Samurai sleuth Sano Ichiro has a very personal motive in determining who killed the shogun's heir apparent with a hairpin: he's trying to save himself from being executed for the crime.

The Pillow Book of Lady Wisteria introduces readers into Yoshiwara, the well-ordered but cruel pleasure quarter of 17th-century Edo (Tokyo), where the corpse of Lord Mitsuyoshi is found sprawled on a bed. The woman with whom he'd spent his final hours, a top-ranking courtesan known as Lady Wisteria, has disappeared, along with her private journal, which might supply clues to her complicity in this slaying. In the absence of both, and with the capricious old shogun ordering that Mitsuyoshi's family not be quizzed about his death, Sano is left to look for assassins among the courtesan's attendants and prominent clients. Meanwhile, Sano's enemies vie for credit in solving the murder (even if they must pin it on Sano), a woman's headless body is found wearing Wisteria's kimono, and Sano's amateur investigator wife, Reiko, threatens to discover the link between her samurai and the enigmatic prostitute.

Laura Joh Rowland cooks up wonderfully knotty plots. Yet it's her renderings of Sano's world--with its Machiavellian politics, exotic fashions, and hierarchical communities--that make her series particularly interesting. Although this seventh installment lacks the cinematic violence of its immediate predecessor, Black Lotus, it still makes you glad to be observing shogunate Japan from afar. --J. Kingston Pierce


From Publishers Weekly
Delicate prose and a plot full of the overtones and undercurrents that shade real life push Rowland's latest historical beyond the standard whodunit. In 17th-century Japan, Sano Ichiro the shogun's "Most Honorable Investigator of Events, Situations, and People" has had little time to recover from the disturbing events recounted in Black Lotus (2001) when he's called on to solve a murder of deep political consequence. The shogun's cousin and probable heir has been slain in the bedchamber of Lady Wisteria, a high-priced courtesan, who has gone missing. Every step Sano takes brings the possibility of personal ruin, as the shogun's favor is fickle and Sano has powerful, sly political enemies. Self-doubt and mistrust of others are souvenirs of the insidious black lotus case, which continually plagues Sano and those close to him; he doesn't have all of his emotional strength and his enemies are beginning to act more openly. When the murder case stalls, more subtle mysteries capture the reader's attention. How will Sano regain the upper hand against his enemies, or at least hold his ground? How will he get back in the shogun's good graces when all his suspects are being put to death for other crimes? Will he and his wife regain their trust of each other and themselves? All the animosity and fear in this seamless work is put forth in demure language that perfectly suits the culture Rowland portrays. This character- and atmosphere-driven work is sure to expand Rowland's already large fan base. Copyright 2002 Cahners Business Information, Inc.


From Library Journal
After the shogun's heir apparent is discovered murdered in the bed of a beautiful courtesan, Sano Ichiro, the shogun's investigator, must find the culprit. As he looks for the missing courtesan in the dangerous "pleasure quarter," Sano receives help (as usual) from his wife. Another satisfying visit to 17th-century Japan from the author of The Samurai's Wife. Copyright 2002 Reed Business Information, Inc.


From Booklist
Here's the seventh entry in Rowland's engaging historical series set in feudal Japan in 1693, when shoguns ruled the land and samurai were great and feared warriors. The detective, Sano Ichiro, a samurai himself, works directly for the shogun and carries this title: Most Honorable Investigator of Events, Situations, and People. The event he is called upon to investigate this time is the murder of the shogun's cousin and likely successor. Complicating matters is the fact that the last person known to have been with the victim, a high-class courtesan known as Lady Wisteria, has gone missing. And, just to complicate matters a little further, the murder weapon, a hairpin (the victim was stabbed through the eye), belongs to an employee of a brothel who witnessed the dead man and Lady Wisteria together. The mystery is sharp and suspenseful, but, as usual, it's the beautifully re-created feudal Japan--rich in detail but never overloaded with it--that captures our imagination. This series just keeps getting better and better. David Pitt
Copyright © American Library Association. All rights reserved


Review
"Like the big, sprawling novels of James Clavell, the Sano Ichiro mysteries are full of captivating detail, with lively characters and solid stories."
-Booklist

"Delicate prose and a plot full of the overtones and undercurrents that shade real life push Rowland's latest historical beyond the standard whodunit."
--Publishers Weekly



Review
"Like the big, sprawling novels of James Clavell, the Sano Ichiro mysteries are full of captivating detail, with lively characters and solid stories."
-Booklist

"Delicate prose and a plot full of the overtones and undercurrents that shade real life push Rowland's latest historical beyond the standard whodunit."
--Publishers Weekly



Review
"Like the big, sprawling novels of James Clavell, the Sano Ichiro mysteries are full of captivating detail, with lively characters and solid stories."
-Booklist

"Delicate prose and a plot full of the overtones and undercurrents that shade real life push Rowland's latest historical beyond the standard whodunit."
--Publishers Weekly



Book Description
In feudal Japan, passion and secrets lead to murder. . .

From A Remote, Exotic World. . .
Sano Ichiro, Most Honorable Investigator of Events, Situations, and People, awakens from a turbulent dream into a real-life nightmare. Lord Matsudaira Mitsuyoshi, the shogun's cousin and heir, has been murdered after a night of debauchery in the city's pleasure quarter...

