Chinese words and phrases at times and provided translations. The use of the Chinese words and phrases, such as paichusuo (Public Security Bureau station), hukou (mandatory household registration system), or ta ma de ("Oh shit"), lent the story an air of authenticity and local flavor. The author also explained the criminal justice system in China with comparison to the US, indicating the analogous roles/functions, and he discussed Chinese political practices, belief systems, and history to help explain the beliefs and behaviors of certain characters and how this affected the way the investigation was conducted and how the characters interacted with each other. The plot was creative and well-paced. The author includes a variety of detail about the various characters, making the reader feel invested in the characters. There are multiple avenues of the investigation that lead to the discovery of other crimes or questionable behavior unconnected to the murder itself.

It appears that "Thief of Souls" is intended to be the first book in a series featuring Inspector Lu. I hope that is true, because I would be interested in reading more about Inspector Lu and his colleagues.

I received a copy of the e-book via NetGalley in exchange for a review.

This is a different type who done it and I enjoyed the whole experience. The distinctive difference in cultures is evident throughout, although much is the same as the “west”. Here we have a serial killer with a twist. The oriental view of the police and life in general is entertaining and intense. Enjoy this puzzle.

It may be that I just spent a couple of weeks in China in January 2020, and so I could somewhat relate to the culture and scene of this book, but I did enjoy it and recommended it to friends and family. I loved the characters, Lu and Yanyan, and Sgt. Bing, especially. I did figure out the serial killer way early in the story almost at the moment he was introduced, but other than that, it was a good story. I was truly hoping I was wrong, but alas, no. But if he writes this as a first in a series, I probably will read the next!

What an unusual mystery! At least to me, it was. It takes place in a small town in northern China and each chapter begins with a quotation from Chairman Mao. A brutal murder opens the story, something unheard of in this little town. The tentacles spread to a neighboring city. Inspector Lu has burned his bridges there but was this his fault? He turns up more murders. How are they connected? Are they connected?

Innocent suspects and stubborn superiors lead to injuries and death. Inspector Lu doggedly continues.

Finally, by thorough police work and a few white lies to those who need to hear them, Lu finds a viable suspect. How can he prove it? Another person will die before he does.

This story was novel to me for its location and the numerous Chinese philosophical and political quotations. I enjoyed the book very much and hope Inspector Lu will be featured in a series.

As someone who reads to expand their cultural or historical understanding, this book did just that for me. It dropped me in contemporary China and introduced me to political and social norms.

I loved the police protagonist created by Brian Klingborg. He was imperfect and intriguing . . . quoting poetry and philosophy one minute and violently fighting the next. He was both a romantic and a survivor. A loner and an iconoclast. The style of the police procedural took awhile for me to warm up to, but the main character was so strong he drew me in completely.

It was an interesting book, and an entertaining read. NetGalley provided me a complimentary copy in exchange for a candid review.

Thank you Netgalley and Minotaur Books for the complimentary edition of Thief of Souls in exchange for my honest review. A police procedural that takes place in China. I loved Inspector Lu Fei and the cast of characters, the great plot and especially immersion into the Chinese culture, law enforcement and government. I found myself thinking and talking about the book and intrigued at this inside look at Communism. As Inspector Lu works to solve the case, he is sidelined by the ingrained corruption of the police departments, a woman and his own motivation to solve the crime. I gave this book 5 strong stars and will hope for the continuation of this series.

Lu Fei Reminds Me Of Columbo, He Doesn’t Stop Until He Gets His Man

Lu Fei Is an honest, hard-working police inspector in Communist China. Political decisions find him in a small, sleepy city in northern China where not much ever happens, until one day a woman is murdered. Her body is found under strange circumstances, on the floor in her bathroom, all clean, dressed in evening clothes, and wearing makeup. Strange, indeed, since some of her body organs have been removed and her chest sewn back up. Inspector Lu Fei questions the lead suspect, Zhang Zhaoxing, who is detained for further investigation, but Lu isn’t convinced he’s guilty. Politicians want the case settled fast, so Lu must quickly follow any clues if he is to save Zhang’s life.

The story is filled with examples of China’s police procedures and political considerations which must be accommodated. The idea of suspect’s rights and how investigations are conducted are much different in China than those of the United States. Suspects are guilty until proven innocent, witnesses and secondary contacts must answer any and all questions presented to them. Intimidation and pressure are common and expected. Politicians are feared and, apparently, often corrupt. I found the culture lesson fascinating.

Thief of Souls is an excellent murder mystery. The slow pace and cultural asides might turn off some aficionados of fast-paced action packed stories with lots of blazing guns, but there is a lot to like about delving into the mind and customs of an entirely different type of policing. It did take me a while to get used to the slower, word-filled pace of the investigation, but excellent writing and character development drew me into the story and soon I was looking forward to my reading time. It was a pleasant change of pace from the average murder mystery.

