Story Archive

A Novel Idea

Liu Yongbiao, 54, is an “acclaimed” and award-winning mystery novelist in the Zhejiang Province of China. One of his books, The Guilty Secret, was the story of a writer who avoided arrest after committing multiple murders. “I came up with the idea after reading some detective novels and watching crime shows and movies,” Liu said upon its publication in 2010. Actually, he did his own research: he was arrested last year for a previously unsolved 1995 murder. In that crime, Liu and an accomplice were burgling a hostel and were caught by a guest. They killed him and the family of three who ran the hostel. Police solved the crime thanks to new DNA technology, and Liu and Wang, 65, were arrested. This year, they were sentenced to death. Liu did not protest, saying the murders were “so cruel” that he deserved to “die 100 times.” (RC/Newsweek, New York Times) ...Just the sequel readers were eager for.