Midnight in Peking: The Murder That Haunted the Last Days of Old China

Midnight in Peking is a gripping true murder mystery by Paul French

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‘A first-rate murder story, a thrilling narrative. Hurtles along from one cliffhanger to the next’ Spectator

Peking, 1937:

The teenage daughter of a British consul is brutally slaughtered. The police investigation is botched; as war looms British and Chinese authorities close ranks. A grieving father vows to uncover the truth - alone.

Seventy-five years later, historian Paul French uncovers a stash of forgotten documents revealing the killer’s identity …

For those who loved The Suspicions of Mr Whicher and Midnight in the Garden of Good and Evil this is a riveting and evocative true crime classic.

‘Gripping, spellbinding … drawing the reader from the very first pages into an unwholesome, macabre world’ Guardian

‘Part historical docudrama, part tragic opera … it is French’s enormous achievement that he pieces together the puzzle. He tells this tale with the skill of an Agatha Christie’ Financial Times

‘Fascinating and irresistible. I couldn’t put it down’ John Berendt, author of Midnight in the Garden of Good and Evil

‘Vivid, pulsating, riveting. It is the storytelling flair that marks Midnight in Peking so highly: with its false leads and twists … it sucks the reader in like the best fiction’ Scotsman

Born in London, Paul French has lived in China for more than 10 years. He is a widely published analyst and commentator on China; his books include a history of North Korea, a biography of Shanghai adman and adventurer Carl Crow, and a history of foreign correspondents in China.