Laura Joh Rowland Books In Order

Shinju

When beautiful, wealthy Yukiko and low born artist Noriyoshi are found drowned together in a Shinju, or ritual double suicide, everyone believes the culprit was forbidden love. Everyone but newly appointed yoriki Sano Ichiro. Despite the official verdict and warnings from his superiors, the shogun’s Most Honorable Investigator of Events, Situations, and People suspects the deaths weren’t just a tragedy they were murder. Risking his family’s good name and his own life, Sano will search for a killer across every level of society determined to find answers to a mystery no one wants solved. No one but Sano…
As subtle and beautiful as the culture it evokes, Shinju vividly re creates a world of ornate tearooms and guady pleasure palaces, cloistered mountaintop convents and dealthy prisons. Part love story, part myster, Shinju is a tour that will dazzle and entertain all who enter its world.

Bundori

It is early spring, 1679, and the feudal Japanese capital, Edo, is beginning to blossom. But along its peaceful, misty streets evil lurks. With one stroke, the favored vassal of the ruling family is decapitated, his head taken for a Bundori a war trophy.
Sano Ichiro, the shogun’s Most Honorable Investigator of Events, Situations, and People, is called to find the culprit. In a city where danger and deceit lie just below the lush surface, Sano must rely on his mind, his instincts, and his noble training in Bushido the Way of the Warrior to solve this case that could bring him glory…
or everlasting shame. Set against a backdrop of sumptuous castles, tawdry pleasure districts, and serene temples, and filled with unforgettable, rich characters, Bundori is breathtaking entertainment.

The Way of the Traitor

A volatile, corrupt city threatened by toreign invasion and ru by an iron fisted government, Nagasaki is the last place Sano Ichiro wants to be, Unfortunately, the shogun’s Most Honorable Investigator of Events, Situations, and People has been banished there by a wicked adversary in the shogun’s court. Surrounded by spies, Sano must tread carefully. When the body of a Dutch trader washes ashore, he finds himself leading an investigation that could push Japan into war even as it thrusts his life into the hands of powerful enemies. Sano has to unmask a killer and prove his innocence, or his samurai head, and maybe his country, will fall.

The Concubine’s Tattoo

Twenty months spent as the shogun’s sosakan sama most honorable investigator of events, situations, and people has left Sano Ichiro weary. He looks forward to the comforts that his arranged marriage promises: a private life with a sweet, submissive wife and a month’s holiday to celebrate their union. However, the death of the shogun’s favorite concubine interrupts the couple’s wedding ceremony and shatters any hopes the samurai detective had about enjoying a little peace with his new wife. After Sano traces the cause of Lady Harume’s death to a self inflicted tattoo, he must travel into the cloistered, forbidden world of the shogun’s women to untangle the complicated web of Harume’s lovers, rivals, and troubled past, and identify her killer. To make matters worse, Reiko, his beautiful young bride, reveals herself to be not a traditional, obedient wife, but instead, a headstrong, intelligent, aspiring detective bent on helping Sano with his new case. Sano is horrified at her unladylike behavior, and the resulting sparks make their budding love as exciting as they mystery surrounding Lady Harume’s death. Amid the heightened tensions and political machinations of feudal Japan, Sano faces a daunting complex investigation.

The Samurai’s Wife

Far from the Shogun’s court at Edo, Most Honorable Investigator Sano Ichiro begins the most challenging case of his career. Upon the insistence of his strong willed and beautiful wife Reiko, Sano arrives with her at the emperor’s palace to unmask the murderer who possesses the secret of kiai, ‘the spirit city,’ a powerful scream that can kill instantly. A high Kyoto official is the victim. Treading carefully through a web of spies, political intrigue, forbidden passions, and intricate plots, Sano and Reiko must struggle to stay ahead of the palace storm and outwit a cunning killer. But as they soon discover, solving the case means more than their survival. For if they fail, Japan could be consumed in the bloodiest war it has ever seen…
A legendary land comes alive in this compelling murder mystery set in seventeenth century Japan. Filled with finely drawn characters and suspenseful plot twists, The Samurai’s Wife is a novel as complex, vivid, and artful as the glorious, lost world it portrays.

