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Judge Dee #2
Judge Dee and the Three Deaths of Count Werdenfels
Judge Dee is back to solve a brand-new case involving the mysterious death of the vampire Count Werdenfels. The mystery? Who killed him. The twist? Three different people are proudly proclaiming to have committed the crime.
32 pages, ebook
First published February 10, 2021
24 people are currently reading
241 people want to read
About the author
Lavie Tidhar
397 books730 followersLavie Tidhar was raised on a kibbutz in Israel. He has travelled extensively since he was a teenager, living in South Africa, the UK, Laos, and the small island nation of Vanuatu.
Tidhar began publishing with a poetry collection in Hebrew in 1998, but soon moved to fiction, becoming a prolific author of short stories early in the 21st century.
Temporal Spiders, Spatial Webs won the 2003 Clarke-Bradbury competition, sponsored by the European Space Agency, while The Night Train (2010) was a Sturgeon Award finalist.
Linked story collection HebrewPunk (2007) contains stories of Jewish pulp fantasy.
He co-wrote dark fantasy novel The Tel Aviv Dossier (2009) with Nir Yaniv. The Bookman Histories series, combining literary and historical characters with steampunk elements, includes The Bookman (2010), Camera Obscura (2011), and The Great Game (2012).
Standalone novel Osama (2011) combines pulp adventure with a sophisticated look at the impact of terrorism. It won the 2012 World Fantasy Award, and was a finalist for the Campbell Memorial Award, British Science Fiction Award, and a Kitschie.
His latest novels are Martian Sands and The Violent Century.
Much of Tidhar’s best work is done at novella length, including An Occupation of Angels (2005), Cloud Permutations (2010), British Fantasy Award winner Gorel and the Pot-Bellied God (2011), and Jesus & the Eightfold Path (2011).
Tidhar advocates bringing international SF to a wider audience, and has edited The Apex Book of World SF (2009) and The Apex Book of World SF 2 (2012).
He is also editor-in-chief of the World SF Blog , and in 2011 was a finalist for a World Fantasy Award for his work there.
He also edited A Dick and Jane Primer for Adults (2008); wrote Michael Marshall Smith: The Annotated Bibliography (2004); wrote weird picture book Going to The Moon (2012, with artist Paul McCaffery); and scripted one-shot comic Adolf Hitler’s I Dream of Ants! (2012, with artist Neil Struthers).
Tidhar lives with his wife in London.
Tidhar began publishing with a poetry collection in Hebrew in 1998, but soon moved to fiction, becoming a prolific author of short stories early in the 21st century.
Temporal Spiders, Spatial Webs won the 2003 Clarke-Bradbury competition, sponsored by the European Space Agency, while The Night Train (2010) was a Sturgeon Award finalist.
Linked story collection HebrewPunk (2007) contains stories of Jewish pulp fantasy.
He co-wrote dark fantasy novel The Tel Aviv Dossier (2009) with Nir Yaniv. The Bookman Histories series, combining literary and historical characters with steampunk elements, includes The Bookman (2010), Camera Obscura (2011), and The Great Game (2012).
Standalone novel Osama (2011) combines pulp adventure with a sophisticated look at the impact of terrorism. It won the 2012 World Fantasy Award, and was a finalist for the Campbell Memorial Award, British Science Fiction Award, and a Kitschie.
His latest novels are Martian Sands and The Violent Century.
Much of Tidhar’s best work is done at novella length, including An Occupation of Angels (2005), Cloud Permutations (2010), British Fantasy Award winner Gorel and the Pot-Bellied God (2011), and Jesus & the Eightfold Path (2011).
Tidhar advocates bringing international SF to a wider audience, and has edited The Apex Book of World SF (2009) and The Apex Book of World SF 2 (2012).
He is also editor-in-chief of the World SF Blog , and in 2011 was a finalist for a World Fantasy Award for his work there.
