Robert van Gulik became famous twice. A world-famous orientalist and high-ranking diplomat, in the late 40s he decided to write his first detective story about Judge Dee. Van Gulik took advantage of the intricate plots of classical Chinese literature, which are not particularly common among Western authors. The success exceeded all expectations. The prototype of Judge Di was a real Chinese official who lived in the 7th century, famous for solving many mysterious crimes and becoming the hero of medieval Chinese crime stories. As in these stories, Van Gulik's hero is faced with a wide variety of mysteries. The first volume includes the stories "The Haunted Monastery", "Murder on Crescent Street" and "Four Fingers". The action of the stories "The Haunted Monastery", "Murder on the Street Crescent" takes place in Buddhist and Taoist monasteries and temples, which gives the story a special exoticism. What or who is the cause of the tragedies that have unfolded - evil people or otherworldly forces? The story “Four Fingers” is one of the first, but also one of the most famous detective stories by van Gulik.