The Murder of Mr Ma

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 (and aspiring novelist) Lao She meets larger-than-life, law-defying 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 by a butterfly sword. Will Dee and Lao be able to connect the threads of the murders—or are they next in line as victims?

Expertly blending fact and fiction, John Shen Yen Nee and SJ Rozan’s ground-breaking collaboration is based both on classical Chinese literature and all 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.