Sano and Reiko become soul partners, committing to each other in ways which were impossible in feudal Japan. The events of this story are not completely implausible, but the action allowed in the relationship between the two spouses is purely contemporary, impossible. I read this story in January, 2000, and in March have already forgotten whodunnit....oh yeah, it comes back to me...What I did find interesting was the relationship arc developed in the storyline of the prime minister. The author tries in this story to work out a psychological explanation for the action of our hero's nemesis. I admire her courage in this, and I even liked her premise. However, no idea if the electricity between the Shogun's 2nd man and his lover will fly through the whole series. The real interest to me lay in the question of whether transformation (or transformative relationship) really transforms. The story itself seems to borrow from I, Claudius, but doesn't have time to go any distance with this, so it falls, deflated, unspent. Probably too many story lines, lack of restraint on the author's part. She wrote the beginnings of at least 3 novels in this book. Sorry, Laura, but in this murder case, no cigar. I'm moving on to the next Sano Ichiro novel. (Hoping the series tightens and brightens up. )
This was a random find at the library book sale. I had heard of this series before, but never read it. I hate starting in the middle of the series, but for some reason I just jumped right in.Sano works for a shogun, but his rival has engineered an embarrassing situations that puts him out of favor. He gets a chance to recover face by investigating a mysterious death of a member of the Imperial Court in Kyoto. He takes his new wife Reiko with him and they set off to discover the truth.The investigation is a political landmine. His suspects - the emperor, his cousin, his mother, his father, and his consort. The weapon - kiai, a martial art that uses the voice as a weapon that can break bones and crush the heart. As if that weren't going to make the case tricky enough, his rival Yanigisawa shows up, Sano finds himself attracted to the former wife of the murder victim, and the emperor has definitely put Sano on the Do Not Invite list. As a historical novel, this one was really interesting. I know very little about the history of Japan, and I found the political drama to be intriguing. But as a believable story, it was lacking. The characters didn't really seem true to the time, and the story itself didn't proceed in a very probable manner. The whole thing was just a bit far-fetched.
What do You think about The Samurai's Wife (2001)?
I've read part of this series out of order due to the fact I wasn't able to find them all at my local bookstore. (I still haven't gotten a copy of #4 yet.) But the books are so well done that you don't really need to read them all sequentially. Having said that, you really should buy them all as everyone, including this one, has been an amazing read.This book too receives my highest recommendation, as like the others, it's a terrific read.Unfortunately I've since lost my copy of this book, but it's in my list of books to buy again so I have it on my keeper shelf.I truly love this series--being a Japanophile--and I'm so glad there are many others for me to buy and read.
—Michael Barnette
This book is awful. Stilted writing, implausible characters, bad research, no feeling of time and place. And I still love it. Maybe because of the m/m pairing which is much more interesting than the love between the main character and his wife, I don't know. I'm going to read it again despite all the improbabilities and glaring mistakes. The plot - a shogunate investigator suspecting the imperial family and telling them what to do, when in fact he wouldn't even be admitted into their presence - is ridiculous. So what. Lol.
—Tocotin
I had read the first few books in this series several years ago, beginning enthusiastically and with each successive book getting less enthralled. I'm all about second chances so decided to give this a try again, but after giving it an extra-long chance and reading about 100 pages (I generally have a 50-page rule) I decided to give up. I am not even really sure what drove me away...there is something about the author's writing style or how she portrays the main characters that just turns me off and leaves me disinterested.
—Spuddie
