Professor Quinn was obnoxious, to say the least. But who disliked him enough to poison his coffee? And how did the murderer put the poison in the Professor's cup without anyone seeing it happen? These are just a few of the questions New York City Police Lieutenant Sigrid Harald must answer in order to solve the mystery.

Who would kill to uncover the secret of a small statuette of a Chinese goddess, the goddess of the green shiver?

Judge Dee expected a relaxing few days off when he arrived in Rivertown on his way home. What he found instead was a gruesome murder, the theft of a pearl necklace, and a court intrigue that threatened the foundation of the Chinese empire.