Edo, Japan has just been rocked by a devastating earthquake and tsunami which has killed thousands and destroyed most of the cities in the region. Sano Ichiro is responsible for heading up the recovery efforts and finding housing, food and building materials in the few remaining unburned city ruins. It seems an impossible task, and Sano is exhausted from the constant efforts to keep up with the demands of the shogun, but he and his bodyguards feel compelled to help a group of townspeople they come across searching for bodies of their neighbors. They find three women, but it is soon evident that these three are not victims of the earthquake, but of foul play in Laura Joh Rowland's latest Sano Ichiro mystery The Incense Game (#245). Did I mention that this all takes place in 1703?
This grim discovery draws Chamberlain Sano deeper and deeper into a nightmare as he struggles to conduct an investigation in which failure could mean death for him and his family from one of the feudal lords he had always thought an ally, while displeasing the shogun could bring the same results.
This is a crackerjack mystery, and number 19 in this atmospheric series set in the feudal Japan of shoguns and samurais featuring Sano Ichiro and his indomitable and resourceful wife Reiko. Twist after twist will keep you guessing until the very last page. This murder mystery is solved, but there are political consequences for the future that you know will have to be dealt with. Sano is grateful he and his family have survived this crisis, but with a shift in alliances, the future is looking very uncertain...
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