He also edited A Dick and Jane Primer for Adults (2008); wrote Michael Marshall Smith: The Annotated Bibliography (2004); wrote weird picture book Going to The Moon (2012, with artist Paul McCaffery); and scripted one-shot comic Adolf Hitler’s I Dream of Ants! (2012, with artist Neil Struthers).
Tidhar lives with his wife in London.
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Displaying 1 - 30 of 95 reviews
September 30, 2024
See You Next Week!
Judge Dee is called upon to settle the charges against the person who killed the vampire, Count Werdenfels.
Count Werdenfels is an extremely old vampire, so it comes as no surprise that he hasn’t left a corpse.
At his decrepit age (many, many centuries), death for him will only bring ashes.
But will the judge determine whether he was killed by his wife or someone else?
Four stars. 💫💫💫💫
Judge Dee is called upon to settle the charges against the person who killed the vampire, Count Werdenfels.
Count Werdenfels is an extremely old vampire, so it comes as no surprise that he hasn’t left a corpse.
At his decrepit age (many, many centuries), death for him will only bring ashes.
But will the judge determine whether he was killed by his wife or someone else?
Four stars. 💫💫💫💫
February 12, 2021
Entertaining. I would have enjoyed it more if I wasn't so distracted by the 'Judge Dee' name (he's a famous judge person/character). As such, I kept looking for similarities of style or trying to understand if the author was making a historical connection. I still don't know the answer; there was very little history of Dee in this story, and only an allusion to him plucking Jonathan out of a mess in England. At any rate, this one is about Judge Dee stumbling into a missing vampire and three who claim to have killed him. It's a light story, mildly amusing, no great commentary. Something about it just misses for me, perhaps the lack of detail and the contrived dialogue of the characters.
I found the first story more entertaining: https://www.tor.com/2020/11/11/judge-...
https://www.tor.com/2021/02/10/judge-...
I found the first story more entertaining: https://www.tor.com/2020/11/11/judge-...
https://www.tor.com/2021/02/10/judge-...
July 17, 2023
Jonathan and his indubitable master are back on the road once again and I have to say, it's a real joy reading this short. Like the first installment, the writing is witty and sharp, full of fangs that inevitably make you laugh when it pierces the flesh.
Judge Dee is off to the Duchy of Bavaria where he is to investigate another mysterious death of a vampire, the Count of Werdenfels. We follow the two of them along for a thrilling journey with great world-building and descriptive prose along the way. I'm loving this series!
Judge Dee is off to the Duchy of Bavaria where he is to investigate another mysterious death of a vampire, the Count of Werdenfels. We follow the two of them along for a thrilling journey with great world-building and descriptive prose along the way. I'm loving this series!
February 13, 2021
‘Look,’ Jonathan said. He pointed to dark stains on the floor. ‘Blood.’
‘Perhaps he was a messy eater,’ the judge said, giving Jonathan a pointed look.
i am so thrilled to see a new judge dee story (the vampire judge dee, not that olde timey one), that i don't even care that i liked this one slightly less than the first (Judge Dee and the Limits of the Law ). to be clear, i liked everything about this story except for jonathan—he's comic relief that i don't find funny, and he's more boorish and broad here than in the first, where he was the same appetite-on-legs type of guy, but without all this new backsass. i love judge dee, i love the investigative portion of the piece, i love the need for judge dee in this world. i just don't love jonathan in this one.
still, i hope there are more more more of these adventures to come because VAMPIRE JUSTICE is apparently a thing i dig.
read it for yourself here:
https://www.tor.com/2021/02/10/judge-...
come to my blog!
May 13, 2024
📚
Free short story from Tor
📚
Actual rating: 3.32156445896 stars.
