Scan barcode
A review by naverhtrad
The Chinese Bell Murders by Robert van Gulik
4.0
This is a very good and highly-entertaining mystery novel by Robert van Gulik, but he's not quite on his A-game here.
For one thing, it's clear that van Gulik hadn't quite perfected his format at this point, borrowed from the Ming-style gong'an novels. It is true that Judge Dee has to solve three mysteries in this novel, having just arrived with his four trusty assistants in the fictional Jiangsu canal town of Puyang. But the Cases of the Half-Moon Street Rape-Murder, of the Secret of the Buddhist Temple, and of the Mysterious Skeleton, are completely unrelated to each other, and they are handled in a sequential fashion by the Judge and his assistants, rather than having to be solved together. This stands somewhat in contrast to van Gulik's more-practised later work, wherein the cases often turn out to be tangled together in interesting and frustrating ways (as is the case, for example, in the Lake Murders).
However, this is made up for in spades as van Gulik tackles his wonted subject matter with gusto: beggars, fisticuffs, traps, puzzles, abandoned temples, misbehaving monks, scantily-clad (or unclad) singing-girls, and the twisted, tormented psychologies of those caught up in sordid webs of crime. And of course, half the fun is watching the Judge piece together elaborate scenarios, sneak out of the tribunal incognito, and capture criminals with elaborate ruses, mind games and sting operations - and he doesn't disappoint in the slightest in the Bell Murders. There aren't many characters outside the tribunal with redemptive streaks in this novel, unless one counts Shen Ba of the Beggars' Guild or the contrite Wang xiucai at the end of the Half-Moon Street case; even inside the tribunal, the headmen and constables are shown to be corrupt and lazy.
At any rate, this novel is somewhat longer than the rest, but it is still a highly-enjoyable read and recommended to lovers of whodunits in this particular style.
For one thing, it's clear that van Gulik hadn't quite perfected his format at this point, borrowed from the Ming-style gong'an novels. It is true that Judge Dee has to solve three mysteries in this novel, having just arrived with his four trusty assistants in the fictional Jiangsu canal town of Puyang. But the Cases of the Half-Moon Street Rape-Murder, of the Secret of the Buddhist Temple, and of the Mysterious Skeleton, are completely unrelated to each other, and they are handled in a sequential fashion by the Judge and his assistants, rather than having to be solved together. This stands somewhat in contrast to van Gulik's more-practised later work, wherein the cases often turn out to be tangled together in interesting and frustrating ways (as is the case, for example, in the Lake Murders).
However, this is made up for in spades as van Gulik tackles his wonted subject matter with gusto: beggars, fisticuffs, traps, puzzles, abandoned temples, misbehaving monks, scantily-clad (or unclad) singing-girls, and the twisted, tormented psychologies of those caught up in sordid webs of crime. And of course, half the fun is watching the Judge piece together elaborate scenarios, sneak out of the tribunal incognito, and capture criminals with elaborate ruses, mind games and sting operations - and he doesn't disappoint in the slightest in the Bell Murders. There aren't many characters outside the tribunal with redemptive streaks in this novel, unless one counts Shen Ba of the Beggars' Guild or the contrite Wang xiucai at the end of the Half-Moon Street case; even inside the tribunal, the headmen and constables are shown to be corrupt and lazy.
At any rate, this novel is somewhat longer than the rest, but it is still a highly-enjoyable read and recommended to lovers of whodunits in this particular style.