Thief of Souls

Interview: Brian Klingborg

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Brian Klingborg’s new series features Inspector Lu Fei, and is set in northern China.  Lu is a great new character and Klingborg’s book is a fast paced, intelligent police procedural with an interesting setting.  It’s a terrific start to a new series.  You can read my review of Thief of Souls here.

Brian Klingborg

Q: First of all, I kept flipping to your author info as I couldn’t believe you weren’t Chinese.  How do you come by your extensive knowledge of China?

A: I majored in East Asian Studies as an undergraduate, spent a year abroad in Taiwan, then attended grad school where I studied cultural anthropology with a China focus. After school I returned to Taiwan where I lived and worked for several more years.  Since then, I have continued my sporadic exploration of Chinese culture, history and language.  And in the process of writing Thief of Souls, I did lots and lots of additional research. read more

Brian Klingborg: Thief of Souls

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This is a really solid start to a new series, one that reminded me of Stuart Kaminsky’s classic Inspector Rostnikov series.  This new series is set in China, rather than Russia, but many of the societal and economic restrictions are similar.  Klingborg’s Inspector Lu Fei is as bemused and practical a thinker as Rostnikov.  Lu Fei lives near Harbin, in northern China, but not in Harbin itself – he basically lives out in the sticks.  He prefers the steadiness of country policing and doesn’t have a huge desire to move up the ranks. read more