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SensualPoet · 08-01-2011, 09:12 PM

And now for something completely different ... The Chinese Maze Murders, the first of Robert Van Gulik's Judge Dee Mystery series, published in 1956. And, no kidding: these are the tales of Lan-fang's new newly arrived District Magistrate who is detective, prosecutor and judge in T'ang Dynasty China -- roughly 670 AD. Although a true historical figure, the stories are an amalgamation and re-imagining of many such stories that make up traditional Chinese literature. In this first outing, Judge Dee arrives in the city, cleans up corruption, solves multiple murders and is confronted by an overwhelming invasion by barbarians from north. Will right or might prevail?

Judge Dee, in riding toward Lan-fang to take up his post as District Magistrate, is accosted by a small band of robbers. Dee and his two loyal subordinates subdue the attackers (and kill a couple); it is the prelude to their arrival in the city only to discover the Tribunal facility in disarray. They quickly learn the city has been under the thumb of a local tyrant, Chien Mow: Judge Dee represents authority from the Capital and quickly sets about cleaning up the city. A series of clever ruses puts the Judge in the advantage as other mysteries come to light, including the murder of a local businessman, and the suspicious will left by a retired Governor, as well as helping shed light on the lost daughters Judge Dee's new hired hands. Miraculously, the threads of these disparate mysterious begin to come together and the Judge shows his risk taking, and wisdom, in solving these puzzles.

Gulik, a Dutch citizen born in China in 1910, was a career diplomat who knew Dutch, Chinese, Japanese and English; this novel, based on Chinese sources, was written originally in Japanese by van Gulik and translated into English by van Gulik; the balance of the series was written in English only. The stories race along at a pretty fair clip, with little reflection or homilies or character development. But there is charm in the pacing, and the setting is definitely "exotic", to say nothing of the puzzles laid out and solved, sometimes in the nick of time. Recommended.

Avaialble in nicely formatted re-issue editions by University of Chicago Press from Kindle and Kobo for under $10.

08-01-2011, 09:12 PM	#412
SensualPoet Wizard Posts: 2,302 Karma: 2607151 Join Date: Nov 2009 Location: Toronto Device: Kobo Aura HD, Kindle Paperwhite, Asus ZenPad 3, Kobo Glo	Robert van Gulik - The Chinese Maze Murders And now for something completely different ... The Chinese Maze Murders, the first of Robert Van Gulik's Judge Dee Mystery series, published in 1956. And, no kidding: these are the tales of Lan-fang's new newly arrived District Magistrate who is detective, prosecutor and judge in T'ang Dynasty China -- roughly 670 AD. Although a true historical figure, the stories are an amalgamation and re-imagining of many such stories that make up traditional Chinese literature. In this first outing, Judge Dee arrives in the city, cleans up corruption, solves multiple murders and is confronted by an overwhelming invasion by barbarians from north. Will right or might prevail? Judge Dee, in riding toward Lan-fang to take up his post as District Magistrate, is accosted by a small band of robbers. Dee and his two loyal subordinates subdue the attackers (and kill a couple); it is the prelude to their arrival in the city only to discover the Tribunal facility in disarray. They quickly learn the city has been under the thumb of a local tyrant, Chien Mow: Judge Dee represents authority from the Capital and quickly sets about cleaning up the city. A series of clever ruses puts the Judge in the advantage as other mysteries come to light, including the murder of a local businessman, and the suspicious will left by a retired Governor, as well as helping shed light on the lost daughters Judge Dee's new hired hands. Miraculously, the threads of these disparate mysterious begin to come together and the Judge shows his risk taking, and wisdom, in solving these puzzles. Gulik, a Dutch citizen born in China in 1910, was a career diplomat who knew Dutch, Chinese, Japanese and English; this novel, based on Chinese sources, was written originally in Japanese by van Gulik and translated into English by van Gulik; the balance of the series was written in English only. The stories race along at a pretty fair clip, with little reflection or homilies or character development. But there is charm in the pacing, and the setting is definitely "exotic", to say nothing of the puzzles laid out and solved, sometimes in the nick of time. Recommended. Avaialble in nicely formatted re-issue editions by University of Chicago Press from Kindle and Kobo for under $10.