This one wasn't as joyously entertaining as Judge Dee's previous adventure, which sucks. I'd put this lack of enjoyment on my part down to the acute case of Book Slumpitis I'm suffering from, but I think it has more to do with the painfully slow beginning of the story and the predictable resolution of the—otherwise fun—Whodunnit Investigation Thingie (WIT™). Also, Jonathan (Judge Dee'sminion assistant) was a disappointment here. He's nothing but an ever-hungry boar in this one and reading about his sloppy eating habits gets old very fast. But hey, it's not all bad and I'm still very much in 💕lurve💕 with Judge Dee. Because it is a truth universally acknowledged that ascetic, errand vampire judges are sexy as fish.
See what I mean?
Approx. reading time: 40 minutes.
· Story 1: Judge Dee and the Limits of the Law ★★★★
· Story 3: Judge Dee and the Poisoner of Montmartre ★★★★
· Story 4: Seven Vampires ★★★★
· Story 5: Judge Dee and the Mystery of the Missing Manuscript ★★★★★
· Story 6: The Locked Coffin ★★★★
· Story 7: Judge Dee and the Executioner of Epinal ★★★★
Actual rating: 3.32156445896 stars.
This one wasn't as joyously entertaining as Judge Dee's previous adventure, which sucks. I'd put this lack of enjoyment on my part down to the acute case of Book Slumpitis I'm suffering from, but I think it has more to do with the painfully slow beginning of the story and the predictable resolution of the—otherwise fun—Whodunnit Investigation Thingie (WIT™). Also, Jonathan (Judge Dee's
See what I mean?
Approx. reading time: 40 minutes.
· Story 1: Judge Dee and the Limits of the Law ★★★★
· Story 3: Judge Dee and the Poisoner of Montmartre ★★★★
· Story 4: Seven Vampires ★★★★
· Story 5: Judge Dee and the Mystery of the Missing Manuscript ★★★★★
· Story 6: The Locked Coffin ★★★★
· Story 7: Judge Dee and the Executioner of Epinal ★★★★
April 29, 2021
‘I am Judge Dee,’ he said. ‘Do you dare question me?’
Sherlock Holmes and Watson are back, I mean Judge Dee and Jonathan are back.
Judge Dee is a vampire and goes from place to place to deliver justice. He is accompanied by a human, Jonathan. They have been summoned to investigate the death of the vampire Count Werdenfels. When they reach the castle, three different people/vampires are claiming to have killed the Count.
Judge Dee and Jonathan do what they do best which is for Judge Dee to examine and investigate and Jonathan to feed himself every chance he gets.
The view would be considered breathtaking; but as Jonathan liked to say, you couldn’t eat the view.
I quite enjoyed the story and I already love Judge Dee's style and I love Jonathan's grumpiness and his odd observations. He almost smiled then, and not for the first time Jonathan thought what an odd being the judge was.
But I do have to say that in this I had already guessed the twist unlike in Judge Dee and the Limits of the Law. I am wondering Jonathan's place in this too like other reviewers. I did like this a tiny bit less than the previous but of course, I am eagerly awaiting to continue reading about Judge Dee and Jonathan's travels and adventures.
4 stars
Sherlock Holmes and Watson are back, I mean Judge Dee and Jonathan are back.
Judge Dee is a vampire and goes from place to place to deliver justice. He is accompanied by a human, Jonathan. They have been summoned to investigate the death of the vampire Count Werdenfels. When they reach the castle, three different people/vampires are claiming to have killed the Count.
Judge Dee and Jonathan do what they do best which is for Judge Dee to examine and investigate and Jonathan to feed himself every chance he gets.
The view would be considered breathtaking; but as Jonathan liked to say, you couldn’t eat the view.
I quite enjoyed the story and I already love Judge Dee's style and I love Jonathan's grumpiness and his odd observations. He almost smiled then, and not for the first time Jonathan thought what an odd being the judge was.
But I do have to say that in this I had already guessed the twist unlike in Judge Dee and the Limits of the Law. I am wondering Jonathan's place in this too like other reviewers. I did like this a tiny bit less than the previous but of course, I am eagerly awaiting to continue reading about Judge Dee and Jonathan's travels and adventures.
