Don't Cry, Tai Lake: An Inspector Chen Novel (Inspector Chen Novels)
*Starred Review* This environmental mystery is also an example of hard-hitting investigative reporting. Qiu, a poet, novelist, and former native of Shanghai, presents a compelling portrait of the far-ranging effects of chemical dumping into bodies of water, which officials in China have ignored for decades, by focusing on one lake and many tragedies. Tai Lake, an actual lake in the Yangtze Delta Plain, famous for its succulent fish and clear waters, is now covered by toxic, blue-green algae. Qiu, like Upton Sinclair in The Jungle, brings this abuse to life by framing it in a novel. The mystery format is especially conducive to giving readers a growing sense of something very wrong. Chief Inspector Chen Cao, of the Special Case Squad in the Shanghai Police Department, is given a reward. A party dignitary who can’t take his scheduled vacation at the resort bordering Tai Lake insists that Chen go in his place. Chen is disturbed by the fetid condition of the lake and concerned by what a young woman, an environmental protection engineer he meets at a local fish stand, tells him about the effects of toxic dumping. Further, he is within miles of a director of one of the lakeside factories when the director is murdered. Chen’s friend, the environmental protection engineer, is the prime suspect because of her criticism of the dumping, and Chen must solve the mystery without incurring wrath from party higher-ups. Despite the grim subject matter, the novel is filled with beautiful descriptions and poetry (Chen is poet as well as detective) that reinforce the beauty that is being polluted and lost. Magnificent. --Connie Fletcher