I think I prefer short stories when it comes to mysteries: they are concise and to the point. And despite their briefness, every one of them tells us something about the main character. In this, Robert Van Gulik's stories are very similar to Arthur Conan Doyle's. For example, in "He Came with the Rain", we find out how Dee married his third wife. In "The Red Tape Murders", we see what a pedant Dee is and how little patience he has with disorderly, stupid people. In "Murder on New Year's Eve", it's shown that even Dee can jump to conclusions. A lovely collection.