Editor's Note

With a surprising beginning and a shocking ending, this story has many twists and turns as it slowly unravels.

In the story, prosperous Jiang Zhou and a remote village are both excellently portrayed, giving readers a clear picture of both sides of China. Two themes run through the book: hot blood and cold ink. Zijin Chen is one of the best crime authors of modern China and this is his greatest work to date.

As the book says, “We live in a world where it is difficult to say if we should celebrate the fact that the night is long, but there are still people running ahead and lighting a torch; or if we should lament the fact that people are giving up their lives to try to light the torch, and despite their efforts the night is still long.”

Synopsis

A man pulling a large suitcase is stopped by the police at a central metro station in Jiang Zhou. The police discover a body when they open the suitcase, and the incident goes viral across the country. The suspect admits to the murder and the case seems cut-and-dried.

The police run into trouble when the suspect turns out to be a famous criminal defense lawyer. While in court, he suddenly disproves the evidence suggesting that he killed the victim and attempted to dispose of the body; then he refuses to speak.

The police start to investigate the history of the victim, Jiang Yang. The former public prosecutor has been involved in a number of bizarre cases. A dark swirl of mystery surrounds the man and his history involves community-supported teachers in the countryside, orphan girls, villagers, police, entrepreneurs and officials. Some claim that they have been wronged and then disappear, other invent sins that never happened, still others light a torch and start running.

Will justice prevail in Jiang Zhou? And who actually killed Jiang Yang?

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