2.5 stars, rounded up. This was a cute mini-mystery, but never grabbed me.

I seem to have read the Judge Dee stories out of order, but no matter, I was not confused! This was completely charming. 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...

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 Jon...

Another story featuring the Vampire Judge Dee and his human companion. In this one, he is summoned to the castle of Count Werdenfels, who has been murdered. Only thing is, three different groups (vampires and vampire hunters) claim to have killed the Count. In Vampire Law, the murderer gets to inherit the former Count's castle, and it is up to Judge Dee to decide who really killed the Count.In the end, after an investigation that requires retracing the Count's last journey and the traps and atta...

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.

‘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 exam

I really do not care for Jonathan. At all.I liked the ending, it saved the whole thing.Can't say I cared much about the story as a whole.

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

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 you...

I like these Judge Dee stories.

📚 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's minion assistant) was a disappointment here...

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 h...

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.

Delightful. Not as delightful as the first as Jonathan is somewhat annoying. But delightful nonetheless. Judge Dee is a wonderful character, and the mystery is a fun little read. Free online at tor.com

‘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 br...

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 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 b...

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.

A sort of vampiric Sherlock mysteryI bought this story thinking it might be about Judge Dee ie Di Renjie when it popped up as a recommendation. Instead it is about a vampiric investigator and his familiar as they travel about investigating. Made me think about a WoD archon or justicar basically as the creatures of the night have a set of rules in this setting. Reminded me a bit of one of Zelazny's stories in feel and style.The story was fine. I suppose if I knew the setting I would probably appr...

Somewhere down the corridor the Lady Maria shrieked in outrage. ‘I will drain you of blood and leave your empty, shrivelled husk on the top of the Zugspitze!’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.Why did the judge keep him? Why did Jonathan accompany Judge Dee to horror after horror? After all this time, he still