Dee J Holmes Popular Books

Dee J Holmes Biography & Facts

Judge Dee, or Judge Di, is a semi-fictional character based on the historical figure Di Renjie, county magistrate and statesman of the Tang court. The character appeared in the 18th-century Chinese detective and gong'an crime novel Di Gong An. After Robert van Gulik came across it in an antiquarian book store in Tokyo, he translated the novel into English and then used the style and characters to write his own original Judge Dee historical mystery stories. The series is set in Tang dynasty China and deals with criminal cases solved by the upright and shrewd Judge Dee, who as county magistrate in the Chinese imperial legal system was both the investigating magistrate and judge. Dee Goong An The Judge Dee character is based on the historical figure Di Renjie (c. 630 – c. 700), magistrate and statesman of the Tang court. During the Ming dynasty (1368–1644) in China, a "folk novel" was written set in former times, but filled with anachronisms. Van Gulik found in a Tokyo book store, the 18th-century Di Gong An novel (Chinese: 狄公案; pinyin: Dí Gōng Àn; lit. "Cases of Judge Dee") an original tale dealing with three cases simultaneously, and, which was unusual among Chinese mystery tales, a plot that for the most part lacked an overbearing supernatural element which could alienate Western readers. He translated it into English and had it published in 1949 under the title Celebrated Cases of Judge Dee. Van Gulik's stories van Gulik began writing his own novels with the character, eventually authoring sixteen books. Van Gulik was careful in writing the main novels to deal with cases wherein Dee was newly appointed to a city, thereby isolating him from the existing lifestyle and enabling him to maintain an objective role in the books. Van Gulik's novels and stories are often referred to as the Shih Ti.Initially Dee is assisted only by his faithful clerk, Sergeant Hoong Liang, an old family retainer. However, in The Chinese Gold Murders, which describes Dee's initial appointment and first criminal cases, the judge encounters two highwaymen, euphemistically called "men of the greenwood", Ma Joong and Chiao Tai, who attempt to rob him but are so impressed with his character that they give up their criminal careers and join his retinue on the spot. This encounter is recounted in a short flashback passage in the original Di Gong An, taking place when the two are already long-serving loyal members of his retinue. A little later, in The Chinese Lake Murders, a third criminal, Tao Gan, an itinerant confidence trickster and swindler, similarly joins. Judge Dee ends his career in Murder in Canton being promoted to the position of senior Metropolitan Judge in the capital, and his assistants obtain official ranks in the Army and civil service. Van Gulik also wrote a series of newspaper comics about Judge Dee in 1964–1967, which totalled 19 adventures. The first four were regular balloon strips, but the later 15 had the more typically Dutch textblock under the pictures. Judge Dee, naturally, is responsible for deciding sentences as well as assessing guilt or innocence, although van Gulik notes in the stories that all capital punishments must be referred to and decided by officials in the capital. One of the sentences he frequently has to deal with is slow slicing; if he is inclined to mercy, he orders the final, fatal, cut to be made first, thus rendering the ceremony anticlimactic. Other authors Several other authors have created stories based on Van Gulik's Judge Dee character: French author Frédéric Lenormand wrote 19 new Judge Dee mysteries from year 2004 at Editions Fayard, Paris (not yet translated into English). Some of them have been translated into Spanish (Ediciones Paidos Iberica), Portuguese (Europress), Bulgarian (Paradox), Czech (Garamond) and Polish. Sven Roussel, another French author, has written La dernière enquête du Juge Ti. The Chinese-American author Zhu Xiao Di wrote ten original short stories about Judge Dee collected in Tales of Judge Dee (2006), set when the Judge was the magistrate of Poo-yang (the same time period as The Chinese Bell Murders and several other novels). Zhu Xiao Di has no relation to Robert van Gulik but tried to stay faithful to the fictionalized history of van Gulik's Judge Dee. Judge Dee appears, along with a fictionalized Wu Zetian, in books one (Iron Empress: A Novel of Mystery and Madness in Ancient China) and two (Shore of Pearls: A Novel of Murder, Plague, and the Prison Island of Hainan) of Eleanor Cooney & Daniel Alteri's historical T'ang Trilogy. Qiu Xiaolong, best known for his Inspector Chen series, released a new Judge Dee novel The Shadow of the Empire in 2021.Bibliography By van Gulik The following novels and short stories were published in English by van Gulik. The short story collection Judge Dee at Work (published in 1967) contains a "Judge Dee Chronology" detailing Dee's various posts in specific years and stories set in these times. Van Gulik's last two books, Poets and Murder and Necklace and Calabash, were not listed in the chronology, as they were written after Judge Dee at Work, but they are both set in the time when Judge Dee was the magistrate in Poo-yang. By other authors By the author Frédéric Lenormand (not yet translated into English): Le Château du lac Tchou-an (2004) - The Zhou-an lake castle La Nuit des juges (2004) - The Night of the judges Petits meurtres entre moines (2004) - Little murders among monks Le Palais des courtisanes (2004) - The courtesans' palace Madame Ti mène l'enquête (2005) - Mrs. Dee investigates Mort d'un cuisinier chinois (2005) - Death of a Chinese cook L'Art délicat du deuil (2006) - The Delicate art of mourning Mort d'un maître de go (2006) - Death of a Go master Dix petits démons chinois (2007) - Ten little Chinese devils Médecine chinoise à l'usage des assassins (2007) - Chinese Medicine for murderers Guide de survie d'un juge en Chine (2008) - Survival guide for the Chinese judge Panique sur la Grande Muraille (2008) - Panic on the Great Wall Le Mystère du jardin chinois (2009) - The Chinese Garden Mystery Diplomatie en kimono (2009) - Diplomacy in a Kimono Thé vert et arsenic (2010) - Arsenic and green tea Un Chinois ne ment jamais (2010) - A Chinese never lies Divorce à la chinoise (2011) - Chinese-style Divorce Meurtres sur le fleuve Jaune (2011) - The Yellow River MurdersBy the author Zhu Xiao Di: Tales of Judge Dee (2006), ten short stories set in the time when Judge Dee is magistrate of Poo-yang (AD 669–670), ISBN 0-595-38438-2By the author Sven Roussel: La Dernière Enquète du Juge Ti (2008) set at the end Judge Dee's term of service in Lan Fang (AD 675)By authors Eleanor Cooney & Daniel Alteri: Iron Empress: A Novel of Mystery and Madness in Ancient China (formerly titled Deception: A Novel of Mystery and Madness in Ancient China, ISBN 0-380-70872-8), Book One of the T'ang Trilogy, ISBN 9781475604450 Shore of Pearls: A Novel of Murder, Plague, and the Prison Is.... 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  • Three Months In Undead Shoes synopsis, comments

