An interesting mystery set in Ancient China: the author was a professional diplomat to China during the first years of the 20th century. He obviously used this time for merticulous research as this story (and the rest of the Judge Dee series) captures the spirit of the period excellently: the character of Judge Dee is based on a real historical character. In this novel, Dee is taking up his first post as pronvincial magistrate and has to deal with the murder of his predecessor. Excellently written, the mystery will keep you hooked until the last page.