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The Chinese Gold Murders: A Judge Dee Detective Story (Judge Dee Mysteries)
 
 
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The Chinese Gold Murders: A Judge Dee Detective Story (Judge Dee Mysteries) (Paperback)

by Robert Van Gulik (Author) "THREE MEN WERE SILENTLY SIPPING THEIR WINE ON THE top floor of the Pavilion of Joy and Sadness, overlooking the highway crossing outside the north..." (more)
Key Phrases: dead magistrate, tea stove, floating brothels, Chiao Tai, Kim Sang, Sergeant Hoong (more...)
4.9 out of 5 stars See all reviews (10 customer reviews)
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Frequently Bought Together

The Chinese Gold Murders: A Judge Dee Detective Story (Judge Dee Mysteries) + The Chinese Bell Murders: A Judge Dee Detective Story + The Chinese Maze Murders: A Judge Dee Mystery (Gulik, Robert Hans, Judge Dee Mystery.)
Price For All Three: $35.26

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Editorial Reviews

Review
"Picaresque, clever, exceptionally ingenious, plotted with remarkable skill... Go now, buy the books..." -- Crime Factory, August 2002. --This text refers to an out of print or unavailable edition of this title.

Product Description
In this, the second book in Robert van Gulik's classic mystery series of ancient China, Judge Dee must look into the murder of his predecessor. His job is complicated by the simultaneous disappearance of his chief clerk and the new bride of a wealthy local shipowner.

Meanwhile, a tiger is terrorizing the district, the ghost of the murdered magistrate stalks the tribunal, a prostitute has a secret message for Dee, and the body of a murdered monk is discovered to be in the wrong grave. In the end, the judge, with his deft powers of deduction, uncovers the one cause for all of these seemingly unrelated events.

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Product Details

  • Paperback: 224 pages
  • Publisher: Harper Paperbacks (August 3, 2004)
  • Language: English
  • ISBN-10: 0060728671
  • ISBN-13: 978-0060728670
  • Product Dimensions: 7.9 x 5.3 x 0.6 inches
  • Shipping Weight: 6.4 ounces (View shipping rates and policies)
  • Average Customer Review: 4.9 out of 5 stars See all reviews (10 customer reviews)
  • Amazon.com Sales Rank: #172,301 in Books (See Bestsellers in Books)

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Inside This Book (learn more)
First Sentence:
THREE MEN WERE SILENTLY SIPPING THEIR WINE ON THE top floor of the Pavilion of Joy and Sadness, overlooking the highway crossing outside the north gate of the imperial capital. Read the first page
Key Phrases - Statistically Improbable Phrases (SIPs): (learn more)
dead magistrate, tea stove, floating brothels, deserted temple, sacred statue, court hall
Key Phrases - Capitalized Phrases (CAPs): (learn more)
Chiao Tai, Kim Sang, Sergeant Hoong, Yee Pen, Magistrate Dee, Fan Choong, White Cloud Temple, Pei Chiu, Koo Meng-pin, Miss Tsao, Magistrate Wang, Lord Maitreya, Master Fang, Metropolitan Court, Rain Dragon, Board of Finance, Hoong Liang, Nine Flowers Orchard, Rainbow Bridge, Secretary Liang, Brother Chiao, Tsao Fen, Tsao Ho-hsien, Tsao Min
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The Chinese Gold Murders: A Judge Dee Detective Story (Judge Dee Mysteries)
78% buy the item featured on this page:
The Chinese Gold Murders: A Judge Dee Detective Story (Judge Dee Mysteries) 4.9 out of 5 stars (10)
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The Chinese Maze Murders: A Judge Dee Mystery (Gulik, Robert Hans, Judge Dee Mystery.)
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The Chinese Maze Murders: A Judge Dee Mystery (Gulik, Robert Hans, Judge Dee Mystery.) 4.7 out of 5 stars (9)
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The Chinese Bell Murders: A Judge Dee Detective Story
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The Chinese Bell Murders: A Judge Dee Detective Story 5.0 out of 5 stars (7)
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4.9 out of 5 stars (10 customer reviews)
 
 
 