4 stars
June 4, 2022
Judge Dee and the Three Deaths of Count Werdenfels by Lavie Tidhar - 3/5★
Three different persons claim the murder of Count Werdenfels, all with the stake to inherit his estate – but who actually did it? The plot was quite nice, but would have probably benefited from a longer format. As it is, I really didn’t understand much from the relation between the count and the other characters, and especially the one between servant and master.
The short story is found in Some of the Best from Tor.com, 2021 Edition and can also be read on Tor.com.
Three different persons claim the murder of Count Werdenfels, all with the stake to inherit his estate – but who actually did it? The plot was quite nice, but would have probably benefited from a longer format. As it is, I really didn’t understand much from the relation between the count and the other characters, and especially the one between servant and master.
The short story is found in Some of the Best from Tor.com, 2021 Edition and can also be read on Tor.com.
February 10, 2021
I loved this little gem of a story! We need more stories about Judge Dee and grumpy Johnathan, all bundled up together in to a book.
I love these unusual companions and their adventures. And this adventure was rather hilarious. One dead vampire and three people claiming that they killed him, all to inherit his castle. And in the end, it's the least likely person who gets it.
I love these unusual companions and their adventures. And this adventure was rather hilarious. One dead vampire and three people claiming that they killed him, all to inherit his castle. And in the end, it's the least likely person who gets it.
February 26, 2022
Un nuevo caso del Juez Dee, donde junto a Jonathan, viajan hasta el Castillo de Werdenfels para investigar la muerte del Conde de Werdenfels. Sin embargo, en vez de tener que buscar un culpable, la institución vampírica debe impartir justicia y averiguar quién de las tres personas/vampiros que afirman haber matado al Conde lo han hecho de verdad.
Un escenario real, una historia ligera y un whodonit bastante divertido, con un misterio que es más fácil de predecir que en la primera entrega, pero que mantiene ampliamente el tipo, con detalles simpáticos como la inclusión de Wace y Chretien de Troyes, ambos son escritores artúricos.
Un escenario real, una historia ligera y un whodonit bastante divertido, con un misterio que es más fácil de predecir que en la primera entrega, pero que mantiene ampliamente el tipo, con detalles simpáticos como la inclusión de Wace y Chretien de Troyes, ambos son escritores artúricos.
May 16, 2021
This is the second adventure of the vampire called Judge Dee and his human companion, Jonathan.
A vampiric count has been murdered and Judge Dee is summoned to find out what happened - since three parties (an ancient vampire, the vampiric widow and some human vampire hunters) claim to have murdered the count so they will inherit the castle.
Once again, the combination of a world populated by supernatural beings and a whodunnit was quite good.
The characters were also not too bad though I liked Jonathan better in the former story (he was a bit too depressed and slow here).
However, just like with the first, the mystery was a bit too easy to solve, and the „conflict“ a bit too monotone, I guess.
You can read the story for free here: https://www.tor.com/2021/02/10/judge-...
A vampiric count has been murdered and Judge Dee is summoned to find out what happened - since three parties (an ancient vampire, the vampiric widow and some human vampire hunters) claim to have murdered the count so they will inherit the castle.
Once again, the combination of a world populated by supernatural beings and a whodunnit was quite good.
The characters were also not too bad though I liked Jonathan better in the former story (he was a bit too depressed and slow here).
However, just like with the first, the mystery was a bit too easy to solve, and the „conflict“ a bit too monotone, I guess.
You can read the story for free here: https://www.tor.com/2021/02/10/judge-...
February 12, 2021
This second Judge Dee vampire mystery was a fun read, though perhaps a bit less than the first. His relationship with his reluctant, and perpetually hungry human "familiar" Jonathan remains the main source of amusement.
"Jonathan traipsed again through the dark forest. This was his lot, he reflected resignedly. Ever since he’d met Judge Dee his life was at the service of dark forces. Yet something within Jonathan still, however foolishly, believed that not all in the judge’s work was evil: that he represented order, a sort of moral compass even for the immoral and immortal beings of vampirekind."
