Brutal murders linked to an ancient betrayal send late 17th-century Tokyo into a panic. They also spell big trouble for the Shogun's special investigator, Sano Ichiro, in this sequel to Rowland's first novel, Shinju.
The killings are made known when the severed heads of the victims are put on public display, in the manner of an ancient custom known as bundori, or war trophy. The victims are descendants of warriors who, more than a century earlier, were involved in the murder of a powerful warlord.
As the killings continue, Sano, though hampered in his investigation by his devotion to the warrior-code of bushido and its precepts of silent obedience and service, suspects three of the most powerful men in the Shogunate, including Chamberlain Yanagisawa. Also complicating Sano's quest for the truth is a female ninja in Yanagisawa's power; aiding it are an eager young officer in the Tokyo police and a quirky old morgue attendant.
- ISBN10 0747253730
- ISBN13 9780747253730
- Publish Date 6 March 1997 (first published 20 February 1996)
- Publish Status Active
- Out of Print 4 June 2001
- Publish Country GB
- Publisher Headline Publishing Group
- Imprint Headline Feature
- Edition New edition
- Format Paperback (A-Format (178x111 mm))
- Pages 471
- Language English