One thing about Judge Dee - he knows whodunnit. And you know what, it is NEVER the obvious one. Vampires are a sneaky bunch and it makes sense that to judge a Vampire you have to be Chief Whip of sneaking and trickery.

Jonathan is not long for this world. He seems to be deteriorating emotionally and he has less interest in what his master is called to do. Understandable, he is human, always on the road, communicating with one being that is not human and at times going without food for days. Jonathan's key role is basically to be a sounding board for Judge Dee (not that he is really necessary to the case-solving process which he seems to be realizing) yet he was literally just an echo chamber in this book : yes master, yes master, yes master. And dont get me started on his slobbery- on this, I could totally understand if Judge Dee wanted to throw him off a cliff.

The case was bound to be interesting, 3 potential killers all confess but who is the real killer.