Judge Dee at Work

infobox Book |
name = Judge Dee at Work


image_caption = University of Chicago Press - 1998
author = Robert van Gulik
cover_artist = Ed Lindlof
series = Judge Dee
genre = Mystery, Detective Novel
publisher = University of Chicago Press
release_date = 1966
media_type = Print (Paperback)
pages = 173 pp (paperback edition)
isbn = ISBN 0-226-84866-3
preceded_by = The Phantom of the Temple
followed_by = Necklace and Calabash
crime-task-force = yes

"Judge Dee at Work" is a collection of detective short stories 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 features eight illustrations by the author.

The book also has a postscript where the author places all the novels and stories into a coherent timeline for his semi-fictional character.

Overview

Judge Dee, a magistrate in Imperial China is a crime solver, a detective. In these stories Judge Dee solves a series of un-related crimes from different times in his career. There is no over-all narrative to these stories.

List of Stories

*Five Auspicious Clouds - set in the year 663 when Judge Dee was a magistrate of Peng-lai.
*The Red Tape Murder - set in the year 663 when Judge Dee was a magistrate of Peng-lai.
*He Came with the Rain - set in the year 663 when Judge Dee was a magistrate of Peng-lai.
*The Murder on the Lotus Pond - set in the year 666 when Judge Dee was a magistrate of Han-yuan.
*The Two Beggars - set in the year 668 when Judge Dee was a magistrate of Poo-yang.
*The Wrong Sword - set in the year 668 when Judge Dee was a magistrate of Poo-yang.
*The Coffins of the Emperor - set in the year 670 when Judge Dee was a magistrate of Lan-fang.
*Murder on New Year's Eve - set in the year 670 when Judge Dee was a magistrate of Lan-fang.