Audible to publish new Paul French true crime story

Audible will publish a new true crime story by award-winning author Paul French, diving into 50 years of murder and crime across China and Hong Kong from the start of the 20th century. 

The Audible original narrative non-fiction, Murders of Old China, will be published on 4th December. 

Drawing on two and a half decades of research, the Midnight in Peking author "explores a dozen gripping murder cases, taking listeners from warlord-wracked Beijing, through the mighty international city of Shanghai and on to the remote and bandit-infested hinterlands of the Tibetan border and Inner Mongolia," said Audible.

Using new documentation, cross-referencing and what French calls "sleuthing by hindsight", the audiobook is narrated by French and "whisks listeners on a journey through the dangerous underbelly of old China and uncovering more of the country’s unique history."

Audible commissioning editor Harriet Poland said: "These stories of long forgotten crimes are a fascinating prism through which to understand not just China’s history, but it’s present too. Paul French is a renowned expert on Chinese history, and his selection is at once hugely entertaining and strikingly informative. As China’s position in global politics shifts and evolves, this original audiobook is the perfect companion to the inner workings of the second biggest economy in the world."

French, who has sold 19.705 books through TCM, was born in Enfield, London and moved to Shanghai after studying Chinese at the City Literary Institute. He has spent nearly 20 years living and working in China, splitting time between Shanghai and Beijing. During this time, he worked as a journalist and book reviewer for a number of publications, researching the early 20th century history of both cities, particularly the foreign communities that lived there. His book Midnight in Peking (Penguin Books) was a New York Times bestseller, and won a number of awards including the CWA Gold Dagger for Non-Fiction and the Edgar Award for Best Fact Crime.