On the way, after a long, slow, dull journey to his new post, in Lan-fang, just over the next ridge, the astute magistrate, Judge Dee, from the Imperial capital, Chang'an (Xi'an), has four horse drawn carts , three wives, an unknown number of children, four trusted lieutenants, drivers, servants and ten highwaymen, who ambush the entourage, in a small valley, from the cover of a forest, below the hills of remote, northwestern China, on the border with barbarian hordes, who roam across the river. These amateur bandits, are no match for the authentic, former highwaymen, Ma Joong and Chiao Tai, and clever thief, Tao Gan, all reformed, by Dee, and working for the law now, the judge also does his part very well indeed, the other man, Sergeant Hoong, an intelligent, long serving, family retainer, is too old to play. The cowardly drivers and servants had fled the tussle and return afterwards, only when the quick victory was apparent. The seven surviving, road agents, are captured, and tied up, (the three dead ones, also put in a cart for an inglorious burial ), and ready for justice, by the state, including a young attractive woman, the defenders received a few lumps and bruises ... Getting the gates open in the frontier town, takes time, it puzzles the government officials, until they learn that a tyrant has taken over this little provincial city, in the middle of nowhere, by the name of Chien Mow, with a hundred of his criminal followers. What to do? The nearest army base is three days away , and the magistrate finds his Tribunal house falling apart, dust and rats live there, vital documents are in disarray, and unused for many years, it seems, the former magistrate hastily left before Dee's arrival, very inappropriately, and was a complete puppet of Chien Mow. The Judge needs more men so he pardons the robbers and makes them constables! Dark Orchard, the female bandit becomes his maid and spy and her father Fang, an ex- blacksmith and leader of the gang, chief of his police force ! The group had to leave the city because of the oppressive rule . Army deserters also join his unconventional band ...Mysteries permeates this place like a black fog, White Orchard, Black Orchard's older sister has vanished, Pan, the magistrate eight years ago, was murdered, General Ding , retired, with a dubious reputation, was killed in a locked room, at his home, impossible to have been opened, and a disputed will, between a greedy , cold hearted son, Yoo Kee, of an illustrious former Governor Yoo, his first child, and the poor second wife and her little son, a painting by the late governor, is key to the case. And clues point to his country estate , just east of the city, with an impenetrable massive maze, ( a local legend ), many stories of wild animal lurking about there, somber shadows in the daytime, snakes and hidden secrets, deadly pools, with unidentified creatures below the surface, the reluctant Dee has to investigate, and not feeling too happy . But he, must start by overthrowing the brutal tyrant and begin his duties to the Chinese Empire, and the Tang Dynasty, our overwhelmed judge, learns later, of a plot by the barbarians, with the help from traitors, inside the walls, to attack the city ...
I had read this before--decades ago as a teen and can't say even after reading it again I could say I remembered it--which is a point against it. It's a historical mystery set in China's Tang Dynasty around 700 AD and featuring Judge Dee. He's a historical figure with the kind of legendary reputation of a Sherlock Holmes as a detective. The plot is clever that way--worthy of a Conan Doyle, if not with the memorable and jaw-dropping quality of Christie. The style is rather clunky. Robert van Gulik first wrote this in Chinese for Asian audiences, then translated it into English--actually to facilitate it being translated into Japanese before ever thinking to put this before a Western audience. He was a Dutch diplomat and English would not have been his first language--not sure if that factors in. His recurring characters are likeable if not complex. Yet despite that I'm fond of this novel and the series--enough to give it four stars. These are clever and satisfying mysteries but for me what makes these novels special is the setting. Van Gulik obviously knew and loved China and its history and culture. He served as a diplomat there and had translated classic Chinese literature. His purpose in writing The Chinese Maze Murders according to his forward was to create a mystery novel along the lines of classic Chinese mysteries that would appeal both to contemporary Asians and Westerners and I loved the result. One of the major differences between that model and the Western sort of mystery is that instead of one central mystery, Dee has three cases that are woven into the plot, and this allows us to roam among all classes of Chinese society of the time. Mind you, the story is deliberately anachronistic. Like his models, Van Gulik frames the story as being told by a man of the Ming Dynasty almost a thousand years later, and the details Van Gulik warns us are of that time, not of the time it is set. Regardless, Van Gulik's novel and series has the quality of the best historical fiction: Judge Dee and the people surrounding him feel very much of their own place and time--not our own. That's a lot of the fascination. And yet sometimes it seems startingly modern in unexpected ways. That's part of the fascination too.
