The Incense Game: A Novel of Feudal Japan (Sano Ichigo Mysteries) (Sano Ichiro, #16)

by Laura Joh Rowland

Bernadette Dunne (Narrator)

In the wake of a terrifying earthquake, Sano Ichir No. races to solve a crime that could bring down the shogun's regimeJapan, 1703. A devastating earthquake has left the city of Edo in shambles - even the shogun's carefully regulated court is teetering on the brink of chaos. This is no time for a murder investigation. But when Sano discovers the bodies of two young sisters buried beneath the rubble, he suspects that incense poisoning, not the earthquake, killed them. Worse yet, their father, a powerful nobleman, threatens to topple the vulnerable regime unless Sano agrees to track down his daughters' killer. With the help of his wife, Reiko, and his chief retainer, Hirata, Sano begins a secret investigation that jeopardizes his whole family. And with Hirata mysteriously neglecting his duties and an old foe plotting to overthrow Sano and the shogun himself, the shockwaves from the earthquake are only the beginning.

• ISBN10: 1624060005
• ISBN13: 9781624060007
• Publish Date: 18 September 2012
• Publish Status: Unknown
• Imprint: Dreamscape Media
• Format: Audiobook (CD)
• Duration: 11 hours and 8 minutes
• Language: English

Reviews

[layawaydragon]

I JUST finished this and I'll be back with a full review, but I wanted to add some notes.

TW: Transphobia, Rape, Pedophlia, Suicide,

--At first I was impressed with how0 they kept using someone's preferred pronouns. Then the situation took a nasty turn. It was disturbing how the character's started describing them, how all of a sudden their birth sex was apparent and how they'd been fooled! To make matters worse, they were not transgender by choice but were the villain by choice. So again, in a book with a setting where m/m, f/f, and bisexuality is accepted as normal and unremarked upon, the T gets phobia and villainy. Sano doesn't even agree about keeping "the secret" because of respect, but because it threatens his master's regime! UGH.

--While the shogan doesn't have an active harem of boys in this installment, just pages at this time, there are references to his history and I'm sure he won't be celibate for long.

--There is a victim of rape with her brother being the perpetrator. This is referred to as "incest" as if she was a willing participant. The victim blaming is excruciating and society is her adversary to justice and peace. She has PTSD, anxiety, and is the one to commit suicide.

An aside: Apparently in this society, incest is perfectly normal as is it resulting in children.

--I'm always impressed how Rowland keeps things fresh, evolving, and progressing.
--Holy fucking shit, that ending!!