Thank you NetGalley, St. Martin’s Press, and Minotaur Books for an advance review copy of Thief of Souls.

From the ratings and reviews I’ve seen, I’m clearly an outlier. I read a lot of procedurals set all over the globe, and this one missed the mark for me. The pacing was uneven with brief moments of activity followed by interminable pages of drudgery, to a sudden race to a cinematic conclusion in the last chapter. The first half of the novel read like more of a lecture on how the judicial system works (or doesn’t) in China. Own voices novels don’t typically have these explanations and I felt they both slowed and dumbed down the narrative. I figured out the identity of the killer well before the lead detective, so the big reveal was a bit of a let down. It wasn’t a bad novel. It just didn’t have anything that makes it stand out as one that I would recommend to friends or family. It’s likely one that I will forget about completely by the end of the week

While I enjoyed the culture present in this book, the plot was boring and lacked inspiration. The book didn't truly get interesting until 70% of the way through, and I'm finding myself questioning why I continued reading it.

I've been an avid reader of mysteries and detective novels and I particularly enjoy those with an unusual setting. Brian Klingborg's Thief of Souls is set in contemporary Communist China and captures the imagination from the very start.

The murder occurs in a small remote village and the detective who captures the case has been sent to this area from a larger city. It soon becomes clear that our detective doesn't care as much about local politics and CYA as much as he wants to find the real killer. When a local suspect is in danger of being railroaded for the crime and lost in the system, Detective Lu is willing to go against the highest politicians to ensure that the case remains open.

The search for the killer draws in political heavyweights and places Detective Lu in danger both of his life and his pension. I stayed up much of the night finishing Thief of Souls and I'm looking forward to reading more of Brian Klingborg's novels!

I enjoy the occasional police procedural if the writing is strong and there’s a good hook. The author kept me reading, and the setting was an unusual hook—a small town in northern China. The protagonist, Lu Fei, is a middle-aged (although they keep calling him young, he’s forty) inspector on the police force, never married, who drinks too much, and is good at martial arts. Okay, raise your hand if you’ve read that before. <G> But it all works. Young women are being murdered, their organs removed, then sewed up again. The author takes us through the workings of the police department, all the petty government hang-ups, the interdepartmental fighting, all the things we normally see in the usual Brit and American police stories, only with a Chinese twist. I had to look up the author to see how he knew these details, and he’s apparently lived in China but isn’t Chinese. Still, it felt authentic.
Inspector Lu has never married because he wants to marry for love. He quotes Confucius but he’s an independent thinker and an honest cop. You really have to like him because he tries so hard. And better yet, the author manages to keep the killer a secret almost to the point that Lu works it out. So we get to feel smart and not too annoyed with our hero when it takes him a few pages more. If you enjoy a good police procedural and reading about China, you might want to check this out.

Thank you Netgalley and St. Martin's Press for the eARC.
What an interesting and involving mystery this is - I had never read a novel set in China and I thoroughly enjoyed the immersion into the country,
people and customs. The mystery itself is great and Inspector Lu Fei a very engaging protagonist
He's tasked with the investigation of the brutal murder of a young woman. The murderer is quickly found and the case closed... But wait, not so fast, do they really have the right killer and have they really solved the crime?
The Inspector is determined to hunt down the truth, despite all the obstacles thrown his way.
Great story, loved it and definitely recommend this book.

Lu is a Deputy Chief of Police in a small Chinese city. He does not ordinarily carry a gun. A woman has been brutally murdered, cut open and stripped of some body parts. It is Lu’s responsibility to determine who did it. He also contacts the national police for help. The story is a procedural, but like nothing I’ve seen before. It deals with all sides of Lu, who is single, lives in a tiny apartment and drinks way too much. It also deals with the Chinese police, both the positive and the negative. I went into this pretty open minded about a different procedural and was frequently amazed by the things I read of being done there both politically and ethically. The research into China alone begs for 5 stars. Thanks to Net Galley, the author and Minotaur for an ARC for an honest review.

Police procedurals, post 87th Precinct, seem to all have similar setups -- if the series is to continue, there is a recognizable set of rascals and heroes populating the stationhouse, no matter whether the location is in Manhattan, Detroit, Saudi Arabia, Sicily, Rio de Janero, Dublin along with many other UK locations. Wherever the setting, it's the interplay between the central character and his coworkers that provides for me the greatest interest along with information about the surrounding country, its customs and procedures. So here we are in provincial China, several air hours from Beijing. Since local stations don't usually experience anything more dire than a stolen pig or a malfunctioning traffic light (or the occasional request by an elder regarding malfunctioning Internet connection), resources are limited, so when a particularly grisly murder is discovered, it is necessary to have a big city squad fly in.

