The English version of Death Notice by contemporary writer Zhou Haohui has just been published in Britain. [Photo provided to China Daily]

The English version of Death Notice, a popular Chinese crime-fiction work by contemporary writer Zhou Haohui, has just been published in Britain.

The thriller, which has sold more than 1.2 million copies in China, is set in the southwestern Chinese city of Chengdu. It follows an elite police squad as they hunt a vengeful killer who sends death notices to-and then executes-criminals the law cannot reach. Its British publisher, Head of Zeus, introduces the book on its website as "a hi-octane, hi-concept, cat-and-mouse thriller that adds an exhilarating new gear to police procedures".

Nicolas Cheetham from Head of Zeus tells Xinhua that he was struck by the book's "exemplary plotting and pace", and the final twist is brilliantly done.

He believes that good stories, helped by good translation, can transcend national borders and win the hearts of readers.

"This is so for science fiction and crime fiction. The most important thing about a translation is that it should not read like a translation. So you need, first and foremost, a good translator."

The translator, Zac Haluza, currently lives in Shanghai. He's a freelance translator and writer from the United States.

Head of Zeus is building a list of the best fiction from around the world, including historical fiction, science fiction, romance and crime fiction.

"Chinese fiction is a particular focus," Cheetham tells Xinhua, noting that it had published Liu Cixin's Three-Body trilogy.

The publisher has sold 400,000 copies to date, and it has more books coming from a selection of China's best science fiction writers.

"Given the success of Chinese science fiction in our market, it is not surprising that we started looking for the best in Chinese crime fiction," he says. A leading contemporary master of suspense in China, Zhou Haohui is the author of more than 10 novels exploring human nature, criminal motives and the art of detection.

Zhou's works have been translated into French, English, Korean and Japanese, and many have been adapted for film and television.