Love and Murder in the Time of Covid

Inspector Chen now looks at the horrific situation in China during the pandemic, specifically Wuhan and Shanghai in Love and Murder in the Time of Covid. That alone makes it an important book. Most Westerners have little idea on how life was lived at the time in China.
Unfortunately, the writing seems stilted and the author indulges his love of poetry far too often. For me, the poetry added nothing to the novel.
Nonetheless, the image of a pregnant woman in distress being turned away from a hospital because she has no Covid test result is shattering. It's a clear sign that all was not right in the time of Covid in China.
Thanks NetGalley for the ARC.

Inspector Chen, having displeased the Party Officials, is on sick leave when he gets an urgent request. There have been three murders in the vicinity of the hospital, and there is fear that there might be a serial killer on the loose. There is also much anger in Shanghai about how the party is handling the Covid crisis with cruel bureaucratic inefficiency. Chen, with the help of his secretary Jin, starts the investigation, while planning to clandestinely translate the Wuhan Files, which document the abuses of citizens during the Covid lockdown. The reader learns about the many ways citizens are spied on in China; in fact, Chen frequently references Orwell's novel, 1984. Recommended for readers who enjoy a mystery with political intrigue. Thanks to Netgalley and the publisher for the ARC.

Contrary truths!

A confronting novel. Chen Cao, now relegated to director of the Shanghai Judicial System Reform Office, is recalled from convalescent leave to solve a high profile crime. It seems there’s a serial murderer loose just as China is fighting Covid.
Chen is a poet and policeman. Much like the famous Judge Dee. Only it’s not an empress Chen is keeping at bay, it’s the Chinese Communist Party.
A constant heartbeat underlying the investigation of what is being seen as the work of a serial murderer, is the story of the Covid pandemic in China. The inhumane efforts the Chinese government went to to control the spread of the disease, their infamous zero Covid policy, their surveillance, and severe rules and punishments carried out by the party faithful, administering the harsh regime. People nailed into their apartments, children separated from parents, left alone, no food, people taken into concentration camps, the list is endless.
Wuhan is a focal point of course and Chen has taken on the task of translating into English the Wuhan files, stories of ordinary people who suffer extraordinary hardships during the Covid period. We had it tough in the West, but here the extraordinary lengths the CCP took is, according to Chen, absolutely destructive to the soul of the nation. Very Orwellian! Chen refers to this constantly.
The story of a totalitarian government grinding down its people, all living in fear, except for officials, and a desperate, or brave, few.
A telling juxtaposition is revealed of the general populace’s hardships over against the party officials who can make things happen for their favorites, even in this time of crisis.
Another anomaly was the mention of red envelopes filled with money to bribe doctors and officials. A hangover of historical practices, or the new way?
Continually there are understated, ironic comments from Chen about the situation. Comments containing harsh judgements of the country’s leadership that Chen feels has lost its way.
The relationship between Chen and Lin his secretary is that of mentor and student, older man and younger woman, full of promise and yet nowhere to go in this the twilight of Chen’s life. Perhaps a Chinese operatic moment? Their relationship is fodder for salacious comments inferred to by Hou Guohua, Deputy Chief of Staff of the Shanghai Government. A fast rising star. Comments possibly harking back to historical cultural perspectives on such relationships.
Qiu Xiaolong has given us a troubling novel, with equally as troubling observations that resonate.
I loved the inclusion of Chinese poetry, a prophetic forerunner to each chapter as it unfolds, along with snippets from the Wuhan Files.
The crime it turns out, is heavily influenced by the current intractable Covid rules. A response to the truly awful plight a normal person finds themselves in. More a political and police procedural than a murder story. Well written and a thoughtful read.

A Severn House ARC via NetGalley.
Many thanks to the author and publisher.
(Opinions expressed in this review are completely my own.)

Honest cops are like an endangered species in today's China and honest politicians virtually extinct. Qiu Xiaolong has set his latest novel featuring Chen Cao against the terrifying backdrop of China's zero-Covid policy. I fear we know so little about the awful collateral damage death toll and human suffering here in the West.
When the world may come to an end for you tomorrow you still have to take care of today. Chen and Jin are a perfect combination in a book that benefits hugely from being both character driven and plot driven.
Chen is an intellectually stimulating character with his vast knowledge of Chinese poetry and his ability to quote from the classics as well.
Shanghai and Wuhan are brought vividly to life in a novel packing a powerful punch.

I would like to thank Netgalley and Severn House Publishers for an advance copy of Love and Murder in the Time of Covid, the thirteenth novel to feature former Chief Inspector Chen Cao of the Shanghai Police.

Out of favour with the ruling party, Chen is working on a new poetry translation and thinking about translating into English the Wuhan Files, a series of exposés on the everyday reality of China’s zero tolerance policies on Covid, when he is asked to become a special advisor to an investigation into a potential serial murderer at the local hospital.

I enjoyed Love and Murder in the Time of Covid as it has a lot to say about life in modern day China, although, sadly, none of it is good. It reads like a resistance novel with Chen and his friends doing what little they can to get the truth out in the face of massive oppression. I don’t think I realised just how difficult it is to have a free life in China and this is underlined by Chen assuming that his phone is tapped and the hotel room where he is working is under video surveillance.

The hunt for the killer is very much secondary to the author’s other concerns, the effects of the zero tolerance policy on the population and the machinations of the CCP to maintain control. It’s almost dystopian and features many references to 1984. I cannot begin to express what a nightmare it seems (and I have nothing to hide) and how the pandemic precautions were exploited to tighten the noose. I think that this is the most overtly political novel I have read in the series and the author pulls no punches.

Chen has no real difficulty in finding the killer once the hospital administrators are brought to understand that a cover up is not in their best interests. The motive for the murders is heartbreaking, but not overly surprising given some other examples of covid “collateral damage”.

Love and Murder in the Time of Covid is an eye opening read, that I have no hesitation in recommending.

Terrific read that blends a mystery with the tense frightening time of COVID. Qiu Xiaolong is an author to watch. Thanks to Netgalley for the ARC,

This is the second book i read in this series and it's lked being punched because there's a thriller but there's also a dramatic description of China at the beginning of COVID.
It wasn't a relaxing read but it was a good one as the mix of politics and thriller worked well even if the mystery took often the backseat.
Well written and well plotted, highly recommended
Many thanks to the publisher for this ARC, all opinions are mine

*I received this novel thanks to #Netgalley in exchange for an honest review.*

It's been many years since I read the beginning of this series (the two or three first novels, I think) but it has remained in the back of my mind as an agreeable way to learn more about contemporary China. It wasn't any problem at all to pick it back up and can be read independantly.

The murder case here was just an accessory to the description of the horrid zero covid policy led by the CCP. I learned and will probably remember more through this book than I would have watching the news. It was ghastly and inhuman. The everpresent surveillance, be it by the cameras, the drones, the local commitees, the police, coworkers, acquaintances suffocating, privacy basically non-existent. But the worse was all the people forcefully locked in their homes at the slightest suspicion of COVID, whether they were old, young, sick, pregnant, didn't have enough food... or if the building was on fire.

I warmly recommend this book : it's poignant and raises anger...