Murasaki: A Kunoichi Tale (Paperback or Softback)

The thrilling conclusion to Seasons of the Sword!

An easy mission promises to be Risuko’s last

Kano Murasaki (called Risuko), Emi, and Toumi are accompanying a spoiled young noblewoman to her wedding. What should be a simple assignment—get the bride to the wedding, make sure she’s properly dressed—is anything but.

Because someone wants the lady dead.

And because Risuko and her friends aren’t just lady’s maids. They are kunoichi.

Trained spies, assassins—and in this case, bodyguards.

The wedding—which Risuko herself negotiated at sword-point—has the potential to unite the most powerful clans in Japan under a single banner, ending over a century of bloodshed. And so Risuko must do everything she can to keep the brat of a princess safe and deliver her to her groom. Failure would mean death not only for the bride and her bodyguards. It might mean another hundred years of destruction for the whole empire.

Along the way, Risuko and her friends must confront hidden enemies and uncover who is behind the plot. She must face the ghosts of her past to become, finally, herself.

Can Risuko survive?

Can Risuko kill?

Seasons of the Sword:

1. Risuko (Winter)
2. Bright Eyes (Spring)
3. Kano (Summer)
4. Murasaki (Autumn)

David Kudler is not afraid of heights. He just has a healthy respect for depths. "I'm as surprised as anyone," he says, "that I've written a series of books featuring a young woman who loves to be as high up in the air as possible."

His multi-award-winning Seasons of the Sword historical adventure novels (Risuko, Bright Eyes, Kano, and Murasaki) have been featured in Foreword Magazine, Kirkus, and others. Risuko graced the cover of Publisher's Weekly.Also an editor and publisher, he's overseen the publication of more than two hundred titles including the best-selling Hero with a Thousand Faces, an exploration of hero stories from across the ages and around the world.

He lives just north of the Golden Gate Bridge with his wife, actor/teacher/author Maura Vaughn, their wordsmith daughters, and their (apparently) non-literary cat.