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Judge Dee #4
Seven Vampires: A Judge Dee Mystery
Paris is burning and Judge Dee and Jonathan are on the run. To guarantee their safety, they join a band of seven vampires escaping to England. The only problem? Someone in their midst is killing off members of their group one by one. It's of no matter to the Judge, provided they don't breach the Unalienable Obligations, but inevitably he's drawn into events.
32 pages, ebook
First published February 16, 2022
23 people are currently reading
138 people want to read
About the author
Lavie Tidhar
390 books739 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 53 reviews
April 25, 2024
The Vampire Murderer!
Judge Dee, and his companion, Jonathan, are on the run. They’re fleeing Paris.
The people of Paris are fed up with all the murderous vampires in the city. So they are hunting them down and killing them. And now the vampires are on the run.
Judge Dee and Jonathan join up with seven vampires, but they are being murdered by one of them.
Who’s doing it? It’s Judge Dee’s decision to find out who’s the murderer. Will they make it to England before everyone is killed?
Four stars. 💫💫💫💫
Judge Dee, and his companion, Jonathan, are on the run. They’re fleeing Paris.
The people of Paris are fed up with all the murderous vampires in the city. So they are hunting them down and killing them. And now the vampires are on the run.
Judge Dee and Jonathan join up with seven vampires, but they are being murdered by one of them.
Who’s doing it? It’s Judge Dee’s decision to find out who’s the murderer. Will they make it to England before everyone is killed?
Four stars. 💫💫💫💫
April 14, 2022
A scream pierced the night.
Jonathan kept chewing. He was used to screams in the night.
Judge Dee materialised out of the air and stood beside the fire.
‘Come, Jonathan,’ he said. ‘I fear the worst.’
Jonathan always feared the worst. The worst was inevitably what happened when you were in the company of vampires.
oof, for the first time since 2014, i have fallen off the pony of reading one tor short a week. i didn't read ANY in february or march, and i haven't even reviewed two of the ones i read in january. i hate that i fall into a shame-spiral any time i fail to accomplish some stupid self-appointed goal or other, but i do, and now it's time to pull myself out!
these judge dee stories keep getting better and better, and the bar was already set pretty high with the first one, Judge Dee and the Limits of the Law. this is the fourth (#2 - Judge Dee and the Three Deaths of Count Werdenfels, #3 - Judge Dee and the Poisoner of Montmartre, because i like to make things easy for y'all), and it's a sort of fang'ed version of And Then There Were None, where a group of vampires (and poor human-companion jonathan) are forced by circumstances to travel together...for safety. however, nothing's ever really safe when cranky vampires with grudges are gathered up under cover of night, and immortality's no obstacle to a vampire with a bone to pick. luckily, judge dee is there, along with jonathan—who's side-eyeing that bone, hoping to gnaw at whatever juicy meat remains—and these vampire-murderrrs will not go unvanquished, and the case is solved in a tidy and unexpected resolution.
another clever and delightful story featuring this oddball pair, reaffirming my desire for MORE OF THEM, putting my wish once more into the universe for a physical collection of these stories to exist, and soon.
read it for yourself here:
https://www.tor.com/2022/02/16/seven-...
come to my blog!!
March 1, 2022
A vampire judge did not just pass a sentence, after all – he also carried out the punishment.
Judge Dee and Jonathan are back and this time they are fleeing from Paris as the city is on fire. They are supposed to travel with seven other vampires to London. Jonathan isn't too keen on it as he gets scared of the other vampires and it also doesn't help that he hasn't had anything to eat that day. I mean how can Jonathan even think of anything else besides food then?
Judge Dee was a name that gave monsters nightmares.
Judge Dee and Jonathan meet up with the other vampires and there is a wide variety of them and they all look at Jonathan hungrily which makes Jonathan even more scared. Things take an interesting turn when vampires start getting murdered one by one. No one cares if the vampires get murdered of course, but Judge Dee doesn't want any of the vampires to breach the Unalienable Obligations. Not to mention that they know that they have a murderer amongst them and there is only one way to find out who is behind all this. Would Judge Dee and Jonathan be able to catch the murderer in time and be able to serve justice and punishment?
