A review by italapas
The Lacquer Screen by Robert van Gulik

mysterious medium-paced

• Plot- or character-driven? Plot
• Strong character development? No
• Loveable characters? N/A
• Diverse cast of characters? No
• Flaws of characters a main focus? No

4.0

I picked this up to reread because I've been watching the new Judge Dee's Mystery show on Netflix. It's definitely a very different experience, for sure, but I really enjoy both. The books in this series are European take on Ming era novels about a Tang era magistrate. Judge Dee shows up in a fair amount of media. He was an actual historical person, but is more of a folk hero at this point. Each novel has several different cases running concurrently, with Dee being one of the main active characters. Magistrates of that era were in charge of investigating crimes, as well as ruling on cases. The books are great fun to read!