This is one of a series of books featuring the fictional adventures of a real Chinese historical figure, Judge Dee, he is remembered as a master detective as well known in China as Sherlock Holmes is in Europe. The books are formal, very stylish, neatly plotted and a pleasure to read. Judge Dee is the magistrate in Poo-yang, the “mother-father official” for the area, as a magistrate his remit runs far beyond criminal justice, he is the chief civil administrator for the district. Presiding at a local boat race one of the crew mysteriously dies and it is quickly established that he was poisoned. A little later a woman is found murdered in a remote house and further murders occur.
Judge Dee actively investigates both and finds a neatly constructed plot that includes the possible whereabouts of The Emperor’s Pearl, a jewel that went missing from the Imperial Palace a hundred years before. This ads a dangerous political edge to the mysteries and Judge Dee has to act very quickly to get to the root the problem.
As ever in the series the central mysteries are nicely constructed, the pieces are logically connected and the steady reveals are nicely paced and do not seek to cheat the reader. There is a satisfactory set of possible suspects and the conclusion is satisfying and effective.
The mystery itself is only half the charm of the book, the setting is wonderfully evoked, Robert Van Gulik was a notable Chinese scholar as well as a diplomat and he created the setting with confidence details and very smart characterisation. The cast are developed with wit and skill and Judge Dee is a rounded, fallible man who can find that he has read the situation incorrectly and regrets it. The illustrations in the book, also by Robert Van Gulik, done in a “Chinese” style are a pleasure and add greatly to the atmosphere. All told a excellent period detective novel with a striking and unusual setting.
