The Chinese Lake Murders 1960 detective book

Name: The Chinese Lake Murders
Rating: 4.6 (66 reviews)

The Chinese Lake Murders 1960 detective story

The Chinese Lake Murders (1960, Netherlands)

Judge Dee is appointed the magistrate of Han-yuan, a trade town located on the shore of a lake. The town is close to the capital of the empire, but the lack of the city walls makes Judge Dee feel uneasy. What is more, the nearby lake is infamous for hiding some nasty beasts. There are no evidence that those beasts exist, but people, who vanished on the lake were never seen again nor their bodies were ever found. Dee is welcomed by the town elites, who organize a party for him on a "flower boat", which is a fancy term for a brothel with courtesans. One of them, a beautiful dancer called Almond Blossom, tries to inform Judge Dee, that there is something sinister brewing in Han-yuan, but she is interrupted when waiters bring more food and drinks. Soon after her on-stage performance, Almond Blossom goes to her cabin to change and simply vanishes. The boat is thoroughly searched, but there is no sign of Almond Blossom. Judge Dee accidentally find her dead body, stuck on the side of the boat. He has to act fast to detect who the culprit is while all of the suspects are still aboard the boat.

Fourth book of the series, once again Judge Dee is appointed to a new post, where he knows nothing about the reality of this place and people who live here. Based solely on the words of a dancer, who soon after is found dead, he has to get to the bottom of what is really going on in Han-yuan. Just like in the other novels, Judge Dee has to deal with few cases at the same time, which creates more pressure and the mysterious events that take place create an additional atmosphere of the book.

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