"Jonathan traipsed again through the dark forest. This was his lot, he reflected resignedly. Ever since he’d met Judge Dee his life was at the service of dark forces. Yet something within Jonathan still, however foolishly, believed that not all in the judge’s work was evil: that he represented order, a sort of moral compass even for the immoral and immortal beings of vampirekind."
July 26, 2021
Judge Dee and the Three Deaths of Count Werdenfels (Địch Phán quan và ba lần chết của Bá tước Werdenfels): Địch Phán quan đã trở lại để giải quyết vụ án về cái chết của Bá tước ma cà rồng Werdenfels. Bí ẩn thực sự? Có tận ba kẻ tự hào tuyên bố rằng mình là hung thủ.
Điểm: 3.5/5
Series 'Judge Dee' là lựa chọn phù hợp cho những độc giả muốn quay đầu vềthể loại quái vật bí ẩn truyền thống. Tác giả giữ nguyên hình tượng ma cà rồng cổ điển: những sinh vật khát máu của bóng đêm, lẩn lút sống giữa loài người, sở hữu luật lệ riêng và đặc biệt là không phát sáng :)) Mỗi tập là một bí ẩn xứng đáng với sự tăm tối của bối cảnh Trung Cổ và những sinh vật bóng đêm liên quan. Tác giả có vẻ là một cây viết khôn ngoan, không quá tham vọng hay ôm đồm, biết cách viết một câu chuyện và có vài mánh khóe riêng.
Sau khi đọc cả hai phần truyện, mình vẫn chưa thấy lời giải thích nào cho việc chọn "Địch Phán quan" là nhân vật chính. Có lẽ "Jonathan" cũng không phải một cái tên được lựa ngẫu nhiên. Mình buộc phải kết luận rằng đây là chủ đích của tác giả để thu hút những độc giả tò mò. May thay, hai truyện ngắn đều khá ổn, nên tác giả không đến nỗi mang tiếng là câu view rẻ tiền :)) 'Three Deaths' và 'Limits of the Law' tương đối đồng đều về văn phong và chất lượng nội dung. Mình nghĩ tác giả có thể dần dần hoàn thành một tuyển tập 'Judge Dee' để xuất bản chính thức luôn.
Điểm: 3.5/5
Series 'Judge Dee' là lựa chọn phù hợp cho những độc giả muốn quay đầu vềthể loại quái vật bí ẩn truyền thống. Tác giả giữ nguyên hình tượng ma cà rồng cổ điển: những sinh vật khát máu của bóng đêm, lẩn lút sống giữa loài người, sở hữu luật lệ riêng và đặc biệt là không phát sáng :)) Mỗi tập là một bí ẩn xứng đáng với sự tăm tối của bối cảnh Trung Cổ và những sinh vật bóng đêm liên quan. Tác giả có vẻ là một cây viết khôn ngoan, không quá tham vọng hay ôm đồm, biết cách viết một câu chuyện và có vài mánh khóe riêng.
Sau khi đọc cả hai phần truyện, mình vẫn chưa thấy lời giải thích nào cho việc chọn "Địch Phán quan" là nhân vật chính. Có lẽ "Jonathan" cũng không phải một cái tên được lựa ngẫu nhiên. Mình buộc phải kết luận rằng đây là chủ đích của tác giả để thu hút những độc giả tò mò. May thay, hai truyện ngắn đều khá ổn, nên tác giả không đến nỗi mang tiếng là câu view rẻ tiền :)) 'Three Deaths' và 'Limits of the Law' tương đối đồng đều về văn phong và chất lượng nội dung. Mình nghĩ tác giả có thể dần dần hoàn thành một tuyển tập 'Judge Dee' để xuất bản chính thức luôn.
