Sano Ichiro

September 18th will see the release of the 16th Sano Ichiro series mystery, The Incense Game. The series by Laura Joh Rowland is set in feudal Japan and features Sano Ichiro, a Samurai who over the course of the series goes from being a Yoriki – an administrative police official – to being second in command and criminal investigator to the Shogun.

In the Incense Game it is now 1703 Japan and a massive earthquake devastates the country. Even the shogun’s carefully regulated court is teetering on the brink of chaos. It would seem that this is not a time for a murder investigation but a nobleman’s daughters are found dead from incense poisoning. The father threatens to topple the regime unless Sano Ichiro tracks down the killer.

I enjoy crime and detective fiction and certainly read much of that set in modern times. However I also enjoy those that are set in other times and places (lately I have been reading novels set in England just after World War I). So I was attracted to this series set in feudal Japan when I stumbled on it and am being rewarded with enjoyable reading.

Try the series (you don’t have to wait for the Incense Game) you might like it.