The Perfumed Sleeve - New Sano Ichiro Novel by L. J. Rowland

[Steve Hubbell]

The newest novel in the Sano Ichiro Series has been released and is now in stores...

The Perfumed Sleeve
by Laura Joh Rowland
List Price: $24.95
Hardcover: 336 pages ; Dimensions (in inches): 1.10 x 9.38 x 6.38
Publisher: St. Martin's Minotaur; 1st edition (April 6, 2004)
ISBN: 0312318898

November 1694. The streets of Edo are erupting in violence as two factions struggle for control over the ruling Tokugawa regime. One is led by the shogun's cousin, Lord Matsudaira, and the other by the shogun's second-in-command, Chamberlain Yanagisawa. Each side pressures Sano Ichiro, the shogun's most honorable investigator, to join its ranks.

When one of the shogun's most trusted advisers is found dead, Sano is forced to honor a posthumous request for a murder investigation. Senior Elder Makino believed that his death would be the result of assassination rather than natural causes. Although he and Sano were bitter enemies, Makino knew that the incorruptible Sano would be duty-bound to oblige his final wish.
Under the watchful eyes and thinly veiled threats of both Lord Matsudaira and Chamberlain Yanagisawa, Sano moves with caution. Each is eager to implicate the other in Makino's death. Sano must discover whether the death was indeed murder, and if so, whether it was motivated by politics, love, or sex. The discovery of secret alliances, both romantic and military, further complicates matters. Sano's investigation has barely begun when violent death claims another of the shogun's favorites.

With his wife, Reiko, working undercover, Sano and his chief retainer, Hirata, must not only investigate multiple deaths, but stem the tide of an impending civil war.

Sano Ichiro Series
1. Shinju
2. Bundori
3. The Way of the Traitor
4. The Concubine's Tattoo
5. The Samurai's Wife
6. Black Lotus
7. The Pillow Book of Lady Wisteria
8. The Dragon King's Palace

Short Stories
1. The Iron Fan
Chronicles of Crime: The Second Ellis Peters Memorial Anthology of Historical Crime, ed. Maxim Jakubowski, Headline 1999

2. Mizu-Age
Crime Through Time II, ed. Miriam Grace Monfredo & Sharan Newman, Berkley 1998

3. Onnagata
More Murder, They Wrote, ed. Elizabeth Foxwell & Martin H. Greenberg, Boulevard Books 1999

[Akahige]

She's a pretty good writer. My favorites of hers are The Samurai's Wife (a murder mystery in the Imperial Court in Kyoto) and The Way of the Traitor (takes place in Nagasaki). Pretty well-written mysteries, though I felt the last couple were too soap-opera-ish.

[steven hubbell]

There are so few novels set in fuedal Japan that I decided that I wont be overly critical of the aspects of the books I did not find perfectly suited to my tastes. i.e. Yes, Laura Joh Rowland's books are kind of soap opera-ish were the relationship between Sano Ichiro and his wife (and family) are concerned and / or descibed. As I said before, I accept the books as they are written because they ARE good and there are few others out there.

Speaking of the few others... this one should be out any day now...

In Darkness, Death
by Dorothy and Thomas Hoobler

Hardcover: 208 pages
Publisher: Philomel Books; (March 2004)
ISBN: 0399237674

Samurai Lord Inaba has been murdered in his sleep. To make matters worse, the crime took place under the protective eye of the Shogun himself. This is a case for Judge Ooka, Japan’s own real-life Sherlock Holmes. And, of course, for his 14-year-old apprentice, Seikei. Their only clue—a bloodstained origami butterfly—leads them on a journey filled with mysterious shape-shifting ninjas, vengeful peasants, and a power-hungry killer you might never suspect. If Seikei is to help solve this crime, he must first survive.

Edgar Award finalists Dorothy and Thomas Hoobler drench this story with drama and suspense in this, their third mystery featuring the famous magistrate Ooka and his young samurai apprentice.

Judge Ooka Series
1. The Ghost in the Tokaido Inn
2. The Demon in the Teahouse

Abayo...