Midnight in Peking; How the Murder of a Young Englishwoman Haunted the Last Days of Old China

 I don't remember where I read about Paul French's true crime book Midnight in Peking: How the Murder of a Young Englishwoman Haunted the Last Days of Old China (#941), but it's been on my "To Read" list for a while.  What a fascinating read!

Pamela Werner was only nineteen when she was brutally murdered on a cold January night in 1937.  Brought up by her eccentric widower father, a noted Chinese scholar  and former diplomat who was  more at home with his books than with people, Pamela was independent and equally comfortable with Chinese languages and culture.  She did have problems with school and had already been asked to leave several in Peking before being sent to a boarding school at Tientsin.  She was home in Peking for Christmas on school holiday meeting with friends both male and female.  Her days were a whirl of tiffins, dances, skating and exploring an uneasy city with the Japanese already present, but not yet in control.  Chinese and foreigners alike were living it up while they still could, or preparing to leave Peking permanently before the worst happened.

When Pamela's body was discovered by the iconic Fox Tower not far from the Werner's home, the entire city was on edge.  Despite efforts by both the Chinese and British authorities, her murder was never officially solved.  Her father , E.T. C. Werner, however, was not content to leave matters there...

What Paul French turned up in various newspaper accounts of the time and available reports and interviews with the few people who still remembered Pamela's murder allows the author to lay out a plausible series of events about what actually happened to Pamela that cold winter night.  It's a maddening tale of obstruction, lies and face-saving by the authorities at the expense of Pamela and her grieving father.  If you like true crime books, add Midnight in Peking to your list!