Jonathan hated it when things got complicated.
I love Judge Dee and Jonathan's travels and I always look forward to reading these short stories. This like the other stories in this series involves murder, mystery, and motive and I liked it. Judge Dee and Jonathan cracked this mystery and I love how Jonathan is getting better at this detective work. It was an entertaining read and I have to say that I was not able to solve the whole mystery this time.
The judge, he reflected, could be quite hurtful sometimes.
I love how Jonathan is ever hungry and scared and says/thinks witty things even when he means not to. And with each passing story, I am getting more and more curious about him. Why does Judge Dee keep Jonathan around him? I hope someday we get an answer and I hope it is a good one.
And this is the best cover yet.
3.75 stars
Judge Dee and Jonathan are back and this time they are fleeing from Paris as the city is on fire. They are supposed to travel with seven other vampires to London. Jonathan isn't too keen on it as he gets scared of the other vampires and it also doesn't help that he hasn't had anything to eat that day. I mean how can Jonathan even think of anything else besides food then?
Judge Dee was a name that gave monsters nightmares.
Judge Dee and Jonathan meet up with the other vampires and there is a wide variety of them and they all look at Jonathan hungrily which makes Jonathan even more scared. Things take an interesting turn when vampires start getting murdered one by one. No one cares if the vampires get murdered of course, but Judge Dee doesn't want any of the vampires to breach the Unalienable Obligations. Not to mention that they know that they have a murderer amongst them and there is only one way to find out who is behind all this. Would Judge Dee and Jonathan be able to catch the murderer in time and be able to serve justice and punishment?
Jonathan hated it when things got complicated.
I love Judge Dee and Jonathan's travels and I always look forward to reading these short stories. This like the other stories in this series involves murder, mystery, and motive and I liked it. Judge Dee and Jonathan cracked this mystery and I love how Jonathan is getting better at this detective work. It was an entertaining read and I have to say that I was not able to solve the whole mystery this time.
The judge, he reflected, could be quite hurtful sometimes.
I love how Jonathan is ever hungry and scared and says/thinks witty things even when he means not to. And with each passing story, I am getting more and more curious about him. Why does Judge Dee keep Jonathan around him? I hope someday we get an answer and I hope it is a good one.
And this is the best cover yet.
3.75 stars
May 6, 2022
"‘She’s dead,’ Jack said, without much interest. ‘And I am sated, and Calais grows close. Let us go while the night’s still young. You really do have an unseemly interest in corpses, Judge Dee.’
The judge turned his cold eyes on the three remaining vampires. ‘I am a judge,’ he said, ‘and the killer of these vampires will answer to me.’"
The Judge Dee of Robert van Gulik is more a traditional magistrate and upholder of Confucian principles. This Dee has an assistant, Jonathan, and has taken some responsibility to accompany 7 other vampires all fleeing a Paris that is trying to rid itself of vampires by any means. “Is Paris Burning?” Yes! And they barely get out in time. The meetup gives us only the bare essentials of each character before members of the group start being murdered. They are not a companionable group and at least one of this bunch is a murderer.
"They were coming to a narrow valley. Jonathan squinted, trying to look ahead. ‘I am hungry,’ Jack announced. His sharp teeth grew longer. Aisha hissed. Melissandra said, ‘I smell blood and cold metal and the sweat of men’s lust.’ Judge Dee said, in his cold and calm voice, ‘There is an ambush waiting for us in that valley.’ Aisha smiled. ‘Good,’ she said. ‘I am hungry,’ Jack said. They walked into the valley and the mountains closed on them from either side like walls."
I do not have a fixation on vampires though, it is plain, others do and there are plenty of authors to “feed” their interest. The is part of the sub-genre that melds vampires with a mystery. Here it is who was a killer and why was a killing “necessary?”
In this short novella there isn’t much time to get to know anyone. My bad…I guess I should have started with one of Tidhar’s earlier Judge Dee stories. A quick read; not without its virtures.
