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Rating: 
Summary: A Night Of Terror And Mystery
Review: An unexpected storm forces Judge Dee and his three, (yes three!) wives to seek shelter at a Taoist monastery. The wives go straight to bed but the Judge must pay his respects to the abbot before joining them. Thus begins a frantic night of murder and mayhem during which Judge Dee, suffering from a bad head cold, must solve a series of murders, rescue a maiden in distress and arrange for the villain to meet his just deserts, bringing together two sets of star-crossed lovers along the way. "I should give up being a magistrate and become a match-maker!" he grumbles. One of the best of the series.
Rating: 
Summary: This is a slow slow descriptive descriptive shallow shallow.
Review: If I were just learning how to write this would be a prefect example. Forty five percent of the book is description. Who cares if Judge Dee has three or four hairs growing out of the mole on his face? And evidently he prefers girls with bushy eyebrows. Other than that it could be a decent mystery if it did not drag on and on. This may be due to the story being a little too short to publish; it took up three cassettes. The mystery its self is O.K. there is no last minute butlers to show up and confess. Evidently this is part of some Judge Dee series. So someone must like his style. The story takes place in a monastery where Judge Dee just happens to be passing during a storm and need a place to stay with his three wives. He whiteness some impossible things and meets some mysterious people.
Rating: 
Summary: One of Judge Dee's Best
Review: Let's face it; Robert Van Gulik may be an expert on 7th century China, but he isn't exactly a Pultizer-Prize winning author. His writing style is somewhat plain and simple and you'll never be knocked out by his glowing literary descriptions. What he does manage to do, though, is bring this long-lost era to life with his interesting characters and his cultural and historical know-how while telling an enjoyable tale along the way. While some of his longer books are bogged down by too many characters and too much detail, The Haunted Monastery is virtually perfect. Judge Dee and one of his assistants are stuck in a gloomy monastery on a stormy night. The place is rumored to be haunted, and while the threat of harmful spirits lingers in the background, the judge must solve three seemingly unrelated mysteries which all tie together in the end. Dripping with atmosphere and good, interesting characters, this is a fast and enjoyable read which is perfect for a rainy night or a cold winter's day.
Rating:
Summary: Great Naturalness of Language for This Mystery of Old China
Review: Nice short mystery. You'll be grateful to Van Gulik for giving his characters, from Sixth Century China, such a naturalness of expression. You'll never be bored by forced idioms, just as you'll never be asked to sit helplessly by as obvious differences between that culture and ours get exploited to the realm of the cliche (for instance, Judge Dee's three wives actually get along and are a natural part of the plot). Trouble is, the plot's a bit pedestrian when all's said and done -- a very formula production (as, let's admit it, are most mysteries).
Rating:
Summary: Great Naturalness of Language for This Mystery of Old China
Review: Nice short mystery. You'll be grateful to Van Gulik for giving his characters, from Sixth Century China, such a naturalness of expression. You'll never be bored by forced idioms, just as you'll never be asked to sit helplessly by as obvious differences between that culture and ours get exploited to the realm of the cliche (for instance, Judge Dee's three wives actually get along and are a natural part of the plot). Trouble is, the plot's a bit pedestrian when all's said and done -- a very formula production (as, let's admit it, are most mysteries).
Rating:
Summary: Dee in excellent form
Review: The Haunted Monastery is possibly the best of the Judge Dee novels. As the Judge would say, all the elements are here: an immensely appealing and exotic locale, eroticism without pornography, characters we come to care about, a duel between confucianism and taoism, romance, a monstrous murderer, a damsel in distress, a dauntless hero and more atmosphere than you can shake a chopstick at. Van Gulik makes ancient China come alive, and makes us believe that the people who lived in it, no matter how alien on the surface, are more like us than not. A good read anytime...but a great read on a dark and stormy night.
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