Big Books of 2026

Inspector Chen Cao Series

14 primary works • 18 total works
Chen Cao is an Inspector with the Shanghai Police Bureau.

English translations are sometimes published out of original series order.
#10, Il était une fois l'inspecteur Chen / Becoming Inspector Chen can also be considered #0 as deals with Chen's first case.

Book 1

Death of a Red Heroine
by
3.82 · 6449 Ratings · 874 Reviews · published 2000 · 81 editions
Qiu Xiaolong's Anthony Award-winning debut introdu…

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    Book 2

    A Loyal Character Dancer
    by
    3.80     · 2746 Ratings · 299 Reviews · published 2002 · 50 editions
    Inspector Chen’s mentor in the Shanghai Police Bur…

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    Book 3

    When Red Is Black
    by
    3.77     · 2358 Ratings · 268 Reviews · published 2004 · 4 editions
    Inspector Chen Cao of the Shanghai Police Bureau i…

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    Book 4

    A Case of Two Cities
    by
    3.67     · 1797 Ratings · 168 Reviews · published 2006 · 40 editions
    Inspector Chen Cao of the Shanghai Police Bureau i…

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    Book 5

    Red Mandarin Dress
    by
    3.78     · 2063 Ratings · 213 Reviews · published 2007 · 39 editions
    Chief Inspector Chen Cao of the Shanghai Police De…

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    Book 6

    The Mao Case
    by
    3.65     · 1620 Ratings · 184 Reviews · published 2009 · 34 editions
    Chief Inspector Chen Cao of the Shanghai Police De…

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    Book 7

    Don't Cry, Tai Lake
    by
    3.70     · 1230 Ratings · 168 Reviews · published 2012 · 24 editions
    “Dark, gorgeous…feels authentically Chines…

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    Book 8

    Enigma of China
    by
    3.78     · 1210 Ratings · 170 Reviews · published 2012 · 24 editions
    Chief Inspector Chen Cao of the Shanghai Police De…

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    Book 9

    Shanghai Redemption
    by
    3.80     · 1065 Ratings · 150 Reviews · published 2014 · 26 editions
    "The system has no place for a cop who puts jus…

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    Book 10

    Becoming Inspector Chen
    by
    3.47     · 398 Ratings · 47 Reviews · published 2016 · 10 editions
    Inspector Chen is excluded from a poetry case a…

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    Book 11

    Hold Your Breath, China
    by
    3.86     · 502 Ratings · 58 Reviews · published 2018 · 12 editions
    Inspector Chen is on the case of a serial murderer…

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    Book 12

    Inspector Chen and the Private Kitchen Murder
    by
    3.91     · 476 Ratings · 61 Reviews · published 2021 · 12 editions
    Chen Cao has been removed from his chief inspector…

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    Book 13

    Love and Murder in the Time of Covid
    by
    3.82     · 303 Ratings · 50 Reviews · 8 editions
    Former chief inspector Chen faces a tricky seri…

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    Book 14

    The Secret Sharers
    by
    3.93     · 56 Ratings · 14 Reviews · published 2026 · 4 editions
    Ex-Chief Inspector Chen of the Shanghai Police …

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    Book 1-3

    The Inspector Chen Collection 1-3: Death of a Red Heroine, A Loyal Character Dancer, When Red is Black
    by
    4.27     · 66 Ratings · 4 Reviews · published 2015 · 1 edition
    Chief Inspector Chen wanted to be a poet, but the …

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    Le poesie dell'ispettore Chen
    by
    3.87     · 15 Ratings · 2 Reviews · published 2016 · 3 editions
    Agli inizi della sua carriera, il futuro ispettore…

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    Inspector Chen and Me: A Collection of Inspector Chen Stories
    by
    4.02     · 48 Ratings · 5 Reviews · published 2018 · 2 editions
    For the Inspector Chen series, one of the most com…

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    La danseuse de Mao
    by
    3.75     · 8 Ratings · 1 Reviews · published 2019 · 2 editions
    Shanghai, fin des années 90. Sale affaire pour l’i…

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