While investigating a murder in the mysterious, isolated town of Hanyuan, Judge Dee--judicial magistrate and respected detective in seventhcentury China--become

In the third installment of Robert Van Gulik's classic ancient Chinese mystery series based on historical court records, magistrate, lawyer, and detective Judge

Judge Dee and his helpers investigate a series of murders despite pressure to solve them quickly.

This is one of a series of five detective stories set in 7th century China when the judge was also the detective. Judge Dee has three murders to solve and there