Don't Cry, Tai Lake

Don't Cry, Tai Lake by Qiu Xiaolong

What I like about Qiu Xiaolong's Inspector Chen novels is their ethical examination of modern Communist China as seen through the eyes of a poet whose Party-assigned job is police detective, but whose moral upbringing comes from the Confucian studies of his father. This seventh book of the series takes place in the resort of Tai Lake, one of the largest freshwater lakes in China that in recent years has been plagued by pollution as the surrounding region experienced rapid industrial development. The challenge of balancing ecological concerns with the need for industrial growth in China is the background to an investigation into the murder of one of the leading polluters of the area.