A Case of Two Cities

A Case of Two Cities by Qui Xiaolong

I don't often read mysteries or what are called Police Procedurals but I have become fond of Qui Xiaolong's series about Inspector Chen Cao of the Shanghai Police Department. The Inspector is a poet who has become a cop, and he navigates the complex political and social milieu of modern Shanghai while solving difficult cases with a poet's mind. With a lot of emphasis on the local foods, I have fallen in love with this author's depiction of life in the city he grew up in as seen through the eyes of a poet detective.
In the fourth volume of the series, A Case of Two Cities, he is given a case dealing with corruption that may lead to the highest levels of Chinese government, but the culprit has fled to Los Angeles. Filled with food, poetry and politics, this is a detective story with a unique perspective that I find irresistible.