The Mao Case - Qiu Xiaolong

Although labelled as a murder mystery, The Mao Case and other works from Qiu Xiaolong, are deeper stories concerning with the rapidly changing and mutating society in millenium China. The shadow of Mao and the Cultural Revolution looms over a society which is looking towards the future. 

Inspector Chen is both a poet and detective. Cultured and educated, he is entrusted with investigating the suddenly affluent lifestyle of Jiao, granddaughter of a disgraced movie star. But as he begins his investigation, the body of Jiao's friend is found in the garden of a gently decaying Shanghai mansion.

The case is politically sensitive, due to the connection between Jiao's grandmother and Chairman Mao. In fact, Internal police are convinced that Jiao holds some secret material from Mao, which cannot be allowed to resurface and tarnish his beloved and treasured image. 

This is a crime novel of a different ilk. Originating as it does from a different culture, Xiaolong's story offers a different type of crime novel - intellectual and educated. It is wistful, literate and utterly unique.

Angels of Death: Inside the Bikers' Global Crime Empire - William Marsden & Julian Sher

What do you think of Hells Angels? Are they a free-wheeling group of "good old boys" who occasionally have a run in with the law, or are they a global crime empire dealing in drugs and guns? Originating in West Coast America, the HAMC have expanded into every major continent, but by doing so, have attracted the attention of every major law enforcement agency.

Marsden and Sher are two Canadian journalists who initially wrote a feature on Canadian motorcycle gangs. From this, they expanded the scope of their research to include biker gangs across the world from Canada to Amsterdam, Scandinavia to Australia. Many horrific tales of murder, beatings and feuds are recounted, but also we read the stories of the undercover police who have risked their lives and sanity to reveal the extent of the bikers' activities.

The authors have done a lot of research following the trail of HAMC and their affiliates across the globe. For anyone new to the world of outlaw biker gangs, this serves as a great introduction, but the bland writing style negates a lot of the excitement and danger contained in these stories.
 

Spider Trap - Barry Maitland

I've been working in Amsterdam for over 2 months now, most of which has been spent living out of a suitcase in the Marriott hotel. The Marriott has recently refurbished all of their lobby area, including the executive lounge. The lounge now features some bookshelves which are stocked with new, unread books. As I had just finished my current book, I went downstairs to the lounge and did a swap for "Spider Trap" by Barry Maitland. Granted, the choice was limited, but Maitland's book did seem interesting.

A shooting of two teenage girls in inner South London leads to the unearthing of 3 skeletons on an abandoned patch of ground. DCI David Brock and DSI Kathy Krolla are assigned to the case, which takes them back in history to the Brixton riots of 1981 and brings them face to face with a long-established London crime family, headed by Spider Roach.

This novel is one of a series of nine in the Brock and Krolla series, written by Maitland, who has lived in Australia since the mid-1980s. Despite this, Maitland sets his novels in the neighbourhood of his childhood, South London. Despite such a legacy, this novel is a worthwhile read in its own right and will probably entice a lot of readers to pick up more of Maitland's novels.

Maitland skillfully mixes the past and present as he tells this story of organised crime and murder. The story is firmly embedded in the culture of the area and builds well towards the end. His story of a white family controlling all black crime, while distancing themselves from the law is intriguing. But ultimately, they doom themselves through a foolish act. This is a well-written, classy crime novel that isn't sensationalist, but instead intelligent.

Another Irish Prizewinner (In a weird way)

It must be said that we don't do gangsters particularly well in this country. Our local bred boyos might have delusions of grandeur or ambitions to roll in the hood, but as always, we bring a uniquely Irish spin to gangster affairs.

Step up the recently deceased Philip Collopy. The 29 year old Limerick criminal was demonstrating how to use his Glock semi-automatic gun at a house party when he shot himself in the head, inflicting a fatal wound. In fairness to him, he had removed the magazine from the gun, but had failed to remember the chambered bullet.

Guests at the party were described as being 'unusally cooperative' with the Gardai following the incident and mobile phone footage immediately established the chain of events. The house guests at the party were hardly upstanding citizens and were eager to clear their names as quickly as possible.

It's awful to find humour in the death of a fellow human being but Collopy was a career criminal and the entire country is sick to the back teeth of the crime and deaths in Limerick. You'll be hard-pressed to find someone outside Collopy's family who will mourn his passing.

I reckon Collopy has to be a front-runner for one of the next Darwin Awards, which are awarded to deceased individuals who "improve the species, by actually removing themselves from it!". It looks like Ireland's recent winning streak is continuing.