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The Lacquer Screen: A Chinese Detective Story
Rating: 4 out of 5 stars
4/5
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About this ebook
Early in his career, Judge Dee visits a senior magistrate who shows him a beautiful lacquer screen on which a scene of lovers has been mysteriously altered to show the man stabbing his lover. The magistrate fears he is losing his mind and will murder his own wife. Meanwhile, a banker has inexplicably killed himself, and a lovely lady has allowed Dee's lieutenant, Chiao Tai, to believe she is a courtesan. Dee and Chiao Tai go incognito among a gang of robbers to solve this mystery, and find the leader of the robbers is more honorable than the magistrate.
"One of the most satisfyingly devious of the Judge Dee novels, with unusual historical richness in its portrayal of the China of the T'ang dynasty."-—New York Times Book Review
"Even Judge Dee is baffled by Robert van Gulik's new mysteries in The Lacquer Screen. Disguised as a petty crook, he spends a couple of precarious days in the headquarters of the underworld, hobnobbing with the robber king. Dee's lively thieving friends furnish some vital clues to this strange and fascinating jigsaw."-—The Spectator
"So scrupulously in the classic Chinese manner yet so nicely equipped with everything to satisfy the modern reader."-—New York Times
Robert Van Gulik (1910-67) was a Dutch diplomat and an authority on Chinese history and culture. He drew his plots from the whole body of Chinese literature, especially from the popular detective novels that first appeared in the seventeenth century.
"One of the most satisfyingly devious of the Judge Dee novels, with unusual historical richness in its portrayal of the China of the T'ang dynasty."-—New York Times Book Review
"Even Judge Dee is baffled by Robert van Gulik's new mysteries in The Lacquer Screen. Disguised as a petty crook, he spends a couple of precarious days in the headquarters of the underworld, hobnobbing with the robber king. Dee's lively thieving friends furnish some vital clues to this strange and fascinating jigsaw."-—The Spectator
"So scrupulously in the classic Chinese manner yet so nicely equipped with everything to satisfy the modern reader."-—New York Times
Robert Van Gulik (1910-67) was a Dutch diplomat and an authority on Chinese history and culture. He drew his plots from the whole body of Chinese literature, especially from the popular detective novels that first appeared in the seventeenth century.
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Reviews for The Lacquer Screen
Rating: 3.7700000070000006 out of 5 stars
4/5
100 ratings3 reviews
- Rating: 4 out of 5 stars4/5#7 in the series finds our friends going undercover and trying to infiltrate a band of thieves. But, as usual, that's not the only action going on here. One of Judge Dee's cronies thinks he's going crazy because he owns a lacquer screen on which the scene has changed from a serene setting with two lovers to one where the man stabs the woman. It's Judge Dee & friends on the case! These books are incredibly fun to read.
- Rating: 4 out of 5 stars4/5Wei-Ping, Kina, år 663Dommer Di og Chiao Tai gør ophold i Wei-Ping på vej tilbage til Peng-lai. Dommer Di er 34 år gammel og det er et år siden, han tiltrådte sit embede.Dommer Di rejser inkognito og har en introduktionsskrivelse med til den lokale dommer, Teng, som er en berømt digter, men denne er alvorligt utilpas, da Dommer Di ankommer. Det viser sig senere at være fordi dommer Tengs kone er blevet myrdet og i stedet for at melde det, har Dommer Teng valgt at skjule drabet, fordi han tror at han selv har gjort det.En tyveknægt, Kun-Shan, der er snu og dygtig, men også træls, hjælper dem, fordi han tror at de er landevejsrøvere og kan hjælpe ham med at presse penge af en lokal bankier, Leng Chien. De får logi ved den lokale forbryderchef, Korporalen, og den eneste ulempe er at der er så meget utøj i sengene, at de hellere sover direkte på gulvet.Chiao Tai har en skøn nat med hvad der viser sig at være enken til den nyligt afdøde købmand, Ko. Det er ikke så heldigt for Chiao Tai, for enken og en håbefuld ung forbryder, kaldet Studenten, har myrdet Ko. Kun-Shan har imidlertidig hugget de penge, Ko havde som reserve, så umiddelbart har fru Ko og Studenten ikke det store udbytte. Kun-Shan har stjålet mange steder og et af stederne fandt han beviser for at Leng Chien havde bedraget sin partner, hr Ko, for tusind guldstykker.Dommer Di redder trådene ud. Fru Teng blev myrdet af Kun-Shan og for det får han dødsstraf. Teng selv er imidlertid også selv en kold fisk, for han planlagde at myrde sin kone og til det brug havde han opfundet mærkelige anfald og den mærkelige utroværdige historie om en lakskærm, der ændrer motiv. Fru Teng havde en elsker, Leng Te, men han døde af en lungesygdom få uger før Dommer Di ankom til byen.Byens forbryderchef, kaldet Korporalen, er faktisk god nok, så Dommer Di sørger for at han kan genindtræde i hæren som sergent! Han sørger endda også for at Korporalens pige, Nellikeblomst, kan holde ham med selskab og uden at hun skal deles med andre, som hun ellers er blevet vant til.Ganske underholdende krimi
- Rating: 5 out of 5 stars5/5In general, I find van Gulik's mysteries to be well-written, and the mysteries actually explicable without relying on any sleight-of-hand tricks. This puts them above average, and this particular book is no exception. Judge Dee, in this case, goes undercover after a fashion to unravel a murder, a suicide and a fraud.
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The Lacquer Screen - Robert van Gulik
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