In the outback of China, a political activist, arrested after the Tiananmen massacre, is judged to be a reformed character and released. But Lin is a changed man in more ways than one; haunted by memories of his time in prison, and the events (and people) that put him there, he heads for the country’s capital, where he hopes to confront his demons once and for all. Mei Wang, meanwhile, is struggling to juggle the desires and demands of her family alongside the pressures of running her detective agency, and when her sister recommends her for a new case – the disappearance of a gorgeous young starlet called Kaili – she feels obliged to accept. It’s a risky business, however, investigating the truth in a society that is still catching up with the secrets of its past.

Mei Wang is a splendid heroine, brave and sensible. As she interviews witnesses and makes her deductions she shows her readers a fascinating glimpse of the China visitors don’t see Literary Review