Van Gulik's Judge Dee series Books in Order
The Van Gulik's Judge Dee series books in order are 16 books by Robert van Gulik, published 1959 to 1968. Start with The Chinese Maze Murders (1951).
- Books
- 10
- Published
- 1959 to 1968
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Reading order
The Van Gulik's Judge Dee series books in the order to read them, with the year each first appeared.
- 1The Chinese Maze Murders1951
- 2The Chinese Bell Murders1958
- 3The Chinese Gold Murders1959
- 4The Chinese Lake Murders1960
- 5The Chinese Nail Murders1961
- 6The Haunted Monastery1961
- 7The Red Pavilion1961
- 8The Lacquer Screen1962
- 9The Emperor's Pearl1963
- 10The Monkey and the Tiger1965
- 11The Willow Pattern1965
- 12Murder in Canton1966
Show all 16 books in order
- 13The Phantom of the Temple1966
- 14Judge Dee at Work1967
- 15Necklace and Calabash1967
- 16Poets and Murder1968
Editions we track
| No. | Cover | Book | Year | Value |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| – | The Chinese Gold Murders First | 1959 | – | |
| – | The Chinese Lake Murders | 1960 | – | |
| – | The Chinese Lake Murders First | 1960 | – | |
| – | The Haunted Monastery First | 1961 | – | |
| – | The Red Pavilion First | 1961 | – | |
| – | The Lacquer Screen First | 1962 | – | |
| – | The Haunted Monastery | 1963 | – | |
| – | The Red Pavilion | 1964 | – | |
| – | Murder in Canton First | 1966 | – | |
| – | The Lacquer Screen | 1968 | – |
About Van Gulik's Judge Dee series
Van Gulik's Judge Dee series is a sequence of detective novels and stories by the Dutch diplomat and sinologist Robert van Gulik, featuring Judge Dee, a magistrate of Tang dynasty China. It grew out of his English translation of the eighteenth century Chinese novel Dee Goong An, printed in Tokyo in 1949 as Celebrated Cases of Judge Dee. The first original novel, The Chinese Maze Murders, appeared in Japanese in 1951 before its English publication, and later titles were written in English first. Sixteen books followed between 1951 and 1968, ending with Poets and Murder, which was issued in the United States in 1973 as The Fox-Magic Murders. The stories are set across Dee's postings between the years 663 and 681, so readers often follow that internal chronology rather than publication order.
Frequently asked questions
What order should I read the Van Gulik's Judge Dee series books in?
Start with The Chinese Maze Murders (1951), then The Chinese Bell Murders and The Chinese Gold Murders. The full list on this page gives every book in order with its first edition year.
How many Van Gulik's Judge Dee series books are there?
We list 16 books in the Van Gulik's Judge Dee series series, from 1951 to 1968.
What is the first Van Gulik's Judge Dee series book?
The Chinese Maze Murders, first published in 1951, is the first book in the Van Gulik's Judge Dee series series.
Where these facts come from
- Judge Dee, Wikipedia (en.wikipedia.org)
- Robert van Gulik bibliography, Wikipedia (en.wikipedia.org)
- Robert van Gulik, Wikipedia (en.wikipedia.org)
Every fact on this page was checked against the sources listed. Checked 20 October 2026. Reviewed by Harriet Ellis; read how we check facts.
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