The book features eight illustrations by the author along with a detailed layout of the residence where the action takes place.
Poets and Murder was the last Judge Dee novel written by Robert van Gulik. He completed it just before his death from cancer in 1967. The book was published one year after his death.
Plot introduction
Judge Dee is a magistrate in the fictional Poo-yang district, a wealthy area through which the Grand Canal of China runs (part of modern-day Jiangsu province). During the mid-autumn festival in the city of Chin-hwa, Judge Dee is a guest of a small group of distinguished scholars. However, he learns during dinner that a young girl has been murdered and the accused is a beautiful poet. She is thought to have whipped her maidservant to death. Then the body of a student is also discovered. The poet is based on Chinese courtesan and poet Yu Xuanji.[1]
