The shadow of the empire / Qiu Xiaolong.

Enhanced descriptions from Syndetics:

'Brilliant' - Publishers Weekly Starred Review

The legendary Judge Dee Renjie investigates a high-profile murder case in this intriguing companion novel to Inspector Chen and the Private Kitchen Murder set in seventh-century China.

Judge Dee Renjie, Empress Wu's newly appointed Imperial Circuit Supervisor for the Tang Empire, is visiting provinces surrounding the grand capital of Chang'an. One night a knife is thrown through his window with a cryptic note attached: ' A high-flying dragon will have something to regret! '

Minutes after the ominous warning appears, Judge Dee is approached by an emissary of Internal Minister Wu, Empress Wu's nephew. Minister Wu wants Judge Dee to investigate a high-profile murder supposedly committed by the well-known poetess and courtesan, Xuanji, who locals believe is possessed by the spirit of a black fox.

Why is Minister Wu interested in Xuanji? Despite Xuanji confessing to the murder, is there more to the case than first appears? With the mysterious warning and a fierce power struggle playing out at the imperial court, Judge Dee knows he must tread carefully . . .

Reviews provided by Syndetics

Publishers Weekly Review

Set in seventh-century China, this brilliant series launch from Qiu (the Inspector Chen series) features real-life Dee Renjie (aka Judge Dee), who has just been appointed the Imperial Circuit Supervisor, a post he believes he was given to send him away from the capital city, Chang' an, after he opposed Empress Wu's choice of successor. Before Dee can begin his assignment, a knife is thrown through the window of his hostel room with a threatening note attached. Later, the empress's nephew, Internal Minister Wu, asks Dee to probe a sensational murder. Xuanji, a popular poet, allegedly beat her servant Ning to death before burying the body near the poet's home. Xuanji followed her initial claim that she knew nothing about the killing with a confession to the crime, which she claimed to have committed while drunk. Dee, who believes the confession to be incomplete at best, investigates. Qiu combines a sophisticated puzzle with appropriate period detail, avoiding the anachronisms of previous Judge Dee fiction. Fans of those books, by Robert van Gulik and others, will clamor for more. (Feb.)

Kirkus Book Review

A bureaucrat and man of letters probes the death of a notorious poet and courtesan in seventh-century China. Dee Renjie, newly appointed Imperial Circuit Supervisor of the Tang Empire, has no objection to being called Judge Dee, though this moniker is more reflective of his position within the complicated imperial court than of his erudition and achievements. Indeed, the contemplative Dee bears a strong resemblance to Qiu's Inspector Chen, the law enforcement officer with an artistic soul who has maneuvered through the minefield of the Chinese Communist Party while solving crimes over a dozen novels. Judge Dee becomes obsessed with the case of Xuanji, a beautiful, promiscuous courtesan and poet arrested for the beating death of Ning, a maidservant whom she's buried in the backyard. Though she hasn't been convicted of manslaughter, Xuanji remains incarcerated and is considered a murderer. Dee's probe begins at a monastery, aided by the appropriately named monk Nameless. Xuanji's poems provide breadcrumbs on the investigative trail. Mysticism hangs over the case in the oft-mentioned spirit of the black fox. More murders convince Dee of Xuanji's innocence and fuel his hunt for a solution. His prison meeting with the enigmatic Xuanji is both frustrating and exhilarating. A lengthy appendix provides many more poems by the real-life Xuanji, and a postscript lays out the tangled genesis of this series debut, inspired by both history and the Judge Dee novels of Dutch author Robert Van Gulik. Qiu's ultimate homage is presenting this novel as the work of Inspector Chen. An elaborate and satisfying souffle of mystery, history, and poetry. Copyright (c) Kirkus Reviews, used with permission.

Author notes provided by Syndetics

Anthony Award-winning author Qiu Xiaolong was born in Shanghai and moved to Washington University in St Louis, US, to complete a PhD degree in comparative literature. After the Tiananmen tragedy in 1989 he stayed on in St Louis where he still lives with his wife. Qiu's sold over two million copies of his Inspector Chen mysteries worldwide and been published in 20 languages. He is also a prize-winning poet.