{"product_id":"book-11bp","title":"The Phantom of the Temple","description":"\u003cp\u003e\u003cb\u003eAn eerie tale, combining investigation, horror and surprise, Robert van Gulik's latest Chinese detective story is set in a remote western border province of the mighty Tang empire.\u003c\/b\u003e\u003c\/p\u003e\u003cp\u003e\u003c\/p\u003e\u003cp\u003eThere, in the district of Lan-fang, separated from the vast Tartar steppes of Central Asia by only a boundary river, Judge Dee faces and solves one of the most frightening cases of his long career.\u003c\/p\u003e\u003cp\u003e\u003c\/p\u003e\u003cp\u003eOutside the east city gate, on a wooded hill, stood a centuries-old Buddhist temple. It was there that the phantom stalked; and there also a series of brutal murders were committed. Judge Dee's inquiry into them is complicated by a mysterious dying message from a young girl and by the theft of a large sum in gold from an imperial treasurer.\u003c\/p\u003e\u003cp\u003e\u003c\/p\u003e\u003cp\u003eJudge Dee presided over his imperial Chinese court with a unique brand of Confucian justice. A near mythic figure in China, he distinguished himself as a tribunal magistrate, inquisitor, and public avenger. Long after his death, accounts of his exploits were celebrated in Chinese folklore, and later immortalized by Robert van Gulik in his electrifying mysteries.\u003c\/p\u003e\u003cp\u003e\u003c\/p\u003e\u003cp\u003e\"Judge Dee belongs in that select group of fictional detectives headed by the renowned Sherlock Holmes. I assure you it is a compliment not given frivolously.\"\u003c\/p\u003e\u003cp\u003e—Robert Kirsch, \u003ci\u003eLos Angeles Times\u003c\/i\u003e\u003c\/p\u003e\u003cp\u003e\u003c\/p\u003e\u003cp\u003eThis audiobook is expertly read by Peter Kim, with audio engineering by Sam Platt. It was produced and published by Echo Point Books \u0026amp; Media, an independent bookseller in Brattleboro, Vermont.\u003c\/p\u003e","brand":"Dreamscape","offers":[{"title":"Audiobook","offer_id":50572272075056,"sku":"BD11bp","price":24.99,"currency_code":"USD","in_stock":true}],"thumbnail_url":"\/\/cdn.shopify.com\/s\/files\/1\/0879\/2784\/9264\/files\/11bp-Square-cover.jpg?v=1769776083","url":"https:\/\/downpour.com\/products\/book-11bp","provider":"Downpour","version":"1.0","type":"link"}