Sano Ichiro mysteries

In 17th Century Japan, Sano Ichiro, senior police commander, investigates the death of a noblewoman and a peasant who drowned in a river tied to each other. Officials say a love-suicide, but Ichiro says murder and sees a suspect in the royal family--for which he is fired. But he doesn't give up.

Japan, March 1700. Troops ambush and attack Lady Reiko, the wife of Sano Ichirō, the samurai detective who has risen to power and influence. The troops who have attacked Reiko appear to belong to Sano's enemy, Lord Matsudaira, who denies all responsibility. But if the rivals are not to blame, who is? Called away from the crisis by the shogun's orders to investigate a mysterious skeleton, Sano and his wife, Reiko, must confront dangerous, long-buried...

"A brilliant new twist on the fabled tale of the 47 Ronin, from an author with "a painter's eye for the minutiae of court life [and] a politican's ear for intrigue." --The New York Times Book Review Japan, 1703. On a snowy night, 47 warriors murder the man at the center of the scandal that turned them from samurai into masterless ronin two years before. Clearly this was an act of revenge--but why did they wait so long? And is there any reason they...

When the shogun is forced to claim an illegitimate son as his heir after the death of his only child, Sano Ichirō, believing the malevolent youth to be part of a plot to seize power, risks the safety and honor of his family to uncover the truth.