★ A series of serial murder cases spanning fourteen years, exploring the light and shadow of human nature caught between killing and redemption.

★ Rights Sold: Brazil (Portuguese), Simplified Chinese, Indonesian, Thai.

★ A Work by an Acclaimed Author: Following her Taipei International Book Exhibition Grand Prize-winning novel Dear Accomplice, this is Chen Xue’s latest full-length work, shortlisted for the 2022 Taiwan Literature Award.

★ Chen Xue’s Aesthetics of Death: Seeking redemption within killing, glimpsing happiness amidst misfortune, this novel redefines the narrative style where suspense and human nature intertwine through a uniquely distinctive voice.

★ Deep Exploration of Human Nature: Focusing on the blurred memories of victims and perpetrators, the story examines how a person can rebuild themselves after being broken, sketching the light and shadow within humanity.

★ Suspense and Emotion in Equal Measure: A series of murders spanning fourteen years, a narrative structure weaving between timelines, blending mystery, trauma memory, and the redemption found in returning home.

The most terrifying abandonment is to leave you behind, alone, after an elaborate arrangement.

Blood stains the season when peach blossoms bloom. A serial murder case has resurfaced in a small town, fourteen years apart. The girls found abandoned beneath the trees are dressed head to toe—this is their final exhibition.

Fourteen years ago, Li Haiyan’s close friend Ding Xiaoquan was found naked beneath the peach tree at her family’s home. Her father, drowning in grief and alcohol after his wife’s death, was accused of the murder and later hanged himself in prison. Li Haiyan became “the murderer’s daughter” from that day on. She fled her hometown, sealed away her memories, and sought a new life.

Fourteen years later, another girl is found dead beneath a tree in Peach Forest Town. The scene mirrors the earlier case in every detail. Is this a copycat crime, or did the real killer remain at large all along? Now a journalist, Li Haiyan feels drawn back to her hometown. There, she reunites with Song Dongnian, Ding Xiaoquan’s first love from years ago, now a police detective. Each driven by their own reasons to uncover the truth, but as sealed memories break open, the pain of the past returns with them.

The killer issues a warning: “Seven days from now, I will return.” Another girl has gone missing in Peach Forest Town, and time is running out. Between overlapping past and present, love returns, memories return, and so do all the nightmares…

Chen Xue (born Chen Ya-ling)

Born in Taichung, Taiwan in 1970, Chen Xue graduated from the Department of Chinese Literature at National Central University in 1993. A novelist, she is considered a leading voice in Taiwanese Chinese-language literature and has received numerous major literary awards.

Key Awards and Honors: Her novel The Child on the Bridge was named one of the China Times Open Book Top Ten Books of the Year in 2004. The Possessed was shortlisted for the 2009 Taiwan Literature Award’s Golden Novel Prize, named Fiction Book of the Year at the 2010 Taipei International Book Exhibition, and shortlisted for the 34th Golden Tripod Award. Her novel Dear Accomplice won the Grand Prize for Fiction at the Taipei International Book Exhibition.

Cross-Media Presence: Some of her works have been translated into English and Japanese. Her short story “The Mark of the Butterfly” was adapted into the film Butterfly. Her novel Skyscraper was adapted for television and has been released.

Her works published in Simplified Chinese include Lessons in Love, The Lover in the Labyrinth, and Skyscraper.