Midnight in Peking

“This is a good murder story, well told, with all the additional pleasures that a knowledgeable tour guide to old China can provide. Grateful readers could scarcely ask for more.”  – Joseph Kanon, author of Istanbul Passage, in The Washington Post

“Never less than fascinating… one of the best portraits of between-the-wars China that has yet been written.” – The Wall Street Journal

“Midnight in Peking is both a detective story and a social history, and therefore – as it should – always keeps the hunt for Pamela’s killers somewhere near the center of the narrative. [Paul French] is a wonderfully dexterous guide” – Jonathan Spence in The New York Review of Books

“A crime story set among sweeping events is reminiscent of Graham Greene, particularly The Third Man, while French’s terse, tightly-focussed style has rightly been compared to Chandler. Midnight in Peking deserves a place alongside both these masters.” – The Independent

“A page-turning and fascinating true crime book. This is a genre-breaker that captures the atmosphere of 1930s Peking.” – The Bookseller [selected as One to Watch]

“…the most talked-about read in town this year.” – The New Yorker’s Page-Turner Blog

“Midnight in Peking is true-crime writing at its best, full of vivid characters, an exotic locale, secrets galore, and a truly bewildering mystery.” – The Christian Science Monitor

“…A compulsively readable true crime work in the tradition of Devil in the White City.” – The Atlantic.com

“Not only does Mr. French succeed in solving the crime, he resurrects a period that was filled with glitter as well as evil, but was never, as readers will appreciate, known for being dull.” – The Economist

“An engrossing read” – Oprah.com

“In today’s Beijing, French’s portrait feels surprisingly germane.” – The Los Angeles Times

“Part historical docudrama, part tragic opera… [French] tells this sorry tale with the skill of an Agatha Christie.” – The Financial Times