    Three Months In Undead Shoes

    Dee J. Holmes

    Forced apart.Hunted by unseen danger.The only way to survive is together.After a harrowing journey through infected territory, Jane Finch, her loyal Great Dane, and her equally pro...

  • Three Days in Undead Shoes synopsis, comments

    Three Days in Undead Shoes

    Dee J. Holmes

    One womanOne Great DaneAnd a zombie above the rest. Jane Finch wishes her problems ended with a bad commute and no coffee. But when she and her beloved Great Dane, Schrodinger...

  • The Heart Of All Curses synopsis, comments

    The Heart Of All Curses

    Dee J. Holmes

    War has claimed The Four Houses of Magic. Despite all efforts to stop it, an ancient power is rising beneath New Orleans. Neither witch, nor fae, nor vampire, or werewolfthe true e...

  • A Curse In The Dark synopsis, comments

    A Curse In The Dark

    Dee J. Holmes

    The Four Houses descend into chaos, and two unlikely heroesa human nurse and a vampire mercenaryare trapped in the depths. Pawns in a bigger game. Predator and prey. Unless they de...

  • Three Weeks In Undead Shoes synopsis, comments

    Three Weeks In Undead Shoes

    Dee J. Holmes

    Jane Finch is trapped in a bunker with a zombie. Grey saved her life, but she's got no idea how to manage him in an enclosed space. Especially when he's built like a superhero and ...

  • An Inheritance Of Curses synopsis, comments

    An Inheritance Of Curses

    Dee J. Holmes

    The first LeFey plunged the Four Houses of Magicfae, vampires, werewolves and witchesinto a century of conflict. Lightseeking fae fought bloodfueled vampires, werewolves ruthlessly...

  • Those Curses That Would Rise synopsis, comments

    Those Curses That Would Rise

    Dee J. Holmes

    The Four Houses of Magic are poised at the brink of war. Sickness brews beneath the streets of New Orleans, and ancient enemies claw their way to the surface. And former allies are...

  • Those Curses We Had Buried synopsis, comments

    Those Curses We Had Buried

    Dee J. Holmes

    The Four Houses of Magic walk together once again. After a thousand years of separation, a witch, a werewolf, a fae and a vampire stood at the gates of the fae city and defeated a ...