The Haunted Monastery

by Robert Van Gulik Book 7 in the Judge Dee Mysteries series.

First published 1961

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A mountain storm forces Judge Dee, his wives and his attendants to seek shelter in a large Taoist monastery. Soon after delivering an ecstatic sermon, the abbot dies in circumstances the monks describe as supernatural, while Dee learns that three young women have previously died there in supposed accidents.

The judge studies a victim’s painting, the behaviour of a cat and inconsistencies in the monastery’s public rituals. Behind reports of ghosts and divine punishment he discovers impersonation, sexual exploitation and murder, making the isolated religious institution both the setting and the mechanism of the crimes.