The Ravens of Ghost Perch Manor

In 1928, I received a commission from Ghost Perch Manor in Xiaoshan, Zhejiang.

But written in blood on the back of the letter was the warning: “The first to be decapitated will be the person singing The Peony Pavilion tonight.”

Only after I arrived did I discover that the famous actress dressed as Du Liniang for the banquet had indeed been beheaded in the west wing, whose door was locked from the inside.

Over the next seven days, bodies kept appearing in this manor that blended Chinese and Western styles:

The young master drowned at the bottom of the lotus pond, with the family genealogy stolen from his study floating on the surface.

The master was found dead in the cellar with a key stuck in his chest. Outside the door were three cast-iron bolts, locked from within.

As the “ghost” of the Fourth Concubine returned to the mourning hall in full view of everyone, the female detective Mei Ruohua, newly returned from studying abroad, suddenly pushed open the doors:

“The play is over. That threatening letter was a challenge from the victim to me all along.”