 
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13 of 13 people found the following review helpful:
5.0 out of 5 stars Great opening entry to a fascinating series!, May 11, 2001
By A Customer
This review is from: The Chinese Gold Murders (Judge Dee Mysteries) (Paperback)
This is the first of a series of Judge Dee novels set in seventh-century China. Judge Dee is an Imperial Magistrate who in the course of his job, is posted all over the Imperial Chinese Empire. He has a keen interest in solving crimes and is interested in interacting actively with the people around him. The novel opens with Dee leaving the imperial capital for the district of Peng-lai, near the Korean border. This is his first posting as District Magistrate. He leaves accompanied by his adviser Sergeant Hoong and on the way, meets two highwaymen, Ma Joong and Chiao Tai. Impressed by his forceful personality, the two men decide to give up their life of crime and become officers of the tribunal under Judge Dee. Upon arrival in Peng-lai, Judge Dee has to deal with multiple crimes; his predecessor was murdered, the wife of a prominent businessman has disappeared, a tiger is terrorizing the locals, the judge's chief clerk has gone missing and there are suspicions that Peng-lai is a center for gold smuggling into Korea! Into this hotbed of crime, comes Judge Dee who is able to pull all the threads together and solve the crimes. I loved the wealth of historical detail in the book as well as the actual mysteries, and Judge Dee himself is refreshingly human and is amused by the antics of his underlings! Would highly recommend the book to all those interested in historical mysteries - it's great fun!
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6 of 6 people found the following review helpful:
5.0 out of 5 stars another reader, December 28, 1999
By A Customer
This review is from: The Chinese Gold Murders (Judge Dee Mysteries) (Paperback)
I have all of Van Gulik's Chinese murder mysteries and this is the one to start out with. Not only is the book entertaining on its own merits as a mystery but you learn about a historical Chinese culture. The plot twists and villains are clever and Judge Dee is the bomb.
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4 of 4 people found the following review helpful:
5.0 out of 5 stars A must for historical mystery fans, May 17, 2000
By Larry Eischen (Joliet, IL United States) - See all my reviews
This review is from: The Chinese Gold Murders (Judge Dee Mysteries) (Paperback)
Long before Brother Cadfael, there was Judge Dee. The series started in the 1950s but they are modelled after Judge Dee mysteries written in early China. In this adventure, Judge Dee arrives at a new post and must solve the murder of his predecessor. As with all of his adventures, there are several side mysteries to unravel. Well written and skillfully plotted, the Judge Dee mysteries are must reads.
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Most Recent Customer Reviews

5.0 out of 5 stars In His First Posting, Dee Foils a Nefarious Plot!
Seldom can anything achieve perfection in this mundane world, but this delicious mystery comes very close. Read more
Published 4 months ago by Miz Ellen

5.0 out of 5 stars The Chinese Gold Murders
Yet another gripping Judge Dee mystery! Judge Dee is better than Sherlock Holmes by far - more complicated and intricate mysteries, plus a fascinating look at daily life in China... Read more
Published 14 months ago by B. Kim

5.0 out of 5 stars Worthy of the University of Chicago Press, for students of Chinese histroy and culture and mystery fans everywhere.
Not your average mystery.
Includes great introduction. From the back cover:
"Imperial China, T'ang dynasty, seventh century A.D. Read more
Published 16 months ago by Anonymous

5.0 out of 5 stars excellent mystery, very misleading about chinese justice system
I have read all the Judge Dee mysteries at least twice, and really love them. However, I have just read a number of books on China and discover that van Gulik has purposefully... Read more
Published 22 months ago by westwind

4.0 out of 5 stars Like no other Book
If you are looking for something completely different in mysteries, I recommend the Judge Dee books. Set in China in the 600's. Judge Dee is compared to Sherlock Holmes. Read more
Published on October 16, 2005 by D. Rossi

5.0 out of 5 stars superb Asian-flavored mystery
Rebeccasreads highly recommends THE CHINESE GOLD MURDERS in which Judge Dee Dee investigates the murder of his predecessor -- a Magistrate who now stalks the neighborhood as a... Read more
Published on March 10, 2005 by Rebecca Brown

5.0 out of 5 stars DEE-LIGHTFUL!
Imagine a Sherlock Holmes from the 6th century China, complete with flowy beards and costumes to match. Folklores. Long horse rides. Read more
Published on August 30, 2004 by Shashank Tripathi

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