The Chinese Gold Murders

Soon after taking up his first magisterial post in the godforsaken district of Peng-lai, Judge Dee must look into the murder of his predecessor. His job is complicated by the simultaneous disappearnce of his chief clerk and the new bride of a wealthy local shipowner."The China of old, in Mr. van Gulik's skilled hands, comes vividly aliveagain."—Allen J. Hubin, New York Times Book Review"If you have not yet discovered Judge Dee, I envy you that initialpleasure . . . the discovery of a great detective story. For themagistrate of Poo-yan belongs in that select group headed by SherlockHolmes."—Robert Kirsch, Los Angeles TimesRobert van Gulik (1910-67), a Dutch diplomat and an authority on Chinesehistory and culture, drew his plots from the popular detective novelsthat appeared in seventeenth-century China.