The Strange Cases of Magistrate Pao: Chinese Tales of Crime and Detection

The Strange Cases of Magistrate Pao is an engrossing collection of six of Magistrate Pao's cases. They are traditional Chinese detective stories in the tradition of the 'Judge Dee' stories of the late Robert van Gulik, who was a friend of author Leon Comber. Through them you are led into the fascinating world of old China. Imagine yourself sitting in an expectant crowd around a storyteller in a public market, which used to happen, too, in past times in Singapore and Malaysia before the days of television. It is dusk, the storyteller is reading from an old book he has in his hand by the light of a flickering hurricane lamp.