Larger	The Phantom of the Temple : A Judge Dee Mystery (Judge Dee Mystery) Author: Robert van Gulik
	Book Information Publisher: University Of Chicago Press Book Type: Paperback Rating: 6 ISBN-13: 9780226848778 - ISBN-10: 0226848779 Publication Date: 11/15/2007 Pages: 214 Book Reviews

Imperial China, T'ang dynasty, seventh century A.D.--home of imperial magistrate and detective Judge Dee. A near mythic figure, Judge Dee distinguished himself as tribunal magistrate, inquisitor, and public avenger. Long after his death, accounts of his exploits were celebrated in Chinese folklore.

In The Phantom of the Temple, three separate puzzles--the disappearance of a wealthy merchant's daughter, twenty missing bars of gold, and a decapitated corpse--are pieced together by the clever judge to solve three murders and one complex, gruesome plot.

"This is one of the best, a spooky, even grisly, tale of a double murder and decapitation, a missing girl named Jade, and stolen gold hidden in a deserted temple supposedly haunted by a phantom woman."--Publishers Weekly

"If you have not yet discovered Judge Dee and his faithful Sgt. Hoong, I envy you that initial pleasure which comes from the discovery of a great detective story. For the magistrate of Poo-yang belongs in that select group of fictional detectives headed by the renowned Sherlock Holmes."--Robert Kirsch, Los Angeles 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.