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Bundori (Paperback)
Laura Joh Rowland
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R318
R261
Discovery Miles 2 610
Save R57 (18%)
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Ships in 9 - 15 working days
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Brutal murders linked to an ancient betrayal send late 17th-century
Tokyo into a panic. They also spell big trouble for the Shogun's
special investigator, Sano Ichiro, in this sequel to Rowland's
first novel, Shinju. The killings are made known when the severed
heads of the victims are put on public display, in the manner of an
ancient custom known as bundori, or war trophy. The victims are
descendants of warriors who, more than a century earlier, were
involved in the murder of a powerful warlord. As the killings
continue, Sano, though hampered in his investigation by his
devotion to the warrior-code of bushido and its precepts of silent
obedience and service, suspects three of the most powerful men in
the Shogunate, including Chamberlain Yanagisawa. Also complicating
Sano's quest for the truth is a female ninja in Yanagisawa's power;
aiding it are an eager young officer in the Tokyo police and a
quirky old morgue attendant.
The year is 1888 and Jack the Ripper begins his reign of terror.
Miss Sarah Bain, a photographer in Whitechapel, is an independent
woman with dark secrets. In the privacy of her studio, she
supplements her meager income by taking illicit "boudoir
photographs" of the town's local ladies of the night. But when two
of her models are found gruesomely murdered within weeks of one
another, Sarah begins to suspect it's more than mere coincidence.
Teamed with a motley crew of friends--including a street urchin, a
gay aristocrat, a Jewish butcher and his wife, and a beautiful
young actress--Sarah delves into the crime of the century. But just
as she starts unlocking the Ripper's secrets, she catches the
attention of the local police, who believe she knows more than
she's revealing, as well as from the Ripper himself, now bent on
silencing her and her friends for good. Caught in the crosshairs of
a ruthless killer, Sarah races through Whitechapel's darkest alleys
to find the truth...until she makes a shocking discovery that
challenges everything she thought she knew about the case.
Intelligent, original, and utterly engrossing, Laura Joh Rowland's
Victorian mystery The Ripper's Shadow will keep readers up through
the late hours of the night.
In the wake of a terrifying earthquake, Sano Ichir No. races to
solve a crime that could bring down the shogun's regimeJapan, 1703.
A devastating earthquake has left the city of Edo in shambles -
even the shogun's carefully regulated court is teetering on the
brink of chaos. This is no time for a murder investigation. But
when Sano discovers the bodies of two young sisters buried beneath
the rubble, he suspects that incense poisoning, not the earthquake,
killed them. Worse yet, their father, a powerful nobleman,
threatens to topple the vulnerable regime unless Sano agrees to
track down his daughters' killer. With the help of his wife, Reiko,
and his chief retainer, Hirata, Sano begins a secret investigation
that jeopardizes his whole family. And with Hirata mysteriously
neglecting his duties and an old foe plotting to overthrow Sano and
the shogun himself, the shockwaves from the earthquake are only the
beginning.
Sano Ichiro, the Shogun's Most Honorable Investigator of Events,
Situations, and People, has his doubts about the partnership that
he and his spirited new wife, Reiko, have forged: While he can't
help recognizing that her help on his cases can be invaluable, he
sometimes longs for a more traditional wife. Still, when a botched
case and the resulting loss of face send Sano to the Imperial city
to find a killer whose methods are as terrifying as they are
elusive, Sano needs the talents of his wife more than ever to
inflitrate the emperor's inner circle. Rowland's series "positively
smokes with historical atmospherics" ("Publishers Weekly"), and THE
SAMURAI'S WIFE is her most intricate and compelling novel to
date.
Japan, 1703. On a snowy night, forty-seven fiercely determined
warriors murder the man at the centre of the scandal that turned
them from samurai into masterless r No. nin two years before.
Clearly this was an act of revenge - but why did they wait so long?
And is there any reason they should not immediately be ordered to
commit ritual suicide? Sano Ichir No., demoted from Chamberlain to
his old post as Most Honourable Investigator of Events, Situations,
and People, has mere days to solve the greatest mystery of samurai
legend - while his own fortunes hang in the balance.
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, Reiko--who once
suffered through the kidnapping of their own son--to find her
before it is too late. "Publishers Weekly" calls Laura Joh
Rowland's "The Cloud Pavilion ""One of the best mysteries of the
year."
Japan, March 1700. The strife between Sano Ichiro, the samurai
detective who has risen to power in the shogun's court, and his
enemies has escalated to the brink of war.
When a long-buried skeleton with mysterious links to the shogun
suddenly comes to light, Sano and his wife, Reiko, who defies
social conventions by joining in his investigations, must confront
dangerous secrets. What was Sano's own mother doing on the night
when a burning kimono ignited a blaze that nearly destroyed the
city? The shogun gives Sano and Reiko just three days to find
out--or risk losing not only their position at court but their
families' lives.
"The Fire Kimono" is another dazzling historical mystery from
Laura Joh Rowland.
July 1698. Sano Ichiro, the samurai detective who has risen to
become the shogun's second-in-command, is investigating rumors of a
plot to overthrow the ruling regime. When the investigation brings
Sano's deputy Hirata to Lord Mori's estate, he is shocked to find
Lord Mori murdered and grotesquely mutilated in his own bed, and
Sano's pregnant wife, Reiko, lying beside him. The only solid clue
is a chrysanthemum soaked in blood.
