The Cases of Judge Guo

The Cases of Judge Guo collects some sixty-odd crime stories solved by the upright magistrate Guo Qingluo: murders on the road, poisoned husbands, stolen silver, forged deeds, false accusations and bodies found in wells. Each case gives the accusation, the investigation and the judge's written verdict, so the reader can follow the reasoning step by step. It is a Ming pulp classic and a direct ancestor of the Judge Dee stories. This is a complete new English translation, with names in modern pinyin and the text rendered as plain, readable English prose. Every case is short and self-contained, and together they form one of the roots of the Chinese detective story, long before Judge Dee reached the West. The plotting is brisk, the clues are concrete, and the picture of daily life, from village quarrels to the magistrate's yamen, is as interesting as the crimes themselves.