Comes A Danger All Too Close To Home. . .
The matter requires Sano's personal attention-more personal than Sano at first imagines. For he soon discovers that Mitsuyoshi's companion for the evening was none other than the alluring Lady Wisteria, a woman whom Sano himself once knew intimately before he was married to his beloved wife, Reiko. But the memory of Wisteria still stirs him, and it is with both dismay and relief that he learns she has vanished along with her pillow book, a diary that may contain valuable clues. The circumstances trouble him, as does the possibility that he and Wisteria might meet again with dangerous consequences. . .



From the Back Cover
In feudal Japan, passion and secrets lead to murder. . .

From A Remote, Exotic World. . .
Sano Ichiro, Most Honorable Investigator of Events, Situations, and People, awakens from a turbulent dream into a real-life nightmare. Lord Matsudaira Mitsuyoshi, the shogun's cousin and heir, has been murdered after a night of debauchery in the city's pleasure quarter...

Comes A Danger All Too Close To Home. . .
The matter requires Sano's personal attention-more personal than Sano at first imagines. For he soon discovers that Mitsuyoshi's companion for the evening was none other than the alluring Lady Wisteria, a woman whom Sano himself once knew intimately before he was married to his beloved wife, Reiko. But the memory of Wisteria still stirs him, and it is with both dismay and relief that he learns she has vanished along with her pillow book, a diary that may contain valuable clues. The circumstances trouble him, as does the possibility that he and Wisteria might meet again with dangerous consequences. . .

"Like the big, sprawling novels of James Clavell, the Sano Ichiro mysteries are full of captivating detail, with lively characters and solid stories."
-Booklist

"Delicate prose and a plot full of the overtones and undercurrents that shade real life push Rowland's latest historical beyond the standard whodunit."
--Publishers Weekly



About the Author
Laura Joh Rowland is the granddaughter of Chinese and Korean immigrants. She grew up in Michigan and was educated at the University of Michigan, where she graduated with a B.S. in microbiology and a master's degree in public health. She lives in New Orleans with her husband, Marty, and their three cats. Her previous novels include Black Lotus, The Samurai's Wife, The Concubine's Tattoo, and Shinju, all of which feature the samurai-detective Sano Ichiro.

FROM THE PUBLISHER

"In the carefully ordered world of seventeenth-century Japan, the Yoshiwara pleasure quarter is a place where men of all classes can drink, revel, and enjoy the favors of the beautiful courtesans. But on a cold winter's dawn, Sano Ichiro - the shogun's Most Honorable Investigator of Events, Situations, and People - must visit Yoshiwara on a most unpleasant mission." "Within a house of assignation reserved for the wealthiest, most prominent men, a terrible murder has occurred. In a room that reeks of liquor and sex, the shogun's cousin and heir, Lord Mitsuyoshi, lies dead, a flowered hairpin embedded in his eye, in the bed of the famous courtesan, Lady Wisteria." The shogun demands quick justice, but Sano's path is blocked by many obstacles, including the disappearance of Wisteria and her pillow book, a diary that may contain clues. The politics of court life, the whims of the shogun, and interference by Sano's longtime rival, Edo's Chief Police Commissioner Hoshina, also hinder him in his search for the killer. Sano's wife, Lady Reiko, is eager to help him, but he fears what she may uncover. When suspicion of murder falls upon Sano himself, he must find the real murderer to solve the case and clear his name.

FROM THE CRITICS

Publishers Weekly

Delicate prose and a plot full of the overtones and undercurrents that shade real life push Rowland's latest historical beyond the standard whodunit. In 17th-century Japan, Sano Ichiro the shogun's "Most Honorable Investigator of Events, Situations, and People" has had little time to recover from the disturbing events recounted in Black Lotus (2001) when he's called on to solve a murder of deep political consequence. The shogun's cousin and probable heir has been slain in the bedchamber of Lady Wisteria, a high-priced courtesan, who has gone missing. Every step Sano takes brings the possibility of personal ruin, as the shogun's favor is fickle and Sano has powerful, sly political enemies. Self-doubt and mistrust of others are souvenirs of the insidious black lotus case, which continually plagues Sano and those close to him; he doesn't have all of his emotional strength and his enemies are beginning to act more openly. When the murder case stalls, more subtle mysteries capture the reader's attention. How will Sano regain the upper hand against his enemies, or at least hold his ground? How will he get back in the shogun's good graces when all his suspects are being put to death for other crimes? Will he and his wife regain their trust of each other and themselves? All the animosity and fear in this seamless work is put forth in demure language that perfectly suits the culture Rowland portrays. This character- and atmosphere-driven work is sure to expand Rowland's already large fan base. Regional author tour. (Apr. 15) Copyright 2002 Cahners Business Information.

Library Journal

After the shogun's heir apparent is discovered murdered in the bed of a beautiful courtesan, Sano Ichiro, the shogun's investigator, must find the culprit. As he looks for the missing courtesan in the dangerous "pleasure quarter," Sano receives help (as usual) from his wife. Another satisfying visit to 17th-century Japan from the author of The Samurai's Wife. Copyright 2002 Cahners Business Information.

Kirkus Reviews