Reiko's account of her actions is anything but solid. She insists
that she went undercover to Lord Mori's estate in order to
investigate claims that he molested and murdered young boys. But
when Sano inspects the crime scene, he finds no trace of what Reiko
described. And every other witness tells a different story: Lady
Mori alleges that Reiko was Lord Mori's scorned mistress and
murdered him for revenge. And Lord Mori himself, speaking through a
medium, claims his murder was part of Sano's plot to overthrow the
shogun
Unless Sano can prove his wife's unlikely claims, both he and
Reiko--and their unborn child--face execution for treason. Sano
fights desperately to save his family and his honor, as Laura Joh
Rowland draws on the tradition of the classic film "Rashomon" to
bring us a masterful tale of intrigue and treachery.
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 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 his long time
rival, Edo's Chief Police Commissioner Hoshina, also hinder Sano 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. Once again, "an exotic setting,
seventeenth-century Japan, and a splendid mystery...make for grand
entertainment" ("New York Daily News").
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Black Lotus (Paperback)
Laura Joh Rowland
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R630
R526
Discovery Miles 5 260
Save R104 (17%)
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Ships in 10 - 15 working days
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In September of 1693, the Black Lotus Temple, spiritual center for
hundreds of Buddhist nuns, monks, priests, and orphans, is burned
to the ground leaving three dead and one orphan running for cover.
Veteran samurai-detective Sano Ichiro, the Most Honorable
Investigator of Events, Situations and People, is called on to
investigate the incident. He quickly discovers that despite
appearances, the victims did not die in the fire: they were
brutally murdered before the fire even began.
With a triple homicide on his hands, Sano's search for a killer
leads him to Haru, the orphan girl found at the scene of the crime.
But Sano's wife Reiko, investigating the case against Sano's
wishes, is convinced of Haru's innocence. Reiko's investigation
leads her behind the walls of the Black Lotus Temple. It is within
these walls that she discovers a sect involved in extortion,
prostitution, and hedonistic rituals. Could one of the sect's
members be the killer? Will Reiko risk her marriage to Sano in
order to prove Haru's innocence?
Set in the luscious finery of the samurai court of medieval Japan,
this latest installment in the best-selling series by Laura Joh
Rowland, is filled with shocking surprises and suspense as readers
are once again allowed access into the world of Sano Ichiro.
Japan, 1704. In an elegant mansion a young woman named Tsuruhime
lies on her deathbed, attended by her nurse. Smallpox pustules
cover her face. Incense burns, to banish the evil spirits of
disease. After Tsuruhime takes her last breath, the old woman
watching from the doorway says, "Who's going to tell the Shogun his
daughter is dead?"
The death of the Shogun's daughter has immediate consequences on
his regime. There will be no grandchild to leave the kingdom. Faced
with his own mortality and beset by troubles caused by the recent
earthquake, he names as his heir Yoshisato, the seventeen-year-old
son he only recently discovered was his. Until five months ago,
Yoshisato was raised as the illegitimate son of Yanagisawa, the
shogun's favorite advisor. Yanagisawa is also the longtime enemy of
Sano Ichiro.
Sano doubts that Yoshisato is really the Shogun's son, believing
it's more likely a power-play by Yanagisawa. When Sano learns that
Tsuruhime's death may have been a murder, he sets off on a
dangerous investigation that leads to more death and destruction as
he struggles to keep his pregnant wife, Reiko, and his son safe.
Instead, he and his family become the accused. And this time, they
may not survive the day. Laura Joh Rowland's thrilling series set
in Feudal Japan is as gripping and entertaining as ever.
Japan, 1709. The shogun is old and ailing. Amid the
ever-treacherous intrigue in the court, Sano lchiro has been
demoted from Chamberlain to a lowly patrol guard. His relationship
with his wife Reiko is in tatters, and a bizarre new alliance
between his two enemies Yanagisawa and Lord lenobu has left him
puzzled and wary. Sano's onetime friend Hirata is a reluctant
conspirator in a plot against the ruling regime. Yet, Sano's
dedication to the Way of the Warrior-the samurai code of honor - is
undiminished. Then a harrowing, almost inconceivable crime takes
place. In his own palace, the shogun is stabbed with a fan made of
painted silk with sharp-pointed iron ribs. Sano is restored to the
rank of chief investigator to find the culprit. This is the most
significant, and most dangerous, investigation of his career. If
the shogun's heir is displeased, he will have Sano and his family
put to death without waiting for the shogun's permission, then
worry about the consequences later. And Sano has enemies of his
own, as well as unexpected allies. As the previously unimaginable
death of the shogun seems ever more possible, Sano finds himself at
the center of warring forces that threaten not only his own family
but Japan itself. Riveting and richly imagined, with a magnificent
sense of time and place, The Iris Fan is the triumphant conclusion
to Laura Joh Rowland's brilliant series of thrillers set in feudal
Japan.
A fortress in the sky... Japan, 1701. A woman is brutally attacked
within a bamboo prison as clouds swirl around her head. Meanwhile,
at Edo Castle, samurai detective turned chamberlain Sano Ichiro is
suspicious of his old rival, Yanagisawa, who has been oddly
cooperative since his return 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 - who once suffered through the kidnapping of their own son -
to find her before it is too late.
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