Books in the Sano Ichiro Novels series

A compelling murder mystery set in seventeenth-century Japan, filled with finely drawn characters and suspenseful plot twists, Laura Joh Rowland's The Samurai's Wife is a novel as complex, vivid, and artful as the glorious, lost world it portrays. Far from the Shogun's court at Edo, Most Honorable Investigator Sano Ichiro begins the most challenging case of his career. Upon the insistence of his strong-willed and beautiful wife Reiko, Sano arrives with her at the emperor's palace to unmask the murderer--who possesses the secret of kiai, "the spirit city," a powerful scream that can kill instantly. A high Kyoto official is the victim. Treading carefully through a web of spies, political intrigue, forbidden passions, and intricate plots, Sano and Reiko must struggle to stay ahead of the palace storm--and outwit a cunning killer. But as they soon discover, solving the case means more than their survival. For if they fail, Japan could be consumed in the bloodiest war it has ever seen...

Publishers Weekly calls Laura Joh Rowland''s The Cloud Pavilion "One of the best mysteries of the year." In this next installment of the enthralling series, samurai hero Sano Ichiro must mend old family fissures, and bring a culprit who has disgraced his cousin to justice. Japan, 1701. A terrified woman is brutally attacked amid a swirling storm of clouds. Meanwhile, at Edo Castle, samurai detective turned chamberlain, Sano Ichiro, is suspicious of his old rival, Yanagisawa, who has been oddly cooperative since returning from exile. But just as Yanagisawa''s true motives begin to emerge, Sano''s estranged uncle comes to him for help: His daughter has disappeared, and he begs Sano and his wife, ReikoΓÇöwho once suffered through the kidnapping of their own sonΓÇöto find her before it is too late.