Book cover of City of Devils: A Shanghai Noir

Book description

'Shanghai's champion storyteller - He grips his reader to the end' Economist
'Gripping, breakneck ultra-noir reminiscent of vintage Ellroy' David Peace, author of Red or Dead
'If you love Richard Lloyd Parry and David Grann, don't miss City of Devils' Megan Abbott, author of Dare Me

1930s Shanghai was a…

When you buy books, we may earn a commission that helps keep our lights on (or join the rebellion as a member).

Why read it?

1 author picked City of Devils as one of their favorite books. Why do they recommend it?

I loved the way French, who won the Edgar Award and the CWA Gold Dagger for earlier books, painted a vivid picture of the Shanghai scene in the 1930s:  the rich, the lowlifes, the gangsters, and schemers that gave the city the reputation it had. 

Fast-paced and action-packed, this non-fiction work combined crime narrative and social history and took me to a time and place that is no more—one that I wished I had experienced firsthand.  

From Martin's list on life in Shanghai in Sino-Japanese War.

If you love City of Devils...

Ad

Book cover of Bernardine's Shanghai Salon: The Story of the Doyenne of Old China

Bernardine's Shanghai Salon by Susan Blumberg-Kason,

Meet the Jewish salon host in 1930s Shanghai who brought together Chinese and expats around the arts as civil war erupted and World War II loomed on the horizon.

Bernardine Szold Fritz arrived in Shanghai in 1929 to marry her fourth husband. Only thirty-three years old, she found herself in…

Want books like City of Devils?

Our community of 12,000+ authors has personally recommended 100 books like City of Devils.

Browse books like City of Devils

Book cover of Shanghai Grand: Forbidden Love and International Intrigue in a Doomed World
Book cover of China's Trial by Fire: The Shanghai War of 1932
Book cover of Old Shanghai: Gangsters in Paradise

Share your top 3 reads of 2025!

And get a beautiful page showing off your 3 favorite reads.

1,277

readers submitted
so far, will you?

5 book lists we think you will like!