Like the traditional magistrate mysteries van Gulik modeled his Judge Dee series on, this novel has 3 plots or mysteries. The three stories seem to be linked through ideals of loyalty or filial piety.
Find the English version of the book here on Amazon.
One story concerns a degenerate or corrupt child of the powerful, in a theme that connects to the High Cadres Children (HCC) in Qiu Xialong’s more recent award winning mystery featuring Detective Inspector Chen (particularly the introductory novel, the Death of a Red Heroine). This is a real and current concern in China as evidenced by this recent story in the online Wall Street Journal. Interesting that this concern plays so heavily in both author’s debut novels.
This is the first Judge Dee Novel that is truly Van Gulik’s and not faithful translation, though the author acknowledges drawing heavily from authentic sources of crime stories. It was written and published in Chinese and Japanese in the far east before it was written/translated(?) in English for western markets.
In The Chinese Maze Murders there is also an interesting treatment of homosexuality – that may not be politically correct – but it addresses an issue generally not discussed openly in Chinese culture discussions. Homosexuality also shows up in a short story in Judge Dee at Work, “The Coffins of the Emperor.” I wonder if the attitudes or bias re: homosexuality are van Gulik’s or of the time and culture from which he draws his sources.
