Sano Ichiro Series

In a novel with echoes of Noble House, The Alchemist, and Gorky Park, Japan’s preeminent detective-Samurai, Sano Ichiro, returns to risk his honor and life. In 1690 Nagasaki, Sano must crack his most sensitive case yet as he sets about to discover who killed a Dutch trader whose body has washed up on the shore of a small island famed for its "barbarians."

The sequel to the acclaimed novel Shinju again features detective Sano Ichiro as he trails a serial killer stalking feudal Japan. In 1689, an all-powerful shogun controls the state, surrounded by bitter machinations and political intrigues. When an ancient tradition suddenly and brutally reappears, Sano risks everything to bring the killer to justice.

“Bundori is terrific. . . . So good you won’t want to put it down, even to get off a plane. . . . [Laura Joh] Rowland hits her stride as a writer who can deal equally well with the pacing of plot and the nuances of character development. . . . Rowland clearly knows how to build suspense and action, a talent that she demonstrates with great skill.”—New Orleans Times-Picayune

“Bundori is one of those mysteries in which the itch to find out whodunit recedes before the pleasure of prowling through a different world.”—Washington Post Book World

 “Sano may carry a sword and wear a kimono, but you’ll immediately recognize him as an ancestor of Philip Marlowe or Sam Spade.”—Denver Post

“A colorful pictorial style that conveys . . . excitement and . . . danger.”—The New York Times Book Review

When beautiful, wealthy Yukiko and low-born artist Noriyoshi are found drowned together in a shinju, or ritual double suicide, everyone believes the culprit was forbidden love. Everyone but newly appointed yoriki Sano Ichiro.

Despite the official verdict and warnings from his superiors, the shogun’s Most Honorable Investigator of Events, Situations, and People suspects the deaths weren’t just a tragedy — they were murder. Risking his family’s good name and his own life, Sano will search for a killer across every level of society — determined to find answers to a mystery no one wants solved. No one but Sano…

As subtle and beautiful as the culture it evokes, Shinju vividly re-creates a world of ornate tearooms and guady pleasure-palaces, cloistered mountaintop convents and dealthy prisons.
Part love story, part myster, Shinju is a tour that will dazzle and entertain all who enter its world.

BONUS: This edition includes an excerpt from Laura Joh Rowland’s The Shogun’s Daughter.