The judge turned his cold eyes on the three remaining vampires. ‘I am a judge,’ he said, ‘and the killer of these vampires will answer to me.’"
The Judge Dee of Robert van Gulik is more a traditional magistrate and upholder of Confucian principles. This Dee has an assistant, Jonathan, and has taken some responsibility to accompany 7 other vampires all fleeing a Paris that is trying to rid itself of vampires by any means. “Is Paris Burning?” Yes! And they barely get out in time. The meetup gives us only the bare essentials of each character before members of the group start being murdered. They are not a companionable group and at least one of this bunch is a murderer.
"They were coming to a narrow valley. Jonathan squinted, trying to look ahead. ‘I am hungry,’ Jack announced. His sharp teeth grew longer. Aisha hissed. Melissandra said, ‘I smell blood and cold metal and the sweat of men’s lust.’ Judge Dee said, in his cold and calm voice, ‘There is an ambush waiting for us in that valley.’ Aisha smiled. ‘Good,’ she said. ‘I am hungry,’ Jack said. They walked into the valley and the mountains closed on them from either side like walls."
I do not have a fixation on vampires though, it is plain, others do and there are plenty of authors to “feed” their interest. The is part of the sub-genre that melds vampires with a mystery. Here it is who was a killer and why was a killing “necessary?”
In this short novella there isn’t much time to get to know anyone. My bad…I guess I should have started with one of Tidhar’s earlier Judge Dee stories. A quick read; not without its virtures.
February 26, 2022
Like previous entries this proved a fairly amusing murder mystery, featuring a colorful cast of vampires. As always, Jonathan, the judge's perennially hungry, tired and scared assistant, steals the spotlight, and actually gets more attention than Judge Dee himself, which is a good thing since the judge in fact is the least interesting of all the characters in all of these stories.
July 1, 2022
Their long sojourn in the city had made Jonathan complacent. He forgot.
Forgot that his master was a vampire judge, and that rest and tranquillity were things only other people enjoyed.
Now he ran, and wished he’d picked up the second string of sausages, and maybe an extra cheese. The city burned behind him.
Rather than go back to the start of the series, I moved on to #4 - and it's pretty great. I'm really enjoying these, they're just long enough to get properly into the story, and just short enough that I don't have to put aside a whole bunch of time.
Free online here: https://www.tor.com/2022/02/16/seven-...
Forgot that his master was a vampire judge, and that rest and tranquillity were things only other people enjoyed.
Now he ran, and wished he’d picked up the second string of sausages, and maybe an extra cheese. The city burned behind him.
Rather than go back to the start of the series, I moved on to #4 - and it's pretty great. I'm really enjoying these, they're just long enough to get properly into the story, and just short enough that I don't have to put aside a whole bunch of time.
Free online here: https://www.tor.com/2022/02/16/seven-...
May 13, 2024
📚
Free short story from Tor
📚
Judge Dee the vampire of the mirthless little chuckles + Jonathan therotund Puny Human of the Somewhat Voracious Appetite = a romance for the ages.
· Story 1: Judge Dee and the Limits of the Law ★★★★
· Story 2: Judge Dee and the Three Deaths of Count Werdenfels ★★★
· Story 3: Judge Dee and the Poisoner of Montmartre ★★★★
· 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 ★★★★
[February 2022]
A newJonathan the Puny Human Judge Dee story! It can be read online for free here! Yay and stuff! Let's dance and stuff!
Judge Dee the vampire of the mirthless little chuckles + Jonathan the
· Story 1: Judge Dee and the Limits of the Law ★★★★
· Story 2: Judge Dee and the Three Deaths of Count Werdenfels ★★★
· Story 3: Judge Dee and the Poisoner of Montmartre ★★★★
· 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 ★★★★
[February 2022]
A new
December 8, 2022
He did not feel safe without his master near. Though truth be told, he never felt safe even with his master there. He thought of their previous adventures – or nightmares, as Jonathan privately thought of them. The Horror of the Hogsmead. The Massacre in Pine Needle Bluff. The Terror in Turin.