Each chapter in Thief of Souls starts out with a quote from Chairman Mao, but is then followed by deconstruction of that ideology, providing a clear picture of life in today's China complete with whatever traditions (usually based on the theology of Dao) survive. Interaction between the police force and the townspeople has moments of high hilarity, and Brian Klingborg, well versed in martial arts, provides action scenes that resonate off the page. I am hoping that this is the first of what will prove to be a long series.

Thanks to the publisher and NetGalley for giving me the opportunity to read this book. I enjoyed reading this mystery based in northern China; the unique location made the book appealing to me. I appreciated learning about life in this locale rather than the typical urban crime. That said, the background information (which I appreciated) sometimes disrupted the flow of the book. It was interesting to read about the cultural differences between China and the United States, assuming it's been accurately depicted by the author who is a foreigner, both regarding everyday life and police investigations. This book was a nice change of pace from others of its type largely because of the locale and its politics. I'm glad to have been able to read it.

Thief of Souls is not my usual favorite type of murder mystery book.
While the ending had the satisfying quickness and skillful enthralling ending, the rest of the book was just to boring and didn’t have the excitement and action I crave.

What a pleasant surprise Thief of Souls proved to be! A dazzling debut to the Lu Fei series by Brian Klingborg. It's the perfect example of a riveting read you simply can't put down. Klingborg crafts a clever mystery populated by colorful characters. He adds a healthy dose of history, humor, and philosophy to this splendid tale. How can you not like an Inspector who quotes Master Kong? Seriously, this is a well-written mystery that will delight everyone fortunate enough to read it. I expect to see Thief of Souls on a plethora of Top 10 lists this year. Thank you to St. Martin's Press for the complimentary copy. I can't begin to describe how much I enjoyed this one. #ThiefofSouls #NetGalley

Thief of Souls: An Inspector Lu Fei Mystery
By Brian Klingborg
Published by Minotaur Books (4 May 2021)


Book blurb:

The brutal murder of a young woman in a rural village in Northern China sends shockwaves all the way to Beijing--but seemingly only Inspector Lu Fei, living in exile in the small town, is interested in justice for the victim.

Lu Fei is a graduate of China's top police college but he's been assigned to a sleepy backwater town in northern China, where almost nothing happens and the theft of a few chickens represents a major crime wave. That is until a young woman is found dead, her organs removed, and joss paper stuffed in her mouth. The CID in Beijing--headed by a rising political star--is on the case but in an increasingly authoritarian China, prosperity and political stability are far more important than solving the murder of an insignificant village girl. As such, the CID head is interested in pinning the crime on the first available suspect rather than wading into uncomfortable truths, leaving Lu Fei on his own.

As Lu digs deeper into the gruesome murder, he finds himself facing old enemies and creating new ones in the form of local Communist Party bosses and corrupt business interests. Despite these rising obstacles, Lu remains determined to find the real killer, especially after he links the murder to other unsolved homicides. But the closer he gets to the heart of the mystery, the more he puts himself and his loved ones in danger.

My thoughts:

“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.”

And so begins Thief of Souls. I was immediately taken with this book and with Inspector Lu Fei. He is intelligent, handsome, and sarcastic and wants more than anything to solve the murder of a young woman in Raven Valley Township. The murderer is arrested fairly quickly and the crime solved. Or is it?

Politics somewhat hinder his investigation, but Inspector Fei is dogged in insisting that the case be fully explored. He has to face danger, tread carefully through a political minefield, and fight an old enemy if he is to find the killer. He is aided by an unlikely friendship and alliance with Deputy Director Song from Beijing. Song comes with political baggage of his own, but is nonetheless willing to aid Inspector Fei, even if the investigation leads to violence.

The author explains the Chinese criminal system, comparing offices to their US counterparts for context, which I found interesting and helpful. The narrative had me immersed in the biting cold of a northern China winter near Harbin City. I was there, with Inspector Fei, shivering in the cold. I was in the Red Lotus bar with him as he flirted with the owner and dodged questions from locals about the case. This book was an entertaining, immersive experience with engaging characters and fascinating setting. I’m hopeful that this is just the first in a series and we will hear more from Inspector Lu Fei.

My favorite quotes: “The nail that sticks up gets hammered down” and “A man made of mud fears the rain.”

Thanks to NetGalley and Minotaur Books/St. Martin's Press for the free e-copy in exchange for an honest review.





When a woman is found dead and her organs removed in a rural village in Northern China, Inspector Lu looks into the murder and finds old enemies. He wants justice for the victim but is thwarted by enemies and corrupt interests and puts himself in danger. I enjoyed the story with an intriguing plot and interesting setting. A downside: Every ten pages or so, I bumped into what felt like a lecture on Chinese politics and history, taking me out of the story. Thanks to NetGalley for an advance copy in exchange for an honest review.