Friday, January 24, 2020

LUNAR NEW YEAR CRIME FICTION: Year of the Rat

恭賀發財 Gung Hay Fat Choy! This is the Year of the Rat.
I've put together my latest Chinese New Year Mystery List. Included, as well as specific Chinese New Year Crime Fiction, are some titles (scroll down) that take place in China and Taiwan, not necessarily during the New Year. As always, I welcome any additions.

And even though I haven't made a list this year, remember that Lunar New Year is celebrated in many other Asian countries? Want to add some of your favorite Lunar New Year Mysteries in other countries? Make a comment below.

CHINESE NEW YEAR MYSTERIES

The Corpses Hanging Over Paris by Cathy Ace

Year of the Dog; Red Jade by Henry Chang 
Year of the Dragon by Robert Daley 
Neon Dragon by John Dobbyn
Dim Sum Dead by Jerrilyn Farmer 
The Silent Girl by Tess Gerritsen
Chop Suey by Ty Hutchison 
The Chinese New Year Mystery (Nancy Drew) by Carolyn Keene

The Skull Cage Key by Michael Marriott
The Shanghai Moon by S.J. Rozan
City of Dragons by Kelli Stanley
The Celebrated Cases of Judge Dee by Robert Van Gulik (7th Century China) "New Year's Eve in Lan-Fang"

Short story by Mary Reed and Eric Mayer: "The Lady Fish Mystery", EQMM, September/October 1996.

"Murder Keeps No Calendar" by Cathy Ace.
The Nancy Drew Notebooks: The Chinese New Year Mystery by Carolyn Keene
The New Year Dragon Dilemma by Ron Roy

A good reference book for contemporary crime fiction in China: Chinese Justice, the Fiction: Law and Literature in Modern China by Jeffrey C. Kinkley (Stanford University Press)

Not specifically about Chinese New Year, here's a short list of mysteries set in China and Taiwan:

Ralph Arnote:  Hong Kong, China
Earl Derr Biggers: Charlie Chan: The House Without a Key, The Chinese Parrot, Behind the Curtain, The Black Camel, Keeper of the Keys
Lisa Brackmann: Rock Paper Tiger, Hour of the Rat
Adam Brookes: Night Heron
Koonchung Chan: The Fat Years
Henry Chang: Chinatown Beat, Year of the Dog, Red Jade
Feng Chi-Shun: Hong Kong Noir
Yin-Lien C. Chin: The "Stone Lion" and Other Chinese Detective Stories
Stephen Coonts: Hong Kong
Charles Cumming: Typhoon
Franklin M. Davis, Jr., Secret: Hong Kong
Chris Emmett: Hong Kong Policeman 
Shamini Flint: A Calamitous Chinese Killing
Paul French: Midnight in Peking: How the Murder of a Young Englishwoman Haunted the Last Days of Old China
Ian Hamilton: The Water Rat of Wanchai; The Wild Beasts of Wuhan 
Jim Michael Hansen: Bad Laws
Zhou Haohui: Death Notice
Elsa Hart: The White Mirror
Chan Ho-Kei: The Borrowed, The Locked Room of Bluebeard, The Man Who Sold the World, 13.67
Mara Hvistendahl: And The City Swallowed Them
He Jiahong: Hanging Devils
Carolyn Keene: The Mystery of the Fire Dragon (Nancy Drew)
He Jiahong: The Madwoman; Crime De Sang; Black Holes
S.G. Kiner: The Hong Kong Connection
D.L. Kung:  The End of May Road; The Wardens of Punyu
M.J. Lee: Death in Shanghai
Sha Li: Beijing Abduction
Diane Wei Liang, The Eye of Jade
Ed Lin:  Ghost Month, Incense, Snakes Can't Run, One Red Bastard
John L. Mariotti: The Chinese Conspiracy
Paul Mason: Rare Earth
Peter May: The Firemaker, The Killing Room, Chinese Whispers, The Firemaker
Lei Mi: Profiler
Nicole Mones, A Cup of Light; Night in Shanghai 
E.W. Peters: Shanghai Policeman
Alex Ryan: Beijing Red; Hong Kong Black
Catherine Sampson: The Pool of Unease
Lisa See: Flower Net, Dragon Bones, The Interior
Deborah Shlian: Rabbit in the Moon
Wang Shuo: Playing for Thrills
Robert Stewart: The Last Bowl of Tea
Eric Stone: Shanghaied
Robert van Gulik: The Chinese Maze Murders ; The Emporor's Pearl; Celebrated Cases of Judge Dee
Nury Vittachi: The Feng Shui Detective
A.Yi: A Perfect Crime
Shuo Wang: Playing for Thrills
Christopher West: Death of a Blue Lantern
Zhi Wen: Salvation at Knife's Edge
Kate Whitehead: Hong Kong Murders
Don Winslow: Shibumi (o.k., only part of the action is in China, but I love this novel!)
David Wise: Tiger Trap
Chen Xiaoquing: Sherlock in Shanghai
Qiu Xiaolong: Death of a Red Heroine, A Loyal Character Dancer, When Red is Black, A Case of Two Cities, Red Mandarin Dress, The Mao Case, Don't Cry, Tai Lake; Enigma of China, Shanghai Redemption

And, here's a wonderful blog on Writing in China by Bertrand Mialaret (in French) http://www.mychinesebooks.com/

2 comments:

HonoluLou said...

Might we include, Juanita Sheridan's four "Lily Wu" mysteries ("The Female Charlie Chan" as proclaimed by Anthony Boucher): The Chinese Chop, The Kahuna Killer, The Mamo Murders, and The Waikiki Widow?

jacobvis@kpnmail.nl said...

Dear Janet,

Indeed, you have forgotten a title: Lord of Formosa, written by my Dutch colleque Joyce Bergvelt. Please add her to your list.

Thanks in advance,
Jacob Vis