He might have considered writing them down, but his handwriting was terrible and besides, no one wanted to read stories about vampires.
And then there were none... Or two or three, as the case may be. This series continues to spark joy.
Free from Tor: https://www.tor.com/2022/02/16/seven-...
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
12/08/22: Judge Dee and the Three Deaths of Count Werdenfels
12/08/22: Judge Dee and the Poisoner of Montmartre
12/08/22: Seven Vampires
(All right, so I'm objectively bad at getting these done daily right now. But there WILL be 24 stories!)
He might have considered writing them down, but his handwriting was terrible and besides, no one wanted to read stories about vampires.
And then there were none... Or two or three, as the case may be. This series continues to spark joy.
Free from Tor: https://www.tor.com/2022/02/16/seven-...
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
12/08/22: Judge Dee and the Three Deaths of Count Werdenfels
12/08/22: Judge Dee and the Poisoner of Montmartre
12/08/22: Seven Vampires
(All right, so I'm objectively bad at getting these done daily right now. But there WILL be 24 stories!)
February 18, 2022
This one was not as good as the previous short stories. It felt like it circled around the drain with the same information being rehashed several times during the story.
I'm still loving the interaction between Judge Dee and Johnathan though.
I'm still loving the interaction between Judge Dee and Johnathan though.
February 17, 2022
3.5*(stars)...
December 17, 2022
To get to know the characters better, check out the previous books in this series, including Judge Dee and the Three Deaths of Count Werdenfels and Judge Dee and the Poisoner of Montmartre.
In this fourth installment of the Judge Dee series, Judge Dee and Jonathan flee Paris for England, as the locals burn down Paris to rid the city of vampires. In the hopes of improving safety through numbers, they join seven other vampires who are travelling to England. However, the vampires are slowly hunted, one by one, and Judge Dee is determined to find the killer, even if he was not ordered to do so by the Unalienable Obligations.
Judge Dee's wisdom never fails to impress. As was the case in the previous books in the series, we the readers gather clues alongside Judge Dee and Jonathan, slowly solving the mystery, piece by piece.
A short, fun read.
In this fourth installment of the Judge Dee series, Judge Dee and Jonathan flee Paris for England, as the locals burn down Paris to rid the city of vampires. In the hopes of improving safety through numbers, they join seven other vampires who are travelling to England. However, the vampires are slowly hunted, one by one, and Judge Dee is determined to find the killer, even if he was not ordered to do so by the Unalienable Obligations.
Judge Dee's wisdom never fails to impress. As was the case in the previous books in the series, we the readers gather clues alongside Judge Dee and Jonathan, slowly solving the mystery, piece by piece.
A short, fun read.
August 18, 2025
Jonathan is not so much a "Familiar" as he is a companion or maybe a facsimile of companionship for Judge Dee. Maybe he's there to remind Dee of humanity in all it's ...well Jonathanness I mean he's more of a sounding board for ideas even though the Judge thinks a thousand times faster and figures everything out before Jon Jon can even formulate the first "huh" or mumble.
But still, this book brought on this realization that there is still a story that needs to be told:
1. Why and How did Jonathan survive under a pile of corpses that fateful day
2. Why did Judge Dee reach into the pile and drag him out?
I need to know. It's like when you're looking at the wallpaper in a house and you notice one of the corners has a fly-away piece and you just know that if you get your step ladder, get on it and start to fiddle with that piece - it'll rip up and you'll see something weird under the paper.
I need to know Judge Dee ... why'd ya do it?
But still, this book brought on this realization that there is still a story that needs to be told:
1. Why and How did Jonathan survive under a pile of corpses that fateful day
2. Why did Judge Dee reach into the pile and drag him out?
I need to know. It's like when you're looking at the wallpaper in a house and you notice one of the corners has a fly-away piece and you just know that if you get your step ladder, get on it and start to fiddle with that piece - it'll rip up and you'll see something weird under the paper.
I need to know Judge Dee ... why'd ya do it?
