Judge Dee at Work — Robert Hans Van Gulik

“A pleasing collection of short stories about Chinese detective Judge Dee -- an actual historical personage of the T'ang Dynasty.” -- Kirkus Reviews
 
A Dutch scholar, linguist, and diplomat who grew up immersed in Asian culture, Robert van Gulik discovered and translated an eighteenth-century Chinese crime novel he'd found in an antiquarian bookstore. Its success led him to write multiple mysteries featuring the same character. Based on a historical magistrate and statesman of the seventh-century T'ang Dynasty, his Judge Dee mysteries have entertained readers for decades.
 
The eight short stories in Judge Dee at Work cover a decade during which the judge served in four different provinces of the T'ang Empire. From the suspected treason of a general in the Chinese army to the murder of a lonely poet in his garden pavilion, the cases here are among the most memorable in the Judge Dee series.
 
“A great detective in the noblest tradition…perceptive, cryptic, wise, arbitrary, ever fascinating.” -- The New York Times
 
“If you have not yet discovered Judge Dee, I envy you that initial pleasure. [He] belongs in that select group of fictional detectives headed by Sherlock Holmes. I assure you it is a compliment not given frivolously.” -- Los Angeles Times