Medieval Europe. A world of darkness. Of Gothic castles, isolated monasteries, of monks and knights and things that go bump in the night. A world where vampires can roam at will... At least, as long as they obey the rules! For a vampire may not murder another vampire. Not unless they have a really good reason to, anyway.
Enter Judge Dee. Ancient. Immortal. Ascetic. His cold intellect draws him wherever a mystery is present, and he will rest at nothing to solve the puzzle. Jonathan, the judge’s human assistant, on the other hand, mostly just wants cheese. With bread, if possible. And some pickles would be nice. After all, it’s not easy spending your life in the company of murderous vampires who only see you as a tasty snack...
Their adventures take them from the warm Italian valleys to the heights of the French Alps as they come face to fang with fiendishly complicated puzzles—not the least of which is love! But as they are drawn inexplicably onwards to London, Jonathan wonders what awaits them when they finally arrive—and what choices he may have to make once they get there.

My Review:

I initially discovered Judge Dee – this version of Judge Dee, at least – when I was looking for references to the original, historical Judge Dee after reading The Murder of Mr. Ma by John Shen Yen Nee and SJ Rozan. I was curious about Dee as a historical figure, because the context in which the name was familiar was in relation to the Judge Dee mystery series interpreted and written by Robert van Gulik in the 1950s and 1960s, (very) loosely based on the historical (7th century!) Judge Di Renjie who had migrated into 14th century Chinese mystery fiction and eventually 18th century Chinese crime fiction.

I was not expecting THIS version of Judge Dee. Nor was I expecting the artwork for this version, which is, maybe not unique but certainly quirky and definitely memorable. I definitely didn’t expect the vampire Judge Dee and his supernatural cases – although the paranormal elements may be closer to the original fiction than I initially thought.

I was also not expecting Judge Dee and his human assistant Jonathan to remind me quite so much of DEATH in the Discworld and his frequently hapless human assistant Mort. But that resemblance is definitely there if you look for it.

I read the first of this series of these Judge Dee stories a couple of years ago, found it interesting and every bit as quirky as the artwork. I intended to read the rest of the available stories when I caught the ‘round tuit’ but that hadn’t happened by the time this collection arrived. And then I couldn’t resist and I’m glad I didn’t.

Most of the stories in this collection have been previously published online in Reactor Magazine. A few of the stories were published just long enough ago that they were published at Tor.com before it was officially renamed as Reactor. Same site, different name.

Two stories are new for this collection. IMHO they are among the best in the collection, partly because the worldbuilding has gotten more solid over the series and the individual characters have had more of a chance to develop. However, I think it’s mostly because the new stories are designed to bring what was once a loose collection into something close to a cohesive narrative. And definitely to tie the series up in a neat – if bloody – bow.

I’ve reviewed and rated the stories individually below. Overall, the collection rates as Escape Rating B+ as that’s the center around which the individual ratings revolve. If you’re looking for interesting little ‘bites’ of story that can be read together but not necessarily all at the same time, this collection is a lot of fun.

“The Limits of the Law” c2020 Reactor
Previously reviewed. Escape Rating B

“The Mystery of the Missing Manuscript” c2022 Reactor
Even a vampire is afraid of librarians when he has a long-overdue book to return. The story takes a darker turn when one of his fellow visiting vampires murders not one but two of the librarians at the vampires’ remote research library, all to get access to the books that are so dangerous that they are even forbidden to other vampires. But Judge Dee is, as always, one step ahead of any vampire breaking one of their few but necessary laws – even when that vampire is another judge who should be as dedicated to upholding the law as he is himself. This one was a different kind of fun, not just for its window into vampire libraries and librarians, but also for its portrait of the immortal monster known as Dracula as a much younger and more impetuous vampire. Escape Rating B+ because even vampires understand that libraries are magical in their own right.

“The Three Deaths of Count Werdenfels” c2021 Reactor

This one is interesting because it explains more of the vampiric law that Dee administers so zealously. Like many of Dee’s investigations, it’s a story of misdirection AND a subversion of ordinary mysteries in that the mystery is all about rival claimants to Werdenfels’ death rather than suspects trying to get out of the way of being outed as the murderer. Not that they all didn’t try, but they couldn’t have all succeeded. Escape Rating B

“The Executioner of Epinal” c2024 Reactor

This story represents the point in the series where they stopped being merely individual short stories and developed into a whole with actual character arcs. Which works for the story in this volume but against the older stories that come after it in the internal chronology because the arcs aren’t immediately developed.