December 27, 2022
“Jonathan always feared the worst. The worst was inevitably what happened when you were in the company of vampires.”
La cuarta entrega del Judge Dee de Lavie Tidhar nos propone una especie de versión con colmillos de ‘Y no quedo ninguno’ donde siete vampiros, casi sacados de diferentes épocas, huyen de París. Entre ellos, claro esta, viaja el Juez Dee y su compañero humano Jonathan, que se verán como sus extraños y amenazadores compañeros de viaje van cayendo uno a uno.
Sin la tenebrosidad y oscuridad de las dos primeras entregas, pero más serio que el tercero, este nuevo caso del Juez Dee se siente como un eslabón de transición en sus historias, en una especie de excusa para brindar un nuevo escenario para su siguiente entrega. Un misterio divertido, cuya resolución no me convence del todo, pero que presenta un colorido y atractivo elenco vampírico.
La cuarta entrega del Judge Dee de Lavie Tidhar nos propone una especie de versión con colmillos de ‘Y no quedo ninguno’ donde siete vampiros, casi sacados de diferentes épocas, huyen de París. Entre ellos, claro esta, viaja el Juez Dee y su compañero humano Jonathan, que se verán como sus extraños y amenazadores compañeros de viaje van cayendo uno a uno.
Sin la tenebrosidad y oscuridad de las dos primeras entregas, pero más serio que el tercero, este nuevo caso del Juez Dee se siente como un eslabón de transición en sus historias, en una especie de excusa para brindar un nuevo escenario para su siguiente entrega. Un misterio divertido, cuya resolución no me convence del todo, pero que presenta un colorido y atractivo elenco vampírico.
December 7, 2022
That was three vampires too many I think. There was something about the pace, and the ending, that made the story less satisfying than previous offerings.
“He thought of their previous adventures - or nightmares, as Johnathan privately thought of them… He might have considered writing them down, but his handwriting was terrible and besides, no one wanted to read stories about vampires.”
Moments of levity still made it worth the time. Another two or three sentences at the end, or one sentence of foreshadow, could have added a star.
Read it for yourself: https://www.tor.com/2022/02/16/seven-...
“He thought of their previous adventures - or nightmares, as Johnathan privately thought of them… He might have considered writing them down, but his handwriting was terrible and besides, no one wanted to read stories about vampires.”
Moments of levity still made it worth the time. Another two or three sentences at the end, or one sentence of foreshadow, could have added a star.
Read it for yourself: https://www.tor.com/2022/02/16/seven-...
January 24, 2024
Seven vampires start on a journey together, but how many make it to the final destination?
A Tor.com free story. It can be found here: https://reactormag.com/seven-vampires...
A Tor.com free story. It can be found here: https://reactormag.com/seven-vampires...
August 25, 2024
Seven vampires all bound for England. One by one, they are killed off. Judge Dee must find out not only who is the culprit, but why.
Again, a great setup and a clever pay off. Tidhar's characters are three dimensional, even in a short story.
Again, a great setup and a clever pay off. Tidhar's characters are three dimensional, even in a short story.
December 20, 2024
Proper boring
March 1, 2022
Me lo paso súper bien leyendo estas historias cortas y, además, uno de los vampiros protagonistas se llama como yo. La resolución del caso, en este caso, no me ha convencido como las anteriores entregas.
February 3, 2023
3.5 Stars
These stories continue to bring a nice balance of fun, mystery, and humor set against the vampiric backdrop and characters driving each tale. I thought this one was interesting because we are reminded a number of times how cold and dangerous Judge Dee is, including multiple reminders from the Judge about just how bad vampires are. It makes me wonder if we'll someday see the Judge either turn on Jonathan or maybe he's grooming Jonathan to take his place eventually.
This story was a little different from the previous three in that the other ones gave hints and clues that made the mysteries fairly easy to figure out ahead of the ending, this one didn't give us all that much to work with. Rather, the mystery was basically solved in Judge Dee's head and we only start to see the clues fall into place once the Judge is ready to pass judgement. Still an entertaining story, but the mystery elements kind of missed for me on this one. Thankfully there were some more fun moments between the Judge and Jonathan to keep this enjoyable.
