David Rotenberg packs an uncommon nix of murder and theater into an exceptionally written fist novel Distributed by Syndetic Solutions, Inc.

Irresistibly exotic, this dark thriller pits love and justice against sinister agendas in fast-changing Shanghai. Inspector Zhong Fong investigates the murder and dismemberment of American Richard Fallon. Within days, the Consul of Zaire meets a similar, brutal end. Fong wonders what Fallon, a New Orleans cop, could have in common with an African diplomat. The puzzle deepens when Fong's boss, Commissioner Hu, and the American Consul hint that something more than murder is afoot. As Fong investigates, he remains haunted by the death of his wife, actress Fu Tsong, four years ago and by the recent return to Shanghai of her lover, Canadian stage director Geoffrey Hyland. With help from Fallon's widow, Fong draws out the killer, but police bosses resist his solution. While the murders seem somewhat implausible, people and place, not plot, are the strengths in this debut by a Canadian acting instructor. Mystery conventions--e.g, the independent hero, the world-weary sidekick, cynical power brokers--ring true in this most unconventional setting, a city of 14,000,000 people making the tricky transition to capitalism. Rotenberg's Shanghai--where historic charm mingles with modern energy, Chinese actors learn Shakespeare, assassins are trained from childhood and cobras rise up in shop windows to startle unwary passersby--is a place full of effective, unexpected entertainment. Copyright 1998 Cahners Business Information, Inc. From: Reed Elsevier Inc. Copyright Reed Business Information

This awesome first novel slides readers into the crowded, booming, dangerous morass of modern Shanghai, where homicide inspector Zhong Fong looks for a lethally talented assassin. Fong senses an incomprehensible message in the arrangement of the first victim's dissected remains, a message made little clearer by a hurried subsequent murder. Somewhere, though, sits a shadowy, powerful figure with an economic agenda who manipulates the assassin and the police. This is an excellent police procedural with exotic, foreboding surroundings and a wonderfully nefarious plot. Highly recommended.Copyright 1998 Cahners Business Information, Inc. From: Reed Elsevier Inc. Copyright Reed Business Information

Zhong Fong is the head of Shanghai's Special Investigation Unit. When Richard Fallon, a New Orleans police officer, is found in pieces scattered about an Old Shanghai alley, Fong must not only solve the homicide but also deal with it as a potential international incident that could have dire political consequences. Fong knows something is very wrong with the case when he learns reporters had details on Fallon's death before police were even on the scene. As Fong gingerly traverses the political minefields littering his investigation, he is suddenly confronted with a new inquiry into the circumstances surrounding his own wife's death years earlier. First-time novelist Rotenberg has produced an extraordinarily accomplished mystery in which he has subtly woven cultural differences into the book as elements of the plot. Toss in a superior, unexpected conclusion, and readers will be clamoring for more Rotenberg even as they finish this one. (Reviewed July 1998)0312181752Wes Lukowsky From: Syndetics Solutions, Inc. Distributed by Syndetic Solutions, Inc.