雷鳴の夜

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 needs a place to stay with his three wives. He whiteness some impossible things and meets some mysterious people.

事件やトリックよりも雰囲気を楽しむべき推理小説。山中の寺院にまつわる陰惨な事件が、名探偵により鮮やかに解決される。唐代の名探偵ディー（狄）知事を主人公とする異色の推理小説シリーズの一冊である本作は、オリエンタリズムの雰囲気を味わうのに最適。猫の水墨画に陰陽図、塔の小部屋、怪しげな木像。1960年代のオランダ人が中国をどのように見ていたか、非常に良く伝わってくる。
　翻訳では唐代っぽい言葉遣いと現代の言葉が混じり合い、不思議な混沌状態を呈しているのだが、原作ではどうなのだろうか？

中国唐代の実在の宰相を主人公にした
中華推理小説
判事が二番目に赴任した（と設定されている）
首都に程近い架空の都市で道教の寺院内の陰謀に立ち向かいます
一夜で解決するのは見事です