The Chinese Nail Murders

infobox Book |
name = The Chinese Nail Murders


image_caption = University of Chicago Press - 1997
author = Robert van Gulik
cover_artist = Ed Lindlof
series = Judge Dee
genre = Mystery, Detective Novel
publisher = University of Chicago Press
release_date = 1961
media_type = Print (Paperback)
pages = 200 pp (paperback edition)
isbn = ISBN 0-226-84863-9
preceded_by = The Chinese Gold Murders
followed_by = The Haunted Monastery
crime-task-force = yes

"The Chinese Nail Murders" is a detective 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.

Plot introduction

Judge Dee, and his four helpers, solve three murders: that of an honored merchant, a master of martial arts, and the wife of a merchant, whose corpse has no head. Judge Dee soon comes under pressure from higher ranking officials to end his investigation. Naturally, Judge Dee refuses to give up until he has learned the whole truth.

The case of the headless corpse was based on an actual thirteenth-century Chinese murder casebook.

Trivia

* The game with seven paper pieces that Judge Dee uses as a clue in his investigation is Tangram.