Black Lotus

When veteran samurai detective Sano Ichiro, the most Honorable Investigator of Events, Situations, and People, is called on to investigate the burning of a cottage belonging to the Black Lotus Temple, he makes a shocking discovery. The three victim of the blaze did not die in the fire, but 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, an 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, where she discovers a sect involved in extortion, prostitution, and hedonistic rituals. Could one of the sect’s members be the killer? Now Reiko must 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 bestselling series by Laura Joh Rowland is filled with shocking surprised and suspense as readers are once again allowed access into the world of Sano Ichiro.

The Pillow Book of Lady Wisteria

In the carefully ordered world of seventeenth century Japan, the Yoshiwara pleasure quarter is a place where men of all clas*ses 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. AUTHORBIO: Laura Joh Rowland, the granddaughter of Chinese and Korean immigrants, was educated at the University of Michigan and now lives in New Orleans with her husband. The Pillow Book of Lady Wisteria is the seventh in her widely acclaimed series featuring Sano Ichiro.

The Dragon King’s Palace

On a whim of the shogun’s mother, a procession has left the sweltering heat of Edo, bound for the cooler climate of Mount Fuji. Among her traveling companions are Reiko, the beautiful wife of Sano Ichiro, the shogun’s Most Honorable Investigator of Events, Situations, and People; Reiko’s friend Midori, nine months pregnant; and Lady Yanagisawa, the deranged wife of the shogun’s powerful second in command. None of them look forward to the trip. But their troubles have only begun when their procession is stopped suddenly on a deserted road. The entire retinue is viciously slaughtered and the four women are bound and taken away, imprisoned by a mysterious kidnapper. Sano now finds himself faced with the most important case of his career. The shogun demands quick action, and under the threat of death, Sano is forced to work with his bitter enemies Chamberlain Yanagisawa and Police Commissioner Hoshina. The delivery of a ransom note only complicates matters forcing both Sano and Reiko to take desperate measures.

The Perfumed Sleeve

Sano Ichiro, Most Honorable Investigator of Events, Situations, and People is faced with his most challenging case when he investigates the death of Senior Elder Makino, the shogun’s most trusted adviser. There is only one puzzling clue a torn, perfumed sleeve of a kimono. Under the watchful eyes of the shogun’s cousin, Lord Matsudaira, and the shogun’s second in command, Chamberlain Yanagisaw, Sano moves with caution. For each is eager to implicate the other in Makino’s death. But Sano must determine whether the death was indeed murder, and if so, whether it was motivated by politics, love, or sex. When a second violent death occurs, Sano is faced with several suspects, each with a compelling motive. Was it Agemaki, Makino’s stone faced second wife; Okitsu, his beautiful young concubine; Koheiji, his handsome male houseguest; or Tamura, his faithful retainer? Or was it a political assassination? With the help of his wife, Reiko, Sano must solve the murder as he discovers just how intertwined desire and danger really are…

The Assassin’s Touch

It is a lost art, passed down by the ancients in great secrecy: Dim mak. It is death, by the lightest touch of a finger. Sano Ichiro, tenuous in the new regime as the shogun’s second in command, does not have the luxury of skepticism?another senior official is dead, a fingerprint lightly glazed into his skin. Sano’s wife Reiko has an investigation of her own: a beautiful, proud, and hopelessly poor woman has confessed to murdering her family. Yet the pieces do not fit, and as Reiko looks deeper into the woman’s life as a hinin?a moral outcast, shunned by the world?inexplicable connections appear between her investigation and Sano’s. As Reiko’s questions spiral her further into the squalor of life as a hinin, Sano and Hirata?his most loyal samurai?pursure their prey, uncovering an intricate tapestry of betrayal woven into the highest levels of the new regime. But they are no match for the one who has mastered dim mak, a warrior who will strike all those who cross him or his path?even Reiko.

Red Chrysanthemum

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.

The Snow Empress

Japan, 1699. On a moonlit night in Ezogashima, the northernmost island of Japan, a woman is running through the forest when an arrow zooms out of the darkness to strike her dead. Meanwhile, a world away in the city of Edo, the eight year old son of Sano Ichiro, the samurai detective who has risen to power and influence in the shogun’s court, vanishes during a moon watching party.

When Sano s political rival, Lord Matsudaira, hints that the boy may be in Ezogashima, Sano s wife, Reiko, insists on accompanying him on the desperate journey. After an eleven day voyage through cold and treacherous waters, they arrive at Ezogashima, only to find that Lord Matsumae, distraught at the murder of his mistress, is holding the whole province hostage until someone confesses to the crime. No one is allowed in or out of Ezogashima, and although Matsumae tells Sano his son is there, he refuses to release him.

