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The Murder of Mr. Ma  By  cover art

The Murder of Mr. Ma

By: John Shen Yen Nee, SJ Rozan
Narrated by: Daniel York Loh
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Publisher's summary

London, 1924. When shy academic Lao She meets larger-than-life Judge Dee Ren Jie, his quiet life abruptly turns from books and lectures to daring chases and narrow escapes.

Dee has come to London to investigate the murder of a man he’d known during World War I when serving with the Chinese Labour Corps. No sooner has Dee interviewed the grieving widow than another dead body turns up. Then another. All stabbed to death with a butterfly sword. Will Dee and Lao be able to connect the threads of the murders—or are they next in line as victims?

Blending traditional gong’an crime fiction with the most iconic aspects of the Sherlock Holmes canon, Dee and Lao’s first adventure is as thrilling and visual as an action film, as imaginative and transportive as a timeless classic.

©2024 Erasmus Fox (P)2024 Recorded Books

Critic reviews

“Fans of Sherlock Holmes, devotees of intricate crime, and lovers of historical London will thrill over The Murder of Mr. Ma … With a plot as clever as Chinese veteran of WWI turned independent investigator Dee, and pacing as light-footed as the martial artists engaged in the frequent fisticuffs, this case has it all—even romance and authentic food, if you can stomach such things. I’m only miffed because I don’t know when the next in the series will land on my doorstep.”—Lyndsay Faye, author of Dust and Shadow

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An Intriguing Puzzle

Set in 1920’s London with a Sherlockian pair of detectives now Chinese, a judge who is concerned with the death of a fellow conscript during the Great War and an academic whose quiet life is upended as he is enlisted in the search for the murderer of that conscript and shortly after of others. Witty, adventurous, and full of surprises, this novel disappointed in only one way—it is the first in what will hopefully become a series but for now has no sequels to turn to. I regret coming to its end.

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Wonderful adventure in 1920s London

A truely wonderful tale of adventure and mystery as Judge Dee arrives in London and through a series of events using Chinese fighting skills they work through the mystery of the death of a Chinese shop keeper Mr. Ma.

A fascinating story that draws you into post World War I London where the effects of the war and what we now call PTSD affect Judge Dee, along with Mr Lao who is teaching Chinese to British students wishing to travel to China.

I highly recommend this book to those people looking for a twist on an Edwardian style mystery intersecting with two strangers from Ciina solving a murder mystery.

The book is written in a cinematic fashion where the characters a nd locations have a movie like quality. The fight scenes are
Choreographed with tremendous detail you will feel as though you are watching a movie. I could easily see this book made into a movie.

Raw narrator David York Loh the book alive through his narration. He does an excellent job with all the Chinese names and names of foods. It is a detail that makes everything come alive.

After finishing the book I hope the authors will continue this series so we can have the further adventures of Judge Dee and Mr Lao.


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