Judge Dee at Work is a collection of detective

Detective

A detective is an investigator, either a member of a police agency or a private person. The latter may be known as private investigators or "private eyes"...

 short stories written by Robert van Gulik

Robert van Gulik

Robert Hans van Gulik was a highly educated orientalist, diplomat, musician , and writer, best known for the Judge Dee mysteries, the protagonist of which he borrowed from the 18th-century Chinese detective novel Dee Goong An.-Life:Robert van Gulik was the son of a medical officer in the Dutch...

 and set in Imperial China (roughly speaking the Tang Dynasty

Tang Dynasty

The Tang Dynasty was an imperial dynasty of China preceded by the Sui Dynasty and followed by the Five Dynasties and Ten Kingdoms Period. It was founded by the Li family, who seized power during the decline and collapse of the Sui Empire...

). It is a fiction based on the real character of Judge Dee

Judge Dee

Judge Dee is a semi-fictional character based on the historical figure Di Renjie , magistrate and statesman of the Tang court. The character first appeared in the 18th century Chinese detective novel Di Gong An...

 (Ti Jen-chieh or Di Renjie), a magistrate

Magistrate

A magistrate is an officer of the state; in modern usage the term usually refers to a judge or prosecutor. This was not always the case; in ancient Rome, a magistratus was one of the highest government officers and possessed both judicial and executive powers. Today, in common law systems, a...

 and statesman

Statesman

A statesman is usually a politician or other notable public figure who has had a long and respected career in politics or government at the national and international level. As a term of respect, it is usually left to supporters or commentators to use the term...

 of the Tang

Tang Dynasty

The Tang Dynasty was an imperial dynasty of China preceded by the Sui Dynasty and followed by the Five Dynasties and Ten Kingdoms Period. It was founded by the Li family, who seized power during the decline and collapse of the Sui Empire...

 court, who lived roughly 630

630

Year 630 was a common year starting on Monday of the Julian calendar. The denomination 630 for this year has been used since the early medieval period, when the Anno Domini calendar era became the prevalent method in Europe for naming years.- Byzantine Empire :* Croats and Serbs settle in the...

–700

700

Year 700 was a leap year starting on Thursday of the Julian calendar. The denomination 700 for this year has been used since the early medieval period, when the Anno Domini calendar era became the prevalent method in Europe for naming years.- North America :* The Mount Edziza volcanic complex...

.

The book features eight illustrations by the author.

The book also has a postscript where the author places all the novels and stories into a coherent timeline for his semi-fictional character.

Overview

Judge Dee, a magistrate in Imperial China is a crime solver, a detective. In these stories Judge Dee solves a series of un-related crimes from different times in his career. There is no over-all narrative to these stories.

List of Stories

• Five Auspicious Clouds - set in the year 663 when Judge Dee was a magistrate of Peng-lai.
• The Red Tape Murder - set in the year 663 when Judge Dee was a magistrate of Peng-lai.
• He Came with the Rain - set in the year 663 when Judge Dee was a magistrate of Peng-lai.
• The Murder on the Lotus Pond - set in the year 666 when Judge Dee was a magistrate of Han-yuan.
• The Two Beggars - set in the year 668 when Judge Dee was a magistrate of Poo-yang.
• The Wrong Sword - set in the year 668 when Judge Dee was a magistrate of Poo-yang.
• The Coffins of the Emperor - set in the year 670 when Judge Dee was a magistrate of Lan-fang.
• Murder on New Year's Eve - set in the year 670 when Judge Dee was a magistrate of Lan-fang.