3 h 24 minAudiobook7 minSummaryRead it, hear it, the 15-minute summary, and print and large print at cost
Audiobook edition · 3 h 24 minPaperback · 6 × 9 in · printing soonHardcover · 6 × 9 in · printing soonAbout this book
What if the man hunting a murderer also holds the power to decide who lives and who dies?
In The Celebrated Cases of Judge Dee, a district magistrate must uncover crimes and pass judgment himself. Deaths and losses seem simple at first: a wife is blamed, a servant accused, a stranger treated as guilty. Dee looks beyond the easy answer, testing words against evidence while a false accusation can put a life at risk.
Judge Dee relies on patient questions, close observation, and trusted helpers. Hoong Liang offers plain counsel; Ma Joong and Chiao Tai bring courage and loyalty to his inquiries. Around this practical judge, ghosts, dreams, and strange events unsettle the search for truth. Each linked case asks what justice demands when people lie and power can shield the guilty.
What you’ll discover
- One man, three roles Follow Dee as he investigates, brings accusations, and bears the weight of judgment.
- Beyond the obvious suspect Look beneath simple explanations to discover hidden motives and the danger of hasty blame.
- Loyal help in uncertain times Meet an old adviser and two former highwaymen whose loyalty supports Dee's difficult work.
- Strange signs and patient questions Enter cases where dreams and ghostly events surround a magistrate's practical search for answers.
- Justice against the powerful Explore the ideal of an official who protects the weak and holds wrongdoers accountable.
Who will love it
Readers who enjoy detective puzzles, ghost-tinged mysteries, clever disguises and a righteous hero taking on the powerful, and anyone curious about courtroom life in old China.
What’s inside
The key ideas, in the 15-minute summary
- Two corpses appear and an innkeeper is accused
- A medicine seller meets a very odd widow
- A spirit leads him to a lonely grave
- The coffin is opened and shows no wound
- A night in the temple brings a lot and a dream
- Dream clues send the hunt across the land
- A bride dies of tea and a scholar is blamed
- Dee's methods raise difficult questions
- What the story is about and how it is told
Who’s who
- Di Renjie, Judge DeeThe magistrate of Changping who wants every wrong righted and fears no rank.
- Hong LiangDee's longest-serving attendant and chief constable, brave and cautious, who handles night inquiries.
- Ma RongA former bandit turned attendant, skilled in martial arts, who acts as spy, thief and fighter for Dee.
- Qiao TaiMa Rong's partner and also a former outlaw, loyal to Dee and quick in a fight.
- Tao GanA reformed fellow of the martial world who helps Dee with disguises and secret errands.
- ZhouThe sharp-tongued young widow of Bi Shun who keeps her doors shut and defies the magistrate.
- Zhang ChangzongA powdered favorite of Empress Wu whose servants abuse the people and who hates Dee.
- Empress Wu ZetianThe ruler of the court who wants to hold power and often shields those she favors.
Formats and delivery
- eBook
- On your phone, tablet, computer or Kindle, with the type as large as you like.
- Large-print eBook
- The same book in bigger, clearer type, from the first page.
- Audiobook
- 3 h 24 min, complete, read by Lucas Linden.
- 15-minute summary
- The key ideas in about 7 minutes, to read or to hear.
- Paperback
- 6 × 9 in. Printing soon: leave your email under Paperback or Hardcover above.
- Hardcover
- 6 × 9 in. Printing soon: leave your email under Paperback or Hardcover above.
- Large print paperback
- 8.5 × 11 in. Printing soon: leave your email under Paperback or Hardcover above.
- Large print hardcover
- 8.5 × 11 in. Printing soon: leave your email under Paperback or Hardcover above.
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Los célebres casos del juez Dee
by Anónimo · 1890
Judge Dee swaps his robes for a medicine bag and follows a dust-wind spirit to a lonely grave.
Challenging2–5 hours to read25 languages
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In short
How does a county magistrate catch a killer when even the dead seem to ask for justice? This anonymous Chinese novel follows Di Renjie, known as Judge Dee, a real Tang official, through a chain of baffling murders under Empress Wu.
From the 15-minute summary · Key idea 1
Two corpses appear and an innkeeper is accused
The story opens with Di Renjie, called Judge Dee, newly appointed magistrate of Changping in the reign of Empress Wu. He keeps four loyal attendants, Hong Liang, Ma Rong, Qiao Tai and Tao Gan, and two of them were once bandits. The first case told here begins when an innkeeper named Kong Wande beats the court drum.
Two bodies are found at the town entrance and taken for the silk merchants who slept at Kong's inn. The local headman, Hu De, drags the bodies to the inn door and demands silver to keep quiet. Dee has Hu De beaten for moving the corpses, then searches the inn and finds no sign of any crime. At the autopsy Kong faints, because one dead man has a beard and the guest he housed was young.
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What is The Celebrated Cases of Judge Dee about?
It follows Di Renjie, a Tang dynasty magistrate, through baffling murders, adulteries and poisonings in Changping. The cases mix careful reasoning, disguises, dreams and ghosts, and the search for justice moves between private inquiries and the courtroom.
Was Judge Dee a real person?
Yes, Di Renjie was a real official of the Tang dynasty who served under Empress Wu. The narrator presents strange cases drawn from unofficial accounts and admits uncertainty about their truth.
Who are Hong Liang, Ma Rong, Qiao Tai and Tao Gan?
They are Dee's four trusted attendants. Hong Liang is his old servant, and Ma Rong and Qiao Tai are former bandits with fighting skill. Tao Gan is a reformed man of the martial world. Together they investigate, disguise themselves and make arrests.
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