February 17, 2023
From the tor.com website, a fantasy series about a clever and honorable vampire judge from the point of view of his quite dim human servant (who I know is called Jonathan but to whom I mentally just assign the name Igor) and some ornamental little mystery highlighting brutal horrible (but stylish) vampire society and giving Judge Dee a chance to shine while showing everybody else (particularly Igor) was wrong and what really happened. And how virtuous and interesting and cryptic to dim Igor Judge Dee is.
It is fun stuff. It is pastiche, kind of, of vampire novels and classic mysteries. (I have no clue how it relates to the famous Judge Dee series by Robert van Gulik which I have never read). Fun (and free) stuff, nicely written.
It is fun stuff. It is pastiche, kind of, of vampire novels and classic mysteries. (I have no clue how it relates to the famous Judge Dee series by Robert van Gulik which I have never read). Fun (and free) stuff, nicely written.
December 5, 2022
“The truth was that mysteries were bunk: murder was straightforward and everyone did it, from the emperor down.”
The Count disappeared and three of his enemies are claiming they killed him, claiming inheritance by vampire law.
Another clever offering from the Judge Dee series!
Read it yourself: https://www.tor.com/2021/02/10/judge-...
The Count disappeared and three of his enemies are claiming they killed him, claiming inheritance by vampire law.
Another clever offering from the Judge Dee series!
Read it yourself: https://www.tor.com/2021/02/10/judge-...
December 6, 2023
Story can be found here.
Jonathan is such a mood.
Another unexpected ending, sadder than what I was expecting.
Jonathan is such a mood.
Another unexpected ending, sadder than what I was expecting.
June 13, 2022
3.5
I enjoyed this, but not as much as I had the first story. This one is both very bleak (it is set in Europe during the Middle Ages, after all, and with vampires to boot) and quite humorous at times.
I'd love to see Jonathan fleshed out a bit more. We don't know much about him except that he is always hungry (and who can blame him, following Judge Dee around?) and a messy eater. Judge Dee is sketchily but evocatively portrayed. We get a strong sense of him through the writing.
I'll certainly read other Judge Dee stories and I'm becoming interested in reading other work by Lavie Tidhar.
I enjoyed this, but not as much as I had the first story. This one is both very bleak (it is set in Europe during the Middle Ages, after all, and with vampires to boot) and quite humorous at times.
I'd love to see Jonathan fleshed out a bit more. We don't know much about him except that he is always hungry (and who can blame him, following Judge Dee around?) and a messy eater. Judge Dee is sketchily but evocatively portrayed. We get a strong sense of him through the writing.
I'll certainly read other Judge Dee stories and I'm becoming interested in reading other work by Lavie Tidhar.
February 24, 2021
2.5 stars, rounded up. This was a cute mini-mystery, but never grabbed me.
February 16, 2021
I just Love Judge Dee so darn much, but I can't help but wonder why he has not taught Jonathan some table manners. he doesn't seem stupid, just uncouth.
December 8, 2022
‘Take the judge’s boy to the kitchens,’ she said.
‘There’s plenty of venison,’ the man told Jonathan in a low voice. ‘And some good cheese and pickles.’
‘Then lead the way,’ Jonathan said, and he followed the young man to the one place in the castle he felt comfortable. Vampires, after all, seldom went into the kitchen.
Do we like a bit of Dracula with our Holmesian vampire story? Yes, yes we do.
Free from Tor: https://www.tor.com/2021/02/10/judge-...
2022 Short Story Advent Calendar
Hello December! It's time for the 2022 Advent Calendar. Maybe this year I'll actually manage to finish it. I learned from my experiment last year that reading from multiple collections does not work for me, so I'm trying to clean up some free standing short stories this year, and I have a lot of Tor shorts to go. Perhaps a few other things. One short story every day through Christmas Eve, and I will update links as I go. (I am traveling for Christmas, and I may post a few early right before the holiday. Or late. And I may go through New Year's Eve. Anything could happen!)