That being said, this one is very interesting because we get a much clearer picture of Dee’s long, LONG life, Jonathan is forced to recognize that even an immortal vampire must have been young – and even dumb – once upon a time. It’s also a story where the desire for revenge well outlives the grief of loss and shows just how long and how well a vampire can hold a grudge. Even Jonathan’s character starts getting fleshed out, and he has a bit more to say for himself than just how hungry he is all the time. Escape Rating B+

“The Poisoner of Montmartre” c2021 Reactor

This is the first of now three stories set in Paris, one right after the other. Which allows Jonathan to actually get comfortable in the city – even though he knows that his comfort and something close to happiness are very temporary.

There’s always one case in a mystery series where the ‘detective’ is every bit as much of a suspect as everyone else, and that’s this story. It’s also a story that reflects on Dee’s ancient past. It’s also a drawing room mystery in the spirit of Agatha Christie, even if Dame Agatha hasn’t been born yet. Escape Rating B

“The Children of the Night” c2026 original to this volume

Jonathan can’t figure out what’s keeping Dee in Paris, but Jonathan is there for the plentiful food and warm, comfortable rooms. Dee, on the other hand, seems to be there for the theater and the street musicians. Of course, the Judge is really there because he’s been summoned, and Paris is where his case is.

The case combines Oliver Twist with Interview with the Vampire, as it involves rival street gangs of child vampires fighting over the begging and pickpocketing territories of the rather dark “City of Lights”. Everyone is trying to muscle in on everyone else’s racket, and the result is chaos, gang warfare – and the burning of Paris. (This may have been the fire of 1651). In spite of the light of the fire, this story is darker than many of the others due to the ‘child vampires’, the way they’re treated, the way they live, the way that they are stuck as pawns even though they are every bit as deadly as any vampire of their actual – and not their apparent – age. Escape Rating A-

“Seven Vampires” c2022 Reactor

This story takes place in the immediate aftermath (maybe that should be during-math) of the previous story. Paris is on fire as Dee and Jonathan flee into the night. Of course Dee has made previous arrangements in the event of a needed escape, but not for something as literally combustible as this circumstance.

So it’s not a surprise when his planned flight to England with a group of seven other vampires goes immediately off the non-existent rails. One member of their party was murdered while waiting for the rest, while the rest began dropping like flies – or more like bats shaken out of the sky. It’s obvious to Dee that the murderer is one of the remaining survivors, but it isn’t until they are about to reach the shores of England that Dee finally stages his dramatic reveal. Escape Rating B

“The Locked Coffin” c2023 Reactor

This story takes the classic ‘locked room’ mystery one step further, as the vampire Earl of Maidstone is so paranoid that he has commissioned a coffin that locks from the INSIDE for his daylight slumbers. The Earl has good reason to be paranoid, as it’s clear to Dee that every single member of his household, from his vampire wife to his few surviving drained and oppressed human servants, would be happy to see his end if they could just manage to arrange it. Which someone finally has, in spite of the locked coffin and the locked room it – and its late, unlamented occupant – are resting in.

While Dee and Jonathan perform a double act outlining all the many and various ways that a locked room murder of this type can be accomplished, Dee is peering into every corner and every mind so that he can finally reveal both whodunnit and how it was done in spite of all the precautious.

An interesting take on a classic mystery conundrum. Escape Rating B

“Judge Dee in London” c2026 original to this volume

This final story in the collection, original for this collection along with “Children of the Night”, seems designed to tie the previous stories up into a tidy bow and provide closure for Dee’s adventures as well as suggest a possible way forward – if not two or three.

Dee’s – and Jonathan’s – long journey across Europe has arrived in London. Coincidentally so have the many vampires Dee has met over the previous stories who have managed to survive his judgment. Along with one surprise guest, the vampire Helena that a VERY young Dee loved and lost and mourned back when the Great Library of Alexandria burned to the ground. He believed she was dead, either murdered or left to burn by some of their fellow vampire archivists, but in fact she used the chaos of the fire to get away from Dee. Their relationship was over but he wasn’t willing to accept it.

Her activities in London have finally caught the eye of the Vampire Council, and Dee has arrived in London to pass judgement. However, the cold, unemotional, unflappable Dee is for once too compromised to be objective – at least about his long lost love. He passes plenty of judgement on his remaining colleagues and enemies, judgements that will haunt those that survive for centuries.

Escape Rating A- for the way that this story pulls the originally loose collection together, lampshades several futures for both Dee and Jonathan, while providing an opening for more stories to be told.