# Eight Skilled Gentlemen

By Barry Hughart · The Chronicles of Master Li and Number Ten Ox, book 3

Profile: https://hahafiction.com/books/eight-skilled-gentlemen-6ae66155/

Master Li and Number Ten Ox investigate a mandarin's murder in a China filled with magic. A puppeteer and his shaman daughter join the inquiry as the case draws the pair into supernatural trouble.

## What makes it funny?

The Celestial Master gives Li a murder case while looking like its chief suspect himself. His account involves a fireball and a man turning into a crane. Number Ten Ox tells the increasingly strange story in the observant comic voice singled out by Publishers Weekly.

### The comedy at work

Hughart treats detective work as an excuse to send Li and Ox through Chinese folklore, with magical complications and quick jokes arriving in succession. Ghosts and demons keep enlarging the case well beyond the original murder.

### Try this if…

Li and Ox’s established partnership is the attraction here, along with a mystery crowded with folklore and supernatural incident. A taste for fast changes of direction matters more than a preference for orderly, realistic detection.

### Good to know

Critical responses differ on the balance of comedy and complication. Kirkus found the humor reduced and the plot overcomplicated; Speculiction enjoyed the imagination but found the uninterrupted pace tiring. That reviewer recommends starting with Bridge of Birds for the introduction to Li and Ox.

## What to expect

- Genre: Fantasy · Mystery
- On the shelf: Private eye & detective · Mythic fantasy
- Kind of humor: Dry wit
- Format: Novel
- Length: 264 pages

## Sources & further reading

- Publisher: [Eight Skilled Gentlemen by Barry Hughart | Penguin Random House](https://www.penguinrandomhouse.com/books/83942/eight-skilled-gentlemen-by-barry-hughart)
- Review: [Kirkus review](https://www.kirkusreviews.com/book-reviews/a/barry-hughart-2/eight-skilled-gentlemen-2)
- Review: [Publishers Weekly review](https://www.publishersweekly.com/9780385417099)
- Publisher: [Penguin Random House publisher edition](https://www.penguinrandomhouse.com/books/83942/eight-skilled-gentlemen-by-barry-hughart)
- Review: [Speculiction independent review](https://speculiction.blogspot.com/2023/02/review-of-eight-skilled-gentlemen-by.html)