12/01/22: Yiwu
12/02/22: With Her Eyes
12/05/22: Red as Blood and White as Bone
12/05/22: Cold Fires
12/05/22: Judge Dee and the Limits of the Law
12/8/22: Judge Dee and the Three Deaths of Count Werdenfels (Catch up)
‘There’s plenty of venison,’ the man told Jonathan in a low voice. ‘And some good cheese and pickles.’
‘Then lead the way,’ Jonathan said, and he followed the young man to the one place in the castle he felt comfortable. Vampires, after all, seldom went into the kitchen.
Do we like a bit of Dracula with our Holmesian vampire story? Yes, yes we do.
Free from Tor: https://www.tor.com/2021/02/10/judge-...
2022 Short Story Advent Calendar
Hello December! It's time for the 2022 Advent Calendar. Maybe this year I'll actually manage to finish it. I learned from my experiment last year that reading from multiple collections does not work for me, so I'm trying to clean up some free standing short stories this year, and I have a lot of Tor shorts to go. Perhaps a few other things. One short story every day through Christmas Eve, and I will update links as I go. (I am traveling for Christmas, and I may post a few early right before the holiday. Or late. And I may go through New Year's Eve. Anything could happen!)
12/01/22: Yiwu
12/02/22: With Her Eyes
12/05/22: Red as Blood and White as Bone
12/05/22: Cold Fires
12/05/22: Judge Dee and the Limits of the Law
12/8/22: Judge Dee and the Three Deaths of Count Werdenfels (Catch up)
March 9, 2022
Judge Dee's next case takes him to Germany, where Dee is tasked with determining who killed a vampire. Surprisingly, quite a few vampires are jumping up to take credit. But which of them really did it?
Again, told from his poor human companion's perspective, who just wishes his master would remember that he is but a lowly human who feels cold when sleeping in the snow, and needs regular meals.
Again, told from his poor human companion's perspective, who just wishes his master would remember that he is but a lowly human who feels cold when sleeping in the snow, and needs regular meals.
September 20, 2021
I liked this more than the first short story, perhaps because the characters are starting to take form. Still a minor adventure but a quick, fun read.
February 11, 2021
I was very excited to see another Judge Dee short story! Again, this is a lovely little mystery that's half Dracula, half Holmes set in the middle ages.
This one was still really good (I loved seeing more of Jonathan's decline as he grew up in these conditions more, poor thing) but I felt it wasn't quite as strong as the first -- easier to guess the mystery, and the rhythm of the narration didn't have quite the same flow early on (lots of short, sharp sentences). I was also a little thrown off by the inclusion of Wace and Chretien de Troyes -- they're both well-known and truly historical Arthurian writers of the time period... but I'm not sure why the Arthurian connection was made here since it had nothing to do with the plot, so it threw me out of the story (). The text didn't call out that connection explicitly but if you recognize the names it becomes a pretty big ??? honestly. I found it very distracting, but ymmv on this (I recently did a whole bunch of Arthurian reading, which didn't help).
Still, more fun Vampire mysteries with some great characters and I'm excited to read further Judge Dee stories! I'm hooked now and, like Jonathan, I really am curious why he has Jonathan travel with him.
This one was still really good (I loved seeing more of Jonathan's decline as he grew up in these conditions more, poor thing) but I felt it wasn't quite as strong as the first -- easier to guess the mystery, and the rhythm of the narration didn't have quite the same flow early on (lots of short, sharp sentences). I was also a little thrown off by the inclusion of Wace and Chretien de Troyes -- they're both well-known and truly historical Arthurian writers of the time period... but I'm not sure why the Arthurian connection was made here since it had nothing to do with the plot, so it threw me out of the story (). The text didn't call out that connection explicitly but if you recognize the names it becomes a pretty big ??? honestly. I found it very distracting, but ymmv on this (I recently did a whole bunch of Arthurian reading, which didn't help).
Still, more fun Vampire mysteries with some great characters and I'm excited to read further Judge Dee stories! I'm hooked now and, like Jonathan, I really am curious why he has Jonathan travel with him.
