8 /10 1 Votes
Series Judge Dee Media type Print (Paperback) Dewey Decimal 823 Publisher Michael Joseph | 4/5 Goodreads Publication date 1959 OCLC 4665025 Originally published 1959 Followed by The Chinese Bell Murders Preceded by The Chinese Lake Murders | |||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
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Pages 214 pp (paperback edition) Genres Gong'an fiction, Mystery, Detective fiction, Chinese crime fiction, Historical mystery Similar Works by Robert van Gulik, Judge Dee mystery books, Detective fiction books | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
The Chinese Gold Murders is a gong'an historical mystery novel written by Robert van Gulik and set in Imperial China (roughly speaking the Tang Dynasty). It is a fiction based on the real character of Judge Dee (Ti Jen-chieh or Di Renjie), a magistrate and statesman of the Tang court, who lived roughly 630–700.
The book includes a map of the fictional town of Peng-lai.
Plot introduction
Judge Dee is a recently appointed magistrate to the miserable town/district of Peng-lai. His predecessor has been murdered and so Judge Dee must investigate. The investigation is made more complex due to the disappearance of his chief clerk as well as the new bride of a wealthy local shipowner. Meanwhile, a tiger is terrorizing the district, the ghost of the murdered magistrate is stalking members of the court, a prostitute has a secret message for Judge Dee, and the body of a murdered monk is found to have been placed in the wrong grave. What could possibly relate all these events?
The town of Peng-lai was the setting for other Judge Dee stories including: The Lacquer Screen, and three of the short stories from Judge Dee at Work.