Shinju

In seventeenth-century Japan, Sano, a teacher and detective, investigates the ritual "suicide" drownings of a peasant and a noblewoman, supposed star-crossed lovers, and uncovers an intricate plot of political intrigue and murder

YA?Sano Ichiro suspects that a ritual love suicide (shinju) is in reality a double murder, but his boss inexplicably orders him to drop the investigation. As samurai, Sano must obey or dishonor his father. The quest for justice, however, impels him to risk all to uncover the truth. His course causes more deaths and reveals the depravity of a powerful family that plots to assassinate the shogun. Sano is an unlikely, headstrong hero whose talk and stumbling actions endanger others. His repeated weighing of the samurai code of loyalty and duty versus the pursuit of justice slows the plot occasionally, but not seriously. The descriptions of the lives of townspeople, samurai, the privileged class, and inhabitants of the "pleasure district" in 17th-century Edo (Tokyo) are brutal, but rich and sensual, especially the Tea Ceremony and New Year celebrations. YAs who liked James Clavell's Shogun will enjoy Rowland's novel of political intrigue.?Judy Sokoll, Fairfax County Public Library, VA
Copyright 1995 Reed Business Information, Inc.

Seventeenth-century Tokyo is the setting for Rowland's debut novel, a murder mystery starring the Senior Police Commander in the district of Edo. Sano Ichiro, a samurai whose academic background puts him at odds with most of his peers, discovers two bodies in the Sumida River, a man and woman bound together in what appears to have been a shinju, or "double love suicide." The man is a peasant, the woman the high-born daughter of an important official. Told by his superior to close the case without an investigation, Sano, suspecting murder, determines to investigate on his own. He orders an illegal autopsy and learns that the victims did not drown but cannot make his discovery known. Amidst many tribulations, he uncovers a trail of corruption and intrigue that ultimately leads him to suspect a member of a royal family. Replete with convincing details, the setting's time and place provide lively and diverting passages; the plot, however, twists only occasionally before its fairly predictable, politically rooted resolution. Rowland crafts a competent mystery her first time out, shows sure command of her background material and demonstrates that she is a writer of depth and potential.
Copyright 1994 Reed Business Information, Inc.

A shinju is a double love-suicide--precisely what the deaths of noblewoman Niu Yukiko and peasant artist Noriyoshi aren't, despite first appearances. But then what are they? That's the question for Sano Ichiro, newly appointed Senior Police Commissioner of Edo (17th- century Tokyo). When a doctor sentenced to service in the Edo morgue convinces Sano that Noriyoshi, at least, was killed before he entered the water in which he and Yukiko supposedly drowned themselves, Sano feels honor-bound to follow up the clue. But with no evidence-- autopsies are illegal and can't be used to prove anything--and no support from his boss or his patron, Sano doesn't know where to turn. Yukiko's cold stepmother listens to him politely and then has him thrown out; Noriyoshi's employer, a dealer in erotic art, insists he doesn't know anything; and Sano's journey to visit Yukiko's sister, who just might be able to help him, in the nunnery to which she's been banished only ends in disaster. As Sano pieces together the reason for Noriyoshi's death--he was blackmailing a Kabuki actor, a street wrestler, and perhaps others--his higher-ups close ranks against him, and he finds himself, in an eerie Japanese echo of Presumed Innocent, stripped of his job and hunted for murder. Even after he's pieced together the puzzle, how will he able to convince the authorities whose interest is in keeping him quiet by whatever means? This impressive first novel features a plot that's perfectly adapted to its historical background: Sano's growing terror of humiliation and dishonor comes across much more keenly than any contemporary setting would allow. -- Copyright ©1994, Kirkus Associates, LP. All rights reserved.

As a newly appointed yoriki (senior police commander), Sano Ichiro is expected to obey his superior's order to treat the deaths of an upper-class woman and a commoner as a shinju (ritual double suicide). Sano believes the two were murdered and doggedly continues to investigate, risking his job and his life. He gradually uncovers a plot against the shogun himself. The best part of this first novel is the splendid evocation of late 17th-century Edo. The descriptions of the stratified society, the details of everyday life, and the sights and sounds of the city that will later become Tokyo are vivid and compelling. Readers intrigued with unusual settings for their mysteries will enjoy this work. Others may not be able to ignore the paper-thin characterizations and the coincidence-strewn plot. The last paragraph leaves an opening for a sequel. Only large pop fiction collections need consider.
--Nancy Pearl, Washington Ctr. for the Book, Seattle
Copyright 1994 Reed Business Information, Inc.