The Red Pavilion (Judge Dee Series)

Three fiendish murders challenge the beloved detective Judge Dee, whom the Los Angeles Times ranked with Sherlock Holmes

A chance encounter with Autumn Moon, the most powerful courtesan on Paradise Island, leads Judge Dee to investigate three deaths. Although he finally teases the true story from a tangled history of passion and betrayal, Dee is saddened by the perversion, corruption, and waste of the world "of flowers and willows" that thrives on prostitution.