These stories continue to bring a nice balance of fun, mystery, and humor set against the vampiric backdrop and characters driving each tale. I thought this one was interesting because we are reminded a number of times how cold and dangerous Judge Dee is, including multiple reminders from the Judge about just how bad vampires are. It makes me wonder if we'll someday see the Judge either turn on Jonathan or maybe he's grooming Jonathan to take his place eventually.
This story was a little different from the previous three in that the other ones gave hints and clues that made the mysteries fairly easy to figure out ahead of the ending, this one didn't give us all that much to work with. Rather, the mystery was basically solved in Judge Dee's head and we only start to see the clues fall into place once the Judge is ready to pass judgement. Still an entertaining story, but the mystery elements kind of missed for me on this one. Thankfully there were some more fun moments between the Judge and Jonathan to keep this enjoyable.
March 14, 2022
In this story, the vampire Judge Dee and Jonathan flee Paris (which is being purged of vampires). They meet up with another group of vampires to sail together to England to escape. But things do not look right from the start, when they discover one member of their group murdered. And the murderer is one of them.
As the group continue their journey, other group members are also murdered, and clues lead Judge Dee to suspect that the murderer is after an object of value. Only at the end is the object revealed which would appear to be a treasure to the vampire that gets it; or perhaps not, according to the Judge.
A light-mystery piece because the murderer would be eventually revealed as the victims pile up, but the relationship between Jonathan and Judge Dee are at the centre of the story: that and Jonathan hunger for good food.
As the group continue their journey, other group members are also murdered, and clues lead Judge Dee to suspect that the murderer is after an object of value. Only at the end is the object revealed which would appear to be a treasure to the vampire that gets it; or perhaps not, according to the Judge.
A light-mystery piece because the murderer would be eventually revealed as the victims pile up, but the relationship between Jonathan and Judge Dee are at the centre of the story: that and Jonathan hunger for good food.
November 24, 2022
Another Dee short story, and maybe not quite as good as some of the others, but still quite entertaining.
Paris is burning, a nest of vampires had been found and the Parisians have taken matters into their own hands. The other Vampires in the town have realised this is a good time to leave, so it's off to England. Poor Jonathan even had to leave his breakfast behind.
Jonathan and the Judge meet up with 7 other vampires to make their way as a group to Calais. Unfortunately, as soon as they do the deaths start, so it's up to Dee to work out who's the killer, along with the reason why.
I'm not entirely sure if I liked the ending of this, either, with the way the killer was dealt with, or with the hints towards the end. I do hope the next few stories are set in England, and hopefully Jonathan can have some fun.
Paris is burning, a nest of vampires had been found and the Parisians have taken matters into their own hands. The other Vampires in the town have realised this is a good time to leave, so it's off to England. Poor Jonathan even had to leave his breakfast behind.
Jonathan and the Judge meet up with 7 other vampires to make their way as a group to Calais. Unfortunately, as soon as they do the deaths start, so it's up to Dee to work out who's the killer, along with the reason why.
I'm not entirely sure if I liked the ending of this, either, with the way the killer was dealt with, or with the hints towards the end. I do hope the next few stories are set in England, and hopefully Jonathan can have some fun.
November 23, 2022
Judge Dee and the Mystery of the Missing Manuscript by author Lavie Tidhar is the fourth short story in the Judge Dee series you can read for free on the Tor.com site https://www.tor.com/2022/02/16/seven-...
Paris is burning and Judge Dee and Jonathan are on the run. To guarantee their safety, they join a band of seven vampires escaping to England. The only problem? Someone in their midst is killing off members of their group one by one. It’s of no matter to the Judge, provided they don’t breach the Unalienable Obligations, but inevitably he’s drawn into events.
Themes: Thidar’s fanged version of And Then There Were None.
4 Stars
Paris is burning and Judge Dee and Jonathan are on the run. To guarantee their safety, they join a band of seven vampires escaping to England. The only problem? Someone in their midst is killing off members of their group one by one. It’s of no matter to the Judge, provided they don’t breach the Unalienable Obligations, but inevitably he’s drawn into events.
