Friday, September 20, 2013

HFVBT: The Shogun's Daughter by Laura Joh Rowland--Review #ShogunsDaughterTour


My thoughts
Who doesn't love a mystery? One with an historical setting...even better. Set in Feudal Japan, The Shogun's Daughter, brings us to the center of the political intrigue of the royal court. The mystery involves the death of the Shogun's daughter, seemingly from smallpox. We soon find out there are suspicions she was murdered.

I thought the ruthlessness of the royal courts in Medieval and Renaissance England was bad. Turns out, they have nothing on the Japanese royal courts. It seems no one can trust anyone and even those you think you trust turn against you for personal gain, in most cases. There are some who are loyal and honorable. The main characters of this book are in that group. As they seek the truth behind the murder of the Shogun's daughter and to topple the new regime who seek to place an impostor on the throne, they must also safeguard themselves against treachery and danger.

This book is the seventeenth installment in Rowland's Sano Ichiro series, but it reads quite well as a stand alone novel. I had no problem understanding the story. Rowland tells this story in such a way that I was transported and felt as if I was part of it. She brings Feudal Japan to life.

About THE SHOGUN'S DAUGHTER
Publication Date: September 17, 2013
Minotaur Books
Hardcover; 336p
ISBN-10: 1250028612

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.

Praise for Laura Joh Rowland

Author of The Fire Kimono, “one of the five best historical mystery novels”—The Wall Street Journal

“Rowland has a painter’s eye for the minutiae of court life, as well as a politician’s ear for intrigue.”—The New York Times Book Review

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


About the Author
Laura Joh Rowland is the author of a mystery series set in medieval Japan, featuring samurai detective Sano Ichiro. The Shogun’s Daughter is the seventeenth book in the series. Her work has been published in 13 foreign countries, nominated for the Anthony Award and the Hammett Prize, and won the RT Reviewer’s Choice Award for Best Historical Mystery. Laura lives in New York City.

For more information please visit Laura's website. You can also follow her on Facebook.


Visit other blogs on the tour--Tour Schedule
Twitter Hashtag: #ShogunsDaughterTour

Stop over and read about Laura Joh Rowland's adventures in research HERE.

Photobucket

Follow on Bloglovin

No comments:

Post a Comment

Thank you for visiting and taking the time to comment. It means so much.

I apologize for word verification, but as soon as I changed the settings from only users with Google accounts, I started receiving a ton of spam comments...within one hour of changing the settings. The bots are on high alert apparently.

- See more at: http://www.techtrickhome.com/2013/02/show-comment-box-above-comments-on.html#sthash.TjHz2Px9.dpuf