Title: The Concubine's Tattoo
Author(s): Laura Joh Rowland
Language: English
Publisher: Macmillan
Extension: EPUB
Size: 344 KB
Subjects: General, Fiction, Mystery & Detective, Historical, Japan, Sano; Ichirō (Fictitious character)
From Publishers Weekly
Rowland once again delivers a mystery laden with details of period and place, with strong portrayals of palace intrigue in 17th-century Japan. Sano Ichiro has risen to the rank of Most Honorable Investigator for the shogun in 1690 Japan. As his fourth adventure (after 1997's The Way of the Traitor) begins, he is marrying the beautiful Lady Ueda Reiko. The wedding is interrupted by the sudden death of Hamune, one of the shogun's concubines, the victim of poisoned ink that Hamune used to give herself an intimate tattoo. Sano's investigation requires extraordinary skill and care, for failure in a case involving the shogun's household could mean his death. Suspects include Yanagisawa, Sano's bitter rival for the shogun's favor; a young officer who loved Harume; and other concubines who had much to lose as Harume gained the shogun's affections. Meanwhile, Reiko rebels against the submissive role of Japanese wife and insists on helping in the investigation. The book suffers, as Rowland's previous novels have, from a common hazard of historical mysteries: the pace is weighed down by the very details with which the author so painstakingly bedecks her narrative. Even so, Rowland's understanding of the society she depicts shines through, and she succeeds in presenting Sano as an intriguing combination of wiliness and decency, making this a good bet for fans of historicals as well as of mysteries past.
Copyright 1998 Reed Business Information, Inc.
From Library Journal
When a 17th-century shogun's favorite concubine suddenly dies, it falls to his chief investigator, Sano Ichiro, to discover how and why. Sano must interrupt his plans for a honeymoon; contend with an educated, wayward, and sleuthing wife; foil the wily machinations of his evil arch-nemesis (second-in-command to and longtime lover of the shogun); and still keep peace with his pusillanimous employer. A fascinating, well-researched, and action-filled costume adventure, perhaps even better than Rowland's The Way of the Traitor. (LJ 5/1/97).
Copyright 1998 Reed Business Information, Inc.
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