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The Lacquer Screen
Book 8 in the Judge Dee Mysteries series.
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Early in his career, Judge Dee visits Magistrate Teng and is shown a lacquer screen whose image of two lovers appears to have changed into a scene of murder. Teng fears that mental illness will drive him to kill his wife, while the apparently inexplicable suicide of a wealthy banker presents a second problem for the visiting judge.
Dee and Chiao Tai disguise themselves as petty criminals and enter the local underworld, where a robber chief proves more honourable than several respectable officials. The altered screen, a woman mistaken for a courtesan and the banker’s finances eventually reveal how public reputation can conceal exploitation and murder.
Historical periods
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