Before there was Sherlock Holmes, before Hercule Poirot, even before Sergeant Cuff, there was Judge Dee. Unlike his fictional brothers in crime solving, Dee was a real person. A magistrate of Changping in 7th-century China, Dee was a figure of great importance. In the province under his jurisdiction, he was responsible for the town administration, the tribunal, the collection of taxes, the register office and the maintenance of public order. Not without reason, the people in his district called him the “father-and-mother” official.

 

The Case of the Double Murder at Dawn, The Case of the Strange Corpse, and The Case of the Poisoned Bride, all based on actual events, were written into a novel in the 18th century under the title Dee Goong An. A double murder, the fatal poisoning of a bride on her wedding night, and a crime of passion in a small town lead Dee up and down the great silk routes, through clever disguises, into an ancient graveyard to consult with the spirits of the dead, and, finally, to some astute deductions.

 

At his side are Ma Joong and Chiao Tai, reformed “brothers of the green woods” highwaymen; Tao Gan, a former con man; and Hoong Liang, an elderly retainer in the judge’s family and a sort of Watson to Dee’s Holmes. All were real people. Better yet, the real crimes the judge and his henchmen must solve are both puzzling and intriguing: they are, in fact, real mysteries!