Review: Intrigue, Betrayal, and Danger in the Glittering City of Shanghai
Rating: 5 out of 5
Date: 11 25, 2013
“Gangsters of Shanghai” is a mystery/suspense novel full of twists, turns, and a detailed and engrossing description of old Shanghai. Michael Gallagher, the book’s protagonist, begins the book lost and suffering—both his father and the woman he loves, Fiona, were killed in a fire set by the IRA.  Michael, looking both to make his father proud and honor Fiona’s wishes that they go to China one day, joins the Shanghai Municipal Police. He finds himself plunged into a world both glittering and corrupt, one where public executions are common yet the glittering upper class revel in sex, jazz, and wealth. He also can’t quite shake his feeling that perhaps Fiona did not die, and becomes obsessed with finding out the truth. That obsession leads him into the arms of other women and the path of the criminal Big Ears Lu, far from his wholesome Irish upbringing.The plot is exciting, and the city itself is brought to detailed life that invokes all of the senses—it’s almost a character by itself. The time period shifts between Michael’s youth and his present, slowly revealing more about his life and his relationship with Fiona. Michael himself is also a compelling character, always strong-willed though not always making the smartest decisions, a foreigner struggling in a land where ultimately he is not welcome. While in many mysteries featuring male protagonists the women are helpless placeholders, that is pleasantly not true in “Gangsters of Shanghai”—Fiona, Miriam, and the other women we come across are complex and realistic, not wholly perfect but still very appealing. Recommended to readers who enjoy historical novels as well as those who enjoy suspense, and most especially a blend of the two.