The Dragon King's Palace: A Novel

Sano Ichiro and his wife and friends are wonderful characters created by Ms. Rowland. I now have all of the books (in paperback--can't afford hardbacks) in the series, and am looking forward to more books.

Welcome to the later days of the Tokugawa Shogunate. The Portuguese had come and gone, samurai now used guns in battle, and gradually the strength and vitality of the times was ebbing away. Sano Ichiro, the Shogun's Most Honorable Investigator spends as much time dealing with the devious political maneuvering of opponents like Chamberlain Yanagisawa and Police Commissioner Hoshina - all trying to influence the decisions of a weak and effeminate Shogun whose main virtue is his love for his mother. Their attendance commanded, Sano's wife Reiko, her friend Midori, and Lady Yanagisawa must accompany the Shogun's mother on a pilgrimage to Mount Fuji. Almost at the mountain their entourage is attacked, the ladies kidnapped, and the rest left dead. A little while later a note is posted on the gates of Edo - if the Shogun fails to execute Hoshina, the Honorable Lady Keisho-in will be killed. Sano and Yanagisawa become unwilling allies, one trying to save his wife, and the other his lover. Sano's detective skills are severely tried as he races to save the lives of the women, hampered as much by a frantic Shogun as he is by the lack of facts. Far away from Edo, Reiko's wits and bravery are tested to their maximum as she and her friends face a man driven mad by his own grief and guilt. No matter how this drama ends, it will have far reaching consequences for the survivors. Laura Joh Rowland combines her natural storytelling ability with a fine eye for the details of medieval Japan. The city of Edo, the hallways of the palace, and the homes of the players all seem to leap to life and the reader learns Japanese sociology and history while being entertained by a story that has as many twists and turns as Japanese bureaucracy does. All of the Sano Ichiro stories have a serious side, but the Dragon King's Palace touches on the pivotal issues that drove Japan into crisis. We see the samurai world changing before our eyes, and Rowland pulls very few punches. I recommend the entire series, but The Dragon King's Palace is one of the best, a tightly woven story of suspense and mystery.

I appear to be a contrarian when it comes to the Sano Ichiro series. To now, I've enjoyed the Tokugawa milieu and have been captured by the culture and the actions of the characters within the culture. I have been disappointed by what I perceive as amateurish, illogical, and impulsive decisions by the characters to push an often plodding plot ahead and by the need for an ocasional lucky circumstance to resolve awkward plot logjams. However, with DGP, I finally have seen Rowland let the plot horses run and the result has been a quickly moving, exciting plot structure with the characters in accord with events -- swept along perhaps -- rather than shuffling along behind a stiff story line. So, I finally read a Ichiro novel that had me keep turning the pages and one where I did not keep asking myself, "Why in the world whould he or she do something that stupid?" It was a good read and I hope the next story maintains the pace.

I love the Sano Ichiro series. If you read the books in chronological order (which I highly recommend), you see Laura Joh Rowland increasingly make Reiko her primary character and reduce in role of Sano. Is this a good or bad thing? I guess that depends on your love of the Sano character. I do adore Sano and I've missed the concentration on him in the last couple of novels. By writing Reiko to be a co-primary character, Rowland allows herself a potentially broader range of plot lines. I'm enjoying the mix of male and female threads in the books. I also enjoy the exploration of Reiko and Sano's unusual relationship and a look at how the male and female worlds in medieval Japan interacted.In this book, Reiko plays a central role and draws heavily on the martial arts training her father provided her. If you don't care for this aspect of the series, you may not like this novel. If you enjoy the spotlight on the Reiko character, you'll love this book.

Another exciting and fast paced Sano Ichiro mystery novel! And truthfully speaking, if you're looking for a good historical mystery novel that will keep you at the edge of your seat, you need not look any further than this latest Sano Ichiro installment, "The Dragon King's Palace."It's June of 1694, and the city of Edo seems to be suffering from the effects of a particularly bad heat wave. In order to escape this stiflingly bad weather, Lady Keisho-in, shogun Tokugawa Tsunayoshi (Japan's supreme military leader)'s mother has decided to mount a 'small' trip to Mount Fuji. And she's decided that Reiko (the wife of Sano Ichiro who also happens to be the shogun's Most Honourable Investigator of Events, Situations and People), Reiko's heavily pregnant good friend, Midori (who is also the wife of Sano's most trusted aide, Hirata), and Lady Yanagisawa (the wife of Chamberlain Yanagiswa, the shogun's second-in-command and Sano's arch enemy) should accompany her on this trip. But en route to Mount Fuji, the party is attacked; the ladies are kidnapped and Lady Keisho-in's entire entourage of servants and guards slaughtered. Who could have mounted such an outrageous attack, and why? Was it some power hungry daimyo trying to show just how weak and powerless the shogun actually is? Or could it be some enemy of the Chamberlain's retaliating for some past wrong? Or could it be as Sano fears, that the Black Lotus sect trying to seek revenge on Sano for having caused the downfall of their once powerful and wealthy sect? Thrown together because of circumstances, Sano and the Chamberlain must put their past distrust and dislike of each other behind them so that they can discover who actually is responsible for the kidnapping as well as mount a rescue of the ladies before it's too late. But even as the two men face the danger and treachery around them, neither is quite ready for the strange and amazing twists that this case will take, or the personal cost that each will suffer...I finished "The Dragon King's Palace" in one sitting. Fortunately, I had the day off -- a day I had planned to do a lot of weeding! Instead of which I found that I had spent the entire afternoon breathlessly turning the pages, reading along as Sano tried to discover who was behind this outrageous kidnapping and hoping that Reiko did not come up a cropper! What an exciting and suspenseful read this was. Laura Joh Rowland has written a cleverly plotted book that is full of wonderful and rich detail, and that fits in (comfortably) with the past books in this series. I particularly liked that this book really focused on the courage, intelligence and resourcefulness of Reiko. The novel unfolded smoothly, seamlessly and at an incredibly swift pace. All in all, a really good installment in the Sano Ichiro mystery series, and one not to be missed.