Sherlockian crime set in early 20th century London, packed with action and martial arts elements, this is the first book in a series featuring the daring Judge Dee Ren Jie and his shy, academic sidekick Lao She.

For fans of Guy Ritchie' s Sherlock Holmes films, this stunning, swashbuckling series opener by a powerhouse duo of authors is at once comfortingly familiar and tantalisingly new.

Two unlikely allies race through the cobbled streets of 1920s London in search of a killer targeting Chinese immigrants.

London, 1924. When shy academic Lao She meets larger-than-life Judge Dee Ren Jie, his life abruptly turns from books and lectures to daring chases and narrow escapes. Dee has come to London to investigate the murder of a man he' d known during World War I when serving with the Chinese Labour Corps. No sooner has Dee interviewed the grieving widow than another dead body turns up. Then another. All stabbed to death with a butterfly sword. Will Dee and Lao be able to connect the threads of the murders - or are they next in line as victims?

John Shen Yen Nee and S. J. Rozan' s groundbreaking collaboration blends traditional gong' an crime fiction and the most iconic aspects of the Sherlock Holmes canon. Dee and Lao encounter the aristocracy and the street-child telegraph, churchmen and thieves in this clever, cinematic mystery that' s as thrilling and visual as an action film, as imaginative and transporting as a timeless classic.