Do You like book The Chinese Maze Murders (1997)?
This is one of the famous Judge Dee mysteries based on an historical character from the Tang Dynasty. Robert van Gulik researched and then stylistically replicated with great accuracy a Chinese murder mystery that he felt would appeal to Westerners. At the time of the original publication I don't think there was another series quite like the Judge Dee books. The Chinese Maze Murders presents Judge Dee with three mysteries to solve ( a conceit used in ancient Chinese mysteries) shortly after he arrives in a remote border town, not unlike one you might find in the American West at one time. The town is controlled by a gangster/warlord, the official government official has left the government building in a shambles and barbarians are threatening to storm the walls. Judge Dee arrives with his entourage and immediately begins to rescue the town from the villains, solve the trio of murders and mete out justice, such as it was in the Tang Dynasty times. The story is complex, culturally interesting, and very unique. Others in this series are equally worthwhile.The author's afterward explains much of his research and the facts he based the fictional character upon. Mr vanGulik also devised his own Romanization system to help the reader unfamiliar with Chinese language pronunciation. Rereading this book proved enjoyable and I look forward to discussing it in tandem with Death of the Red Heroine, a modern Chinese murder mystery.
—Linda
I do enjoy the Van Gulik Dee murders. They may not be much for mysteries in that you can't really try and figure out who did it, as the murderers aren't always in the stories till later but they are still quite fun. This one I had to say was a little more chaotic than normal. It had around 5 different storylines and plots at the same time. There wasn't much interconnectedness and they all got resolved quite quickly. There was the case of a painting revealing an inhertiance which I was sure was used in another Dee book, there was a maze and traitors who were helping a Uigar invasion, a young girl who was killed (possibly by a lesbian). There was also rather a lot of torture in the tribunal in this one. It was interesting to see a European interpretation of a Ming dynasty interpretation of Tang China, not terribly authentic but still entertaining.
—Mel
Irrungen und Wirrungen eines BeamtenRichter Di hat es schon schwer: Kaum an seinem neuen Arbeitsplatz in Fanlan angekommen, stürzen schon die Probleme auf ihn ein. Sein Vorgänger ist geflohen, dessen Vorgänger ermordet worden, ein lokaler Tyrann hat die Macht im Dorf übernommen, wilde Uighurenhorden stehen vor dem Stadttor. Die chaotische Situation verschlimmert sich noch, als ein bekannter Exgeneral ermordet aufgefunden wird, die Tochter eines Schmieds verschwindet und auch noch parallel dazu ein Erbrechtsstreit eskaliert...Van Guliks Richter-Di-Romane orientieren sich an chinesischen Vorbildern aus vergangenen Jahrhunderten, und gleichzeitig am klassischen westlichen Detektivroman. Dabei wird auch das Formelhafte mitübernommen: Die Charaktere haben alle ihre klaren Rollen, die Erzählstruktur entspricht dem typischen Detektivromanschema mit einer langsamen Hinarbeitung zur überraschenden Auflösung durch den klaren, unbeugsamen, unbestechlichen Geist des Richters Di, mit Hilfe seiner loyalen Untergebenen, die die Drecksarbeit für ihn erledigen.Man erkennt sofort, dass Van Gulik ein China-Insider war - jeder Kenner chinesischer Literatur entdeckt viele Versatzstücke, Motive und Beschreibungen, die in originalen Texten allgegenwärtig sind: Von der Prügelstrafe über die (wenig beneidenswerte) Situation der Frauen bis hin zur alles beherrschenden Bürokratie erkennt der Leser eine liebevolle Homage ans alte China. Tatsächlich entstammen die Ideen für die Kriminalfälle direkt aus literarischen Quellen, die geschickt miteinander verwoben werden.Dass die Rätsel oft genug nur durch die Geistesblitze des Richters Di gelöst werden und vom Mitleser nur schwer mitgelöst werden können, dass Van Guliks Schreibstil wirklich etwas einfach und holprig ist, und dass die Illustrationen des Autors als höchstens amateurhaft betrachtet werden können, ist anhand des durchweg unterhaltsamen und auch spannenden Texts gewiss verzeihbar.Ich werde mir die anderen Romane Van Guliks definitiv auch noch anschauen um mit Richter Di zusammen zu versuchen, die Bösewichte ausfindig zu machen und ihrer gerechten Strafe zukommen zu lassen.
—Helmut
