The Judge Dee and Lao She mysteries - The Railway Conspiracy

Judge Dee and Lao She must use all their powers of deduction-and kung fu skills-to take down a sinister conspiracy among Imperial Russia, Japan, and China in a rollicking new mystery set in 1920s London.

London, 1924. Following several months abroad, Judge Dee Ren Jie has returned to the city to foil a transaction between a Russian diplomat and a Japanese mercenary. Aided by Lao She-the Watson to his Holmes-along with several other colorful characters, Dee stops the illicit sale of an extremely valuable "dragon-taming" mace.

The mace's owner is a Chinese businesswoman who thanks Dee for its retrieval by throwing a lavish dinner party. In attendance is British banking official A. G. Stephen, who argues with the group about the tenuous state of Chinese nationalism-and is poisoned two days later. Dee knows this cannot be a coincidence, and suspects Stephen won't be the only victim. Sure enough, a young Chinese communist of Lao's acquaintance is killed not long after-and a note with a strange symbol is found by his body.

What could connect these murders? Could it be related to rumors of a conspiracy regarding the Chinese Eastern Railway? It is once again all on the unlikely crime-solving duo of Dee and Lao to crack the case before anyone else ends up tied to the rails.