Midnight in Peking : how the murder of a young Englishwoman haunted the last days of old China

This book is an anthology of murders that occurred in China and Hong Kong primarily in the 19th century, and primarily, though not exclusively, to or by westerners. The book doesn't just focus on the crimes but also explores the history and places where they occurred.

It kind of took a while, and I'm not sure whether it was me or the book, but it was truly gripping in that there were questions all the way through and even after the end. I felt so bad for the girl and her father from start to finish.
I also enjoyed the review of history of China and Japan in the time before World War II! Now I have to go back and research details of said history because I really don't know the Asian background of the time. I never liked history in high school and always prided myself not having had to learn a significant amount of it. It's only now that I recognize how the knowledge could conceivably pull together apparently unlinked stories.

An interesting true crime story, but the ending felt a bit confused. As the story of a murder, it dragged out the final evidence and investigation too long, and as the story of the destruction of a man looking for justice it was unsatisfyingly dry and clinical while describing his final failures.