Bernie Gunther vs Van Gulik's Judge Dee series
Two detective fiction series side by side, straight from the catalog data: Van Gulik's Judge Dee series is the longer series (13 books vs 9 books); Bernie Gunther is the more recent one, starting in 2006. There's no wrong answer — pick the shape that fits your reading appetite, and Shelfmark will keep your place in either (no account needed).
| Statistic | Bernie Gunther | Van Gulik's Judge Dee series |
|---|---|---|
| Author | Philip Kerr | Robert van Gulik |
| Books | 9 | 13 |
| Published | 2006–2019 | 1951–1968 |
| Books per year | 0.7 | 0.8 |
| Start with | The One From the Other (2006) | The Chinese Maze Murders (1951) |
| Reading order | Full Bernie Gunther order → | Full Van Gulik's Judge Dee series order → |
Numbers come from the Shelfmark catalog (Wikidata + Open Library). "Books per year" is catalogued books divided by the publication span — a rough cadence, not a quality score.