Revenge from Beyond is a gripping detective story set in Ancient China. It has a full cast of personalities and a mixture of motivations: a beautiful widow, an upright but inexperienced magistrate, a disaffected son, an advisor to the Emperor, and an active group of towns-people anxious to make their living in peace. It includes authentic details of ancient laws, court practices and judicial punishments. Struggling against his own inexperience as a judge, the protagonist, Judge Quan, succeeds in solving a very difficult case, involving an attractive (and hostile) widow and the son of the Chinese Emperor"s principal adviser. The judge"s work is made particularly difficult by the prejudices of the local population.