THE WILLOW PATTERN

A Chinese Detective Story by

Robert van Gulik

featuring Judge Dee

Scribners (1965)

CONDITION:  GOOD HARD COVER COPY, but former library book with usual library markings, protective jacket taped over book jacket, card pocket ripped off the back page. Pages are well bound, though book binding is slightly cocked.

{Me:  I loved these Judge Dee novels by van Gulik —bought a number of them to read years ago — and will be offering more of them on eBay in future.}

As Judge Dee copes with the administration of the plague-ridden Imperial Capital, he must also bring his skills to bear on the mystery of two seemingly unconnected murders that could mean the extinction of the city's oldest, most aristocratic families.

Commentaries on line:

#10 in the Judge Dee series. In this episode, Magistrate Dee is in the capital of the Empire where the plague has broken out. Not only that, but while there, he has to get to the root of 2 murders. As always, each subplot ties together, and it is fun watching Judge Dee figure it all out and unravel the case. This series is one of my absolute favorites in my library.

Highly recommended.

almost a cozy mystery even though it is set in the midst of a plague-ridden town. i liked the afterword where van gulik just is super apologetic about the fact that the titular willow pattern is anachronistic and the very conceit of the mystery therefore unwound; wish more historical mysteries would try that approach

…it is a fun read, and while I wasn't 'immersed' in the past, as was usual with the early books, I did get a sense of the exotic.

Solid Judge Dee mystery about three cases in the plague-stricken imperial capital. I think he solves one of the mysteries too easily, but there are cool things such as the art of "loaded sleeves."

While The Willow Pattern, like all Judge Dee books, does stand alone, I would recommend beginning the series with one of the novels in which Judge Dee still serves as a magistrate, particularly The Chinese Gold Murders, where a young Judge Dee first meets his future sergeants, Ma Joong and Chao Tai, while they’re still “brothers of the green wood,” or what we would call highwaymen.

Another excellent entry in Robert van Gulik's Judge Dee series, set in 7th Century China. I have read this book numerous times over the years as well as the rest of the series.

If enough time has gone by from my last reading, I am always surprised by the ingenuity of the solution. Good character development.

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