Amid nepotism, corruption, party politics, murder and hedonism, Xiaolong introduces the party's rising star Inspector Chen who often quotes poems from Tang dynasty and writes his own on the side. 
 What starts off as a routine murder mystery slowly morphs to a study of 90s China, Shanghai specifically. Through the eyes of Chen readers view the cramped living spaces, common cooking area, crawling traffic, living situations of ordinary government workers, pride and adoration of a Chinese housewife and life in general. Xiaolong takes his time in unwinding the murder as he first opens the city to (non-Chinese) readers and gives a taste of Shanghai. 
 In fact it becomes clear who the killer is somewhere in the middle of the book. Xiaolong shows no sense of urgency in solving the case as he moves his characters in a pace similar to what would have happened in the 90s. It makes the experience all the more fascinating as we struggle to move things ahead just like Inspector Chen and his assistant Yu. 
 The novel is set couple of years after the infamous Tiananmen Square protests which shows an evolving China. The narration begins right when the changes are set to motion and the officials are trying to deal with repercussions of decisions made in previous few decades. 
 This isn't a book that's meant to be read in one sitting. The liberal use of old Chinese poetry draws parallels to the narration and makes the atmosphere heavy. The words linger for several pages, just like Jasmine tea that many of these characters seem to enjoy.