Bundori (Featuring Sano Ichiro) - Softcover

Rowland, Laura Joh

Softcover

ISBN 10: 0747253730 ISBN 13: 9780747253730

Publisher: FEATURE, 1997

Synopsis

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.

About this title

From the Inside Flap:

The sequel to the acclaimed novel Shinju again features detective Sano Ichiro as he trails a serial killer stalking feudal Japan. In 1689, an all-powerful shogun controls the state, surrounded by bitter machinations and political intrigues. When an ancient tradition suddenly and brutally reappears, Sano risks everything to bring the killer to justice.

From Kirkus Reviews:

A second case for samurai Sano Ichir, elevated to Tokugawa Tsunayoshi's Most Honorable Investigator after his success in Shinju (1994). Someone is killing the citizens of 17th-century Edo and mounting their heads publicly as battle trophies, bundori. Sano's shogun appoints him to find the killer, but the real power behind Tsunayoshi, his Chamberlain Yanagisawa Yoshiyasu, makes it plain to Sano (though not to their common lord) that he intends to thwart the investigation at every turn, overriding the shogun's command that the Edo police assist Sano and setting Aoi, the mystic and chief shrine commander, to spy on Sano. Sano, gradually realizing that the sensual Aoi--whom he'd been counting on to pass on to him information she garnered from communicating with the souls of the four victims--is not to be trusted, is caught in an impossible situation, since the stringent code of bushido prevents him from criticizing Yanagisawa as a slur on their shogun's judgment. Acting on information supplied by his friends, chief archivist Noguchi Motoori and Edo Morgue superintendent Dr. Ito Genboku--and by the equivocal Aoi as well--Sano traces the executions to a century- old military intrigue. But what is he to do when his field of suspects is narrowed down to Edo's foremost merchant, the Captain of the Guard, a legendary (and formidably protected) concubine, and the treacherous chamberlain himself? Not as rich and resourceful as Sano's striking debut--the demands of bushido are asked to carry too much of the interest- -but Rowland still masterfully evokes the subtleties and contradictions of 17th-century Japan. -- Copyright ©1996, Kirkus Associates, LP. All rights reserved.

About this edition

• Publisher: FEATURE
• Publication date: 1997
• ISBN 10: 0747253730
• ISBN 13: 9780747253730
• Binding: Paperback
• Number of pages: 471