Judge Dee at Work is a collection of gong'an detective short stories written by Robert van Gulik and set in Imperial China (roughly speaking the Tang Dynasty). It is a fiction based on the real character of Judge Dee (Ti Jen-chieh or Di Renjie), a county magistrate and statesman of the Tang court, who lived roughly 630–700. The book features eight illustrations by the author. The book also has a postscript where the author places all the novels and stories into a coherent timeline for his semi-fictional character. Overview Judge Dee, a magistrate in Imperial China is a crime solver, a detective. In these stories Judge Dee solves a series of un-related crimes from different times in his career. There is no over-all narrative to these stories. List of stories "Five Auspicious Clouds" - set in the year 663 when Judge Dee was a magistrate of Peng-lai. "The Red Tape Murder" - set in the year 663 when Judge Dee was a magistrate of Peng-lai. "He Came With the Rain" - set in the year 663 was a magistrate of Peng-lai. "The Murder on the Lotus Pond" - set in the year 666 when Judge Dee was a magistrate of Han-yuan. "The Two Beggars" - set in the year 668 when Judge Dee was a magistrate of Poo-yang. "The Wrong Sword" - set in the year 668 when Judge Dee was a magistrate of Poo-yang. "The Coffins of the Emperor" - set in the year 670 when Judge Dee was a magistrate of Lan-fang. "Murder on New Year's Eve" - set in the year 670 when Judge Dee was a magistrate of Lan-fang. 1967 short story collections Judge Dee Gong'an novels Heinemann (publisher) books