November 20, 2023
Another clever case for Judge Dee and Jonathan to solve. Both the writing and the mystery were just as high quality as the first story in the series, Judge Dee and the Limits of the Law.
I read this on the Tor website, here.
I read this on the Tor website, here.
February 26, 2021
Like the first Judge Dee short story, there are plenty of things to like within these pages. The relationship between Judge Dee and Jonathan is great, especially the way Judge Dee disapproves of Jonathan's sloppy eating. The cover is absolutely gorgeous. The central mystery is compelling. My biggest problem is that both resolutions have felt over complicated and convoluted, as if designed to keep the reader guessing over feeling like a plausible scenario.
August 5, 2024
Judge Dee is fast becoming my favourite iteration of Dracula!
May 10, 2024
These stories have the essence of Sherlock and Watson, but filled with blood baths and cunning immortal beings✨✨🕺🏻���🏻🕺🏻
August 25, 2024
One dead vampire. Two vampires and a human hunter each claim to have killed him. So Judge Dee must work out who is entitled to the prize of war.
Another clever little mystery from Tidhar.
Another clever little mystery from Tidhar.
September 15, 2021
This isn't Judge Dee, the 7th century Tang dynasty Chinese magistrate and statesman. This is another Judge Dee, a fictional vampire judge, wandering medieval Europe, enforcing the law as vampires see it--which is mostly making sure vampires don't do things that attract too much human attention. Anything that would cause humans to become aware and alarmed enough to endanger vampire-kind. It's not about protecting humans; it's about protecting vampires from humans.
Judge Dee is accompanied by a young man named Jonathan, a human whom he rescued from underneath a pile of dead bodies for entirely practical, even selfish, reasons. He needed directions. Then he decided that Jonathan was useful, and kept him. Mostly he takes good care of Jonathan, but sometimes he forgets that his human servant needs food, and gets cold.
In this case, Judge Dee has been summoned to a mountainous region in the Holy Roman Empire. Count Werdenfels, a vampire, has been murdered. The killer must be found.
They arrive at the count's castle, and discover that they don't have a killer seeking to hide their guilt. They have three people claiming to be the killer, Each of the claimed killers is happy to explain how they did it, show them the place where the killing happened.
None of them can produce a corpse.
Yes, there's a reason they're competing to be recognized as the killer.
It's an interesting puzzle.
I bought this book.
Judge Dee is accompanied by a young man named Jonathan, a human whom he rescued from underneath a pile of dead bodies for entirely practical, even selfish, reasons. He needed directions. Then he decided that Jonathan was useful, and kept him. Mostly he takes good care of Jonathan, but sometimes he forgets that his human servant needs food, and gets cold.
In this case, Judge Dee has been summoned to a mountainous region in the Holy Roman Empire. Count Werdenfels, a vampire, has been murdered. The killer must be found.
They arrive at the count's castle, and discover that they don't have a killer seeking to hide their guilt. They have three people claiming to be the killer, Each of the claimed killers is happy to explain how they did it, show them the place where the killing happened.
None of them can produce a corpse.
Yes, there's a reason they're competing to be recognized as the killer.
It's an interesting puzzle.
I bought this book.
February 17, 2021
I seem to have read the Judge Dee stories out of order, but no matter, I was not confused! This was completely charming.
I wouldn't mind seeing Jonathan eaten by a vampire, though.
read it for yourself here:
https://www.tor.com/2021/02/10/judge-...
The truth was that mysteries were bunk: murder was straightforward and everyone did it, from the emperor down. Husbands killed their wives and sometimes wives killed their husbands. Men robbed and murdered every day in every street in every town of the Holy Roman Empire. Knights slaughtered Saracens in the Holy Land and Saracens slaughtered crusaders. The poor killed and the rich killed, and convicts were executed, and it didn’t matter if people used the sword, a kitchen knife, or poison. The end result was always the same.
I wouldn't mind seeing Jonathan eaten by a vampire, though.
read it for yourself here:
https://www.tor.com/2021/02/10/judge-...
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