It's a piece of poignant social commentary disguised as a murder mystery.

Someone else commented that it isn't very true to detective work at all, which is an accurate assessment of the show. More importantly, though, I think what A Murderous Affair in Horizon Tower achieves is telling a truly female-oriented story that Chinese entertainment sorely needed. It explores heavy themes such as sexual abuse, the victim-blaming mentality, and unfair standards to which society holds women. What really stood out to me as well was the subversive portrayal of strong friendships between women, which is refreshing after being bombarded with contemporary dramas filled with female conflict.

[very minor spoilers ahead]

Story:
You can watch Horizon Tower expecting a murder mystery but you end up with something very different. At some point the narrative shifts away from simply trying to figure out who killed Zhong Meibao but piecing together the story of her life, and the lives of those around her. Every two episodes focuses on a person of interest in her case, and slowly, the picture comes together, and you realize no one is quite who they seem.

I mentioned this earlier, but the best part of this drama for me was the female-centred narrative. I don't think there are enough shows in Chinese enetertainment that tell the stories of real women; what we currently have are mostly caricatures or shallow fantasies, products of what older men think what younger women want to see. But Horizon Tower tells the story of a girl persevering through poverty and abuse, meeting friends who would support her through her trauma, only to be murdered moments before she may have finally escaped her past. The process of solving her murder then addresses the following issue: when the victim is female, why do we expect her to have been a perfect person?

[SPOILER: the only thing negative thing I could say about the story is the ending, which felt forcibly happy. I was absolutely relieved that it was a bittersweet ending rather than a tragic one, but if we're approaching it from the standpoint of realism, it's unlikely everything would've just fallen together perfectly like that. I'm still glad it did, though.]

Acting/Cast:
There are a lot of people they could have cast for the role of Zhong Meibao, but they chose Angelababy. While I think this was successful in generating a decent amount of buzz when it went on trending with "Angelababy's acting skills improved," I think her reputation for being a poor actress turned a large potential audience away as well. I definitely think she's gotten better, although she is still the weak link in the main characters. Otherwise, the acting was solid. Yang Zishan and Guo Tao were both good, and the supporting cast was strong.

Overall:
It's definitely among the best Chinese dramas of 2020. It's only 16 episodes so a fairly easy watch, and its message and commentary (although a little heavy handed at times) is worth taking a look at. It's clear the production took a lot of care with the subject material, and it's very entertaining as well.