Linjiang Criminal Investigation Files

In the reed marshes of West Beach before dawn, a perfectly formed five-pointed star, sharp enough to send a chill through you, was carved into the ear of the third female corpse.

Song Ting, captain of the criminal investigation unit, crouched in the mud, his fingertips suddenly tensing. He had seen this star-shaped mark thousands of times in the classified notes his father left behind after dying in the line of duty.

Five years ago, his father died in that same stretch of reeds. The case was ruled a death in the line of duty caused by misconduct and dereliction, and every file was sealed without a trace.

A torn piece of leather bearing his father’s handwriting had just been removed from the victim’s fingers when a carving knife bearing Song Ting’s fingerprints was found in the investigation kit.

Overnight, the frontline captain became the prime suspect in a string of murders.

Suspended pending investigation, he watched as hackers broke into the intranet and a red alert announced that a fourth murder would occur within forty-eight hours. City bureau officials closed in, while the CEO of Chenyuan Group had a faint scar of the same star-shaped mark hidden behind her ear.

From bloody carvings to underground organizations, from clearing his father’s name to uncovering the dark secrets of those protecting the guilty.

Clutching three yellowed case notebooks, Song Ting investigated on a knife’s edge.

He meant to expose not only the truth behind the serial murders, but also the vast, tangled web of corruption beneath the entire city of Linjiang.

This novel and its characters are entirely fictional. Any resemblance to real people or events is purely coincidental. Please do not imitate.