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"Rowland uses her fine eye for detail to portray the intricate surface and roiling underbelly of life in a tightly structured, controlled society. Her Japan is a mix of Kabuki theater-like stylized formality, palace intrigue, and physical action that would do a martial arts movie proud."
-Times-Picayune (New Orleans, LA)
"Rowland's masterful evocation of the period enable the reader to identify with the universal human emotions and drives that propel her characters while absorbing numerous telling details of a different culture and era."-Publishers Weekly
"The story line remains fresh though this is Sano's eighth tale because of the insightful look at an era when palace intrigue rivaled Machiavelli and samurai code rules."-Midwest Book Review
"A lively dissection of the samurai code of honor, sexual dishonor, palace infighting, and ancient Japanese mores."-Kirkus Reviews
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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 great metropolis of Edo sweltered in summer. Read the first page
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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.
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.
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