I've never read any true crime book before, I don't think, although given my memory I could be forgetting. Anyway, I was willing to give it a shot. Although I do not think true crime will be my new genre of choice, I definitely do not walk away from Midnight in Peking with a bad opinion of the genre.

From what I understand, which is very little, true crime can go one of two ways: very historical and fact-driven or very fictional and sensational. This is based solely on the covers I've seen and perhaps reviews. The genre seems to straddle the boundary between history and fiction, which is part of why I've avoided it up to now, because I've not been sure precisely what it entails. Whether my assumptions were correct or not, I can say with assurance that Midnight in Peking is definitely a true crime history. French clearly did a lot of research and the book reads like anything I would have read for my history major in school.

Having looked at some reviews of the book prior to writing this one, I know that some people had trouble with the level of detail in the book. I both liked and didn't like that. I don't know much of anything about China during that time period, so learning about it was fascinating, but it didn't always seem to add into Pamela's story particularly. So, I guess, I just want to say that you'll likely enjoy this more if you go into it expecting it to be about the last days of old China, with Pamela's brutal murder serving as a lens through which to view the situation.

Pamela's story is certainly an interesting and, as a woman, completely terrifying one. To be a little bit morbid, I really hope that, should I ever be murdered for some reason, that the killer comes to justice. It may not matter to me, what with the being dead and all, but I feel like I would feel better. The things that people do to women are simply horrifying. Also, the fact that they really should have caught her killer, but that the cops didn't do their jobs...NOT COOL.

Whether French has the correct analysis and killer is unclear, even he openly admits that. His solution does make sense and he's done his research. I greatly appreciated that he pointed out in a section at the end, "The Writing of Midnight in Peking" which parts he wrote entirely on his own, which he got from other investigators, what research he did and how everything could still be different The fact that he's open with the limitations of his research makes me more trusting of his results.

History, mystery and true crimes will likely enjoy Midnight in Peking even more than I did. To that end, I am offering up my copy to one reader. Simply fill out the Rafflecopter below. There's no need to follow my blog, but that's always appreciated. Good luck!