Sano strikes a deal: He will solve the murder of Matsumae s mistress if Lord Matsumae will free the hostages and return their son. Soon, however, he and Reiko find themselves caught up in a dangerous scheme that includes clan warfare, jealous husbands, and murderous betrayal.

The Fire Kimono

Japan, March 1700. Near a Shinto shrine in the hills, a windstorm knocks down a tree to uncover a human skeleton, long buried and forgotten. Meanwhile, in the nearby city of Edo, troops ambush and attack Lady Reiko, the wife of Sano Ichiro, the samurai detective who has risen to power and influence in the shogun’s court. The troops who attacked Reiko appear to belong to Sano s fiercest enemy, Lord Matsudaira, who denies all responsibility. But if the rivals are not to blame for each other s misfortune, who is?Just as Sano s strife with Matsudaira begins to escalate to the brink of war, the shogun orders Sano to investigate the origins of the mysterious skeleton, buried with swords that identify it as belonging to the shogun s cousin, who disappeared forty years earlier on the night that a cursed kimono touched off a fire that nearly destroyed the city. Suddenly, Sano and Reiko are forced to confront dangerous, long buried secrets that expose Sano s own mother as the possible culprit. The shogun gives Sano and Reiko just three days to clear her name or risk losing not only their position at court but their families lives.

The Cloud Pavilion

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 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 who once suffered through the kidnapping of their own son to find her before it is too late.

The Ronin’s Mistress

A brilliant new twist on the fabled tale of the 47 Ronin, from an author with ‘a painter’s eye for the minutiae of court life and a politican’s ear for intrigue.’ The New York Times Book ReviewJapan, 1703. On a snowy night, 47 warriors murder the man at the center of the scandal that turned them from samurai into masterless ronin 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 Ichiro, demoted from Chamberlain to his old post as Most Honorable 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.

The Secret Adventures of Charlotte Brontë

Upon learning that she has been falsely accused of breaching her publishing contract, the normally mild mannered Charlotte Bront sets off for London to clear her name. But when she unintentionally witnesses a murder, Charlotte finds herself embroiled in a dangerous chain of events. With the aid of her sisters, Emily and Anne, and of the suspiciously well informed but irresistibly attractive brother of the victim, Charlotte works to unravel a deadly web of intrigue that threatens not only her own safety but the very fabric of the British Empire. Charlotte is plunged into a thrilling adventure and a passionate romance that leads her from the peaceful Yorkshire moors to the crime infested streets of London, across the sea to the Continent to the ports of Cornwall, the wilds of Scotland, and the palaces of Queen Victoria herself. Will Charlotte be able to stop a devious invisible villain whose schemes threaten her life, her family, and her country?Laura Joh Rowland’s Sano Ichiro samurai detective series has enthralled tens of thousands of readers. Now the author turns her gifts for historical fiction to Victorian England in this thriller starring the legendary 19th century author Charlotte Bront and her equally famous family. Laura Joh Rowland is the author of twelve other books, including the critically acclaimed Red Chrysanthemum. The granddaughter of Chinese and Korean immigrants, she was educated at the University of Michigan and now lives in New Orleans with her husband.

Bedlam: The Further Secret Adventures of Charlotte Brontë

Following the notable debut of The Secret Adventures of Charlotte Bront , beloved author Laura Joh Rowland offers her legions of fans the next installment in the Charlotte Bront mystery series…
with more to come. On her last escapade, Charlotte unintentionally witnessed a murder and found herself embroiled in a dangerous chain of events. Now, Charlotte returns in a stunning sequel that takes the reader into the most sinister institution in London: Bedlam. With the death of her siblings and far from home, Charlotte has few people to trust. Struggling with romantic entanglements and her stressful rise to prominence on the literary scene, she is more alone than ever. On a visit to London, Charlotte goes on a tour of London’s most famous hospital for the mad, Bedlam. She is sure she recognizes a struggling Mr. Slade, her long missing ex lover, strapped to one of the stretchers. Charlotte starts digging, and soon finds herself trying to reveal a secret that high powered men would and do kill to protect. It is up to Charlotte to find the truth and expose a plot of global proportion. But what if the conspirators get to her first?