Judge Dee at Work

Eight Chinese Detective Stories (The Judge Dee Mysteries)

By: Robert van Gulik

Narrated by: Peter Kim

A delectable collection of cozy puzzle mysteries starring the wonderful Chinese sleuth Judge Dee, whom the Los Angeles Times ranked with Sherlock Holmes.

The eight short stories in Judge Dee at Work cover a decade during which the judge served in four different provinces of the T’ang Empire. From the suspected treason of a general in the Chinese army to the murder of a lonely poet in his garden pavilion, the cases here are among the most memorable in the Judge Dee series.

A Dutch scholar, linguist, and diplomat who grew up immersed in Asian culture, Robert van Gulik discovered and translated an eighteenth-century Chinese crime novel he'd found in an antiquarian bookstore. Its success led him to write multiple mysteries featuring the same character. Based on a historical magistrate and statesman of the seventh-century T'ang Dynasty, his Judge Dee mysteries have entertained audiences for decades.

This audiobook is expertly read by Peter Kim, with audio engineering by Sam Platt. It was produced and published by Echo Point Books & Media, an independent bookseller in Brattleboro, Vermont.

©1967 Robert van Gulik (P)2025 Echo Point Books

Van Gulik's Judge Dee Mysteries Always Satisfy but Not the Narrator

Van Gulik's stories are well-crafted. And I was thrilled to be able to listen to a clean recording vs. a 30+ year old cassette tape. However, the narrator is disappointing. Some words he pronounces strangely. Worse still he doesn't significantly differentiate the voices of the characters. For example, the judge sometimes comes off sounding as an insignificant person rather than the Mother Father Official he is.

Not one of the best

These short stories lack the depth of the novels, which intertwine several story lines. The narrator is poor— monotonal and lacking rhythm.