The Chinese Maze Murders

Content sourced from Wikipedia, licensed under CC BY-SA 3.0.

The Chinese Maze Murders is a historical mystery novel by Robert van Gulik featuring Judge Dee, a Chinese magistrate. Although inspired by the real Tang dynasty judge Di Renjie, the story is set in the Ming dynasty and shows Ming-era customs. It was the first Judge Dee book and is based on three real Chinese murder casebooks.

Van Gulik wrote it in English, and a Japanese translation by Professor Ogaeri Yukio appeared in 1951 under the title Meiro-no-satsujin. He later translated it into Chinese, published by Nanyang Press in Singapore in 1953, and the English edition followed in 1956. The three mysteries are The Case of the Sealed Room, The Case of the Hidden Testament, and The Case of the Girl with the Severed Head.

The book includes a postscript about the Chinese Imperial Justice system. The story takes place in the border town of Lan-fang, where Judge Dee arrives to depose a local tyrant. He encounters three linked investigations—poisoned plums, a mysterious scroll picture, love letters, a hidden murder, and a ruthless robber—each tied to the Governor's garden maze, against the backdrop of a looming Mongol invasion. Lan-fang also appears in The Phantom of the Temple and in two Judge Dee short stories.