The Concubine's Tattoo

(Paperback)

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Description

Amid the political machinations of feudal Japan, Sano faces a daunting, complex investigation.

Twenty months spent as the shogun's most honourable investigator of events, situations and people have left Sano weary. He looks forward to the comforts of his arranged marriage and month's holiday to celebrate the union with his new wife. However, the death of the shogun's favourite concubine interrupts the couple's wedding ceremony as Sano is recalled to perform his duty.

After Sano traces the cause of Lady Harume's death to a self-inflicted tattoo, his must travel into the cloistered world of the shogun's women to untangle the complicated web of Harume's lovers, rivals and troubled past, and identify her killer.

Reviews

Positively smokes with historical atmospherics. - Publishers Weekly

Exotic and beguiling. a tour de force of imagination.

Impressive ... An eerie Japanese echo of Presumed Innocent. - Kirkus Reviews

Like Umberto Eco's The Name of the Rose, Rowland's novel is an excellent whodunit. - Booklist

Rowland's understanding of the society she depicts shines through... making this a good bet for fans of historicals as well as of mysteries. - Publishers Weekly

Author Bio

Laura Joh Rowland came to writing by accident, having first gained a degree in microbiology and a masters in public health, and then working as a chemist and microbiologist. She is the author of more than a dozen acclaimed murder mysteries, particularly the Sano Ichiro series set in feudal Japan and featuring samurai detective Sano Ichiro. The granddaughter of Chinese and Korean immigrants, Laura Joh Rowland grew up in Michigan and now lives in New Orleans.