Themes: Thidar’s fanged version of And Then There Were None.
4 Stars
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August 19, 2022Undead investigator Judge Dee flees fire and revolution in Paris, accompanied by his cowering, sausage-obsessed mortal familiar Jonathan, a man who makes clear quite what a plush deal Guillermo gets in What We Do In The Shadows, despite it all. They travel with seven other vampires, as per the title – except that even before they depart, one is dead, and that number keeps climbing. I particularly enjoyed the undercutting of genre staple ‘You might be wondering why I have assembled you all here.’
March 8, 2022
Charming Little Mystery
I've been enjoying these little Judge Dee mysteries. The latest has a group of vampires, along with Judge Dee's faithful manservant, Jonathan, travelling cross country as they flee the fires of Paris. Even as they begin to gather, members of their group are murdered. Who would have guessed that ancient vampires were as likely to engage in murder and mayhem as humans?
I've been enjoying these little Judge Dee mysteries. The latest has a group of vampires, along with Judge Dee's faithful manservant, Jonathan, travelling cross country as they flee the fires of Paris. Even as they begin to gather, members of their group are murdered. Who would have guessed that ancient vampires were as likely to engage in murder and mayhem as humans?
May 15, 2022
Lavie Tidhar has written another great short story about his Vampire Judge. This vampire, Judge Dee, and his human companion travel the world at night to render judgements under the law of the vampires.
In this story, we are given the case of seven vampires fleeing from the burning of Paris. One by one these vampires are killed. Who is the murderer, and what is the motive? Judge Dee will get to the bottom of this mystery.
In this story, we are given the case of seven vampires fleeing from the burning of Paris. One by one these vampires are killed. Who is the murderer, and what is the motive? Judge Dee will get to the bottom of this mystery.
March 10, 2022
As Judge Dee and Jonathan flee from a vampire massacre in Paris, they meet up with seven other vampires along the way. As they escape to England, party members start turning up dead. Very Agatha Christie's And Then There Were None.
Once again Judge Dee shows off his Sherlockian detective skills and much entertainment is had. And Jonathan gets food for once!
Once again Judge Dee shows off his Sherlockian detective skills and much entertainment is had. And Jonathan gets food for once!
July 7, 2022
I enjoy these rather strange Judge Dee stories. The stories don't have much to do with the original Chinese stories or the excellent Van Gulick novels, but the vampire Judge Dee does mete out a form of justice in his world as he is accompanied by his human servant. The stories are clever and adhere to a sometimes inhuman logic, perhaps more suited to vampire interactions.
November 14, 2022
And Then There Were Almost None
The two, Dee and Jonathan, left behind burning Paris. At the forked road, they met up with six vampires. The seventh was found dead. Pretty soon, two more followed suit. Now, there are three. What happened next? Read them and find out. As always, very good writing, kept the reader’s interest to the end. Recommended.
The two, Dee and Jonathan, left behind burning Paris. At the forked road, they met up with six vampires. The seventh was found dead. Pretty soon, two more followed suit. Now, there are three. What happened next? Read them and find out. As always, very good writing, kept the reader’s interest to the end. Recommended.
March 2, 2022
Didn't enjoy this one unfortunately.
Neither the murders, how they were talked about, why they happened, nor how they were solved were particularly interesting. It just felt like stuff happening with a smidge of fat-shaming for color.
Neither the murders, how they were talked about, why they happened, nor how they were solved were particularly interesting. It just felt like stuff happening with a smidge of fat-shaming for color.
July 5, 2022
Quick and entertaining
I just really enjoy the events of Judge Dee and Johnathan, this story while being just as short as the others was honestly the quickest one, the story just flew by but it was entertaining and I wasn't able to figure out who the bad guy was.
I just really enjoy the events of Judge Dee and Johnathan, this story while being just as short as the others was honestly the quickest one, the story just flew by but it was entertaining and I wasn't able to figure out who the bad guy was.
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