This novel takes a while to make sense, so please read at least 5 chapters before making up your mind about it. Good things are worth your time and patience XD

I know the summary above maketh no sense, so here's my amateur take on it with some very minor spoilers-

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Spoiler

Basically, our story starts with a murder. A gruesome murder on the poorer part of the city evokes much interest and outrage from the netizens, forcing the Police to involve the MCs team. Now let's introduce the main cast *clap clap*

Luo Wenzhou (MC/seme) - police officer, hates Fei Du, very gay, in love with his straight best friend

Tao Ran - police officer, very poor, straight best friend mentioned above

Zhongyi- murder victim mentioned above

Fei Du (ML/uke) - rich young master, playboy, good at playing detective, bis*xual... maybe, also in love with Tao Ran, hates love rival Luo Wenzhou,

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I find the MC and ML's relationship as love rivals very amusing... especially since the object of their affection has made it clear that both of them have a rat's chance in hell with him. I'm really looking forward to how they will go from can't stand being near 20 feet from each other to don't touch my boyfriend bitch.

One of the reasons I like about this novel is the fact that neither of the MCs are straight from the start. Most Bl stories start with one or both of the main characters being straight, then slowing becoming gay *insert air quotes* for each other. One of the things I hate most about BL is the "I'm straight but I'm gay only for you" trope *rolls eyes* which I'm glad this novel manages to avoid cuz I'm so sick of that crap.

I feel like many authors miss their mark when it comes to character-driven stories--this one doesn't. Priest is an excellent author and this was one of the top 3 books in 2016. There were a lot of small details I found when I was reading that I really found interesting and amusing.

Warning- I helped editing and QCing this novel so my opinion may be biased. <<less

This novel had sat in my unnervingly long want-to-read list for the longest time and I don't know why I never bother to try it out until now. Even though I've been holding on to the concept that I shouldn't write a novel review before finishing it, I firmly believe that this novel deserves more attention since the summary doesn't do enough justice for this masterpiece.

• • MC : Even though it's stated above that the shou is a coward, so far he's not showing any signs as a coward aside from having hemophobia and suffering a trauma due to his childhood experience. He's dealing with his trauma amazingly in a realistic way. He's a scarred genius, with lots of witty remarks and sweet nonsense to spare.
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    I especially love the way he evades unwanted topics ridiculously smoothly and his 'realistic psychotic's way of thinking'

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• • ML: A capable police officer, the son of a somewhat powerful figure in the police department. Shameless. Kind of a love-rival of the MC, since neither he nor the MC is expecting positive result from their love interest.

This is plot-focused story. There is no information dumping chapter here. You get to know the background story of the characters bit by bit through their interactions. You get to unveil and guess the path of the cases together with the characters.

Although it focuses more on the plot, the interactions between the main characters are just too loveable.

The author didn't make the main characters unreasonably capable while the side characters are left with brain-dead disease. The side characters have their own distinct characteristics and charms as well as developments.

I often have troubles remembering names, however while I may not be able to write the name, once it is mentioned, I can easily recognise which character the name belongs to.

I've been hooked to the story after two chapters. The author has a unique style of delivering the story. I have the mind to mtl and finish the entire novel, however I love the translator's choice of words too much. The story flow is really smooth. And I would hate to miss lots of details in a mystery novel.

This novel is a must read! Both for the mystery and the romance! It's amazing in every aspect.

The starting works takes a lot of traction, the middle gets better, and the ending is best. As long as you have the attention span to get through at least the first arc, it'll be good XD.

Not for those looking for a light read, or looking to sleep at night...

I've seen many readers praise Mo Du highly and now I know why. It's really brilliant, how the things were woven together without losing its sense of being believable. Really really smart. Priest definitely gave the plot a hard thought.

Definitely more plot-centric, but the interactions between the main CP are intense af and are oh-so-good.

The main characters are precious. Starting from a sort of 'love rivalry' to becoming lovers themselves... their growth together was really wonderful, too. Fei Du is a really really interesting character. The way Priest showed how... more>> he was dealing with his trauma was really... unnerving? And much real. Some comments about him before was that he's too efficient (intelligent + with resources), but you'd realize it makes sense that he has this when you arrive at the later parts of the story.

Luo Wenzhou is very precious, too, both as a police officer and a boyfriend <3 He's a good character in every sense and has great dynamics with Fei Du.

The secondary characters have greay development, too. They have their own motivations and are definitely essential to the story.

The cases tend to get heavy, e.g. drug trafficking, abuse, gruesome murders, etc... but written well, it's so worth the mtl hahahaha

Priest's characteristic humor and philosophical writing shines as usual.

Highly recommended !!

p.s. Mo Du is Douban's top suspense/mystery book of 2018 for a reason :) <<less

When I read the first three chapters, I have a hard time following the story. It may be the translation, my perception in English or because I was really sleepy at the time.

I almost dropped the series since I couldn't really make connections about whats what happened in the story.

After reading chapter four however (with clear head), I begin to feeling engrossed by the story and became really interested with the characters, plot, and storytelling.

I don't really feeling like I 'like' the MC at first since he was being casted... more>> aside for a moment for other characters to make an appearance, but really, I really, really like him.

In my opinion this is a good crime-mystery novel and it's definitely worth your time to at least read the available chapters.

Since it was a little bit too early to have rating, I said I might give it 5✩ in the future when the stories has developed further.

Thanks for the translator for translating this series. <<less