The Lacquer Screen

Even on vacation, Judge Dee doesn't take a break from crime.

In Robert van Gulik's The Lacquer Screen, Judge Dee, accompanied by his faithful lieutenant Chiao Tai, decides to take a week off from his grueling duties as the magistrate in the backwater town of Peng-lai to head for rest and relaxation in Weiping. He visits the town incognito, with only Weiping's magistrate in the know; however, Judge Dee almost immediately stumbles onto the scene of a beautiful woman's murder. With the help of Chiao Tai and some unlikely characters, Judge Dee is able to solve the woman's murder, a merchant's alleged suicide, and the hidden agenda of a disfigured thief who keeps spying on Judge Dee and Chiao Tai. The mysteries are very clever, and, just when show more you deem all of the loose ends neatly tied up, van Gulik introduces a jaw-dropping surprise twist in the novel's last few pages.

Van Gulik, a Dutch diplomat to China and other Asian nations, a linguist and Asian scholar, translated an 18th century Chinese novel on the exploits of a real-life Chinese magistrate during the T'ang Dynasty named Ti Jen-chieh. Simplifying the magistrate's name to Judge Dee Jen-djieh, van Gulik first introduced the West to the real-life Judge Dee in Celebrated Cases of Judge Dee, first published in 1949 (although not translated into English until 1976). Ensuing books -- including The Lacquer Screen pluck plots from original ancient Chinese cases and 18th century Chinese detective stories.

All of the Judge Dee novels provide readers with an exotic setting -- Seventh Century China; each novel also comes with three, usually intertwining, mysteries and a great glimpse of the everyday life in the T'ang Dynasty for people at every level of society. The novels are all excellent, but I believe this is the best one I've read so far. show less

In general, I find van Gulik's mysteries to be well-written, and the mysteries actually explicable without relying on any sleight-of-hand tricks. This puts them above average, and this particular book is no exception. Judge Dee, in this case, goes undercover after a fashion to unravel a murder, a suicide and a fraud.

Characters, provided you make allowances for the time and cultural differences, are likable. There is some humor and a nice , twisty mystery with even a slightly gothic flavor. Satisfying ending, as in all the judge dee I have read, with the good rewarded and the bad punished

After hearing this series praised so much, I expected more. The mystery and setting were ok, but some of the motivations weren't super convincing. I enjoy tangled mysteries, but I like them to make a little more sense than a wife murdering a husband for his money and none of their friends and servants suspecting that their union was just a bit dysfunctional. And it wasn't just one crime with a strange, improbable motive, either.

I also thought the history and culture would feature more interestingly, considering that it's set in Tang dynasty China. This might have to do with starting the series on book 9, but I don't think I'll be reading more of the Judge Dee mysteries.

#7 in the series finds our friends going undercover and trying to infiltrate a band of thieves. But, as usual, that's not the only action going on here.

One of Judge Dee's cronies thinks he's going crazy because he owns a lacquer screen on which the scene has changed from a serene setting with two lovers to one where the man stabs the woman. It's Judge Dee & friends on the case!

This series is amazing; and I highly recommend it, especially to people who enjoy historical mysteries or books set in China. Caveat: start with #1, please!

Very interesting. A look at a very different way of seeing the world.

Excellent unusual storyline