In the old days before streaming video, the only place you could reliably see a Chinese martial arts movie was on your local TV station’s Saturday afternoon broadcast of Kung Fu Theater, or some similarly named program. Chances are it would a double feature—Shaolin Executioners followed by Dirty Ho, perhaps—featuring guys in bad wigs and…
Brian Klingborg’s Thief of Souls (Minotaur Books, May 2021) marks the launch of a new mystery series following Inspector Lu Fei. When a brutal murder in a rural village in Northern China sends shockwaves all the way to Beijing, Inspector Lu Fei, exiled to this tiny town, is seemingly the only one interested in finding…
Beijing Payback by Daniel Nieh fresh, smart, and fast-paced revenge thriller about a college basketball player who discovers shocking truths about his family in the wake of his father’s murder.
World War with China explodes in Hunter Killer, David Poyer's powerful, all-too-believable novel about how the next world war might unfold (available November 28, 2017). The United States stands nearly alone in its determination to fight, rather than give into the expansionist demands of the aggressive new “People’s Empire.” The naval and air forces of…
Every Wednesday, we here at Criminal Element will put together a list of Staff Picks of the books that published the day before—sharing the ones that we are looking forward to reading the most! This week saw the release of a new Hercule Poirot from Sophie Hannah as well as a new entry in the…
Elsa Hart, author of the critically acclaimed historical mystery Jade Dragon Mountain and the recently released follow-up The White Mirror, answers some of CrimeHQ's questions about her Li Du series of historical mysteries set in 18th-century China, her writing process, what she's currently reading, and how readers can immerse themselves further in the wonderful history…
Apricot's Revenge by Song Ying is a thought provoking detective novel about a high-profile murder that explores social issues in modern day China (Available February 16, 2016). A business tycoon in China is found dead; he apparently suffered a heart attack while swimming. His body is washed onto a beach in a popular resort known…
Earlier in December, Anne Charnock—author of Sleeping Embers of an Ordinary Mind—wrote a wonderful blog post about history and family secrets: Real Life Isn't Like the Neatly Rounded Narratives of Fiction At the end of the post, we asked YOU, the readers to put on your thinking caps and ask Anne a few questions. The…
This original blog post by author Anne Charnock is part 1 of a 2 part series including an exclusive Q&A featuring questions from YOU, the readers. To win a copy of Anne's new book Sleeping Embers of an Ordinary Mind, make sure you're signed in, and ask the author a question in the comments section…
Jade Dragon Mountain is the debut mystery by Elsa Hart set in China in 1708 featuring the exiled librarian Li Du (available September 1, 2015). Here are some of things I know about China: Ming vases, Mao Tse Tung, calligraphy, the Great Wall, Tiananmen Square, and they put on a spectacular Olympic opening ceremony. Not…
