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

by Laura Joh Rowland

Winner of RT Magazine's Reviewers' Choice Award for Best Historical Mystery

In the wake of a terrifying earthquake, Sano Ichiro races to solve a crime that could bring down the shogun's regime

When a massive earthquake devastates Japan in 1703, even the shogun's carefully regulated court is left teetering on the brink of chaos. This is no time for a murder investigation except when a nobleman's daughters are found dead from incense poisoning and their father threatens to topple the regime unless Sano Ichiro tracks down the killer.

As Sano and his wife strive to solve the case in a world that is crumbling around them, Laura Joh Rowland author of one of the "five best historical mystery novels" "(The Wall Street Journal) "brings us her most powerful and evocative thriller set in Feudal Japan yet, "The Incense Game.""

• ISBN10: 0312658532
• ISBN13: 9780312658533
• Publish Date: 18 September 2012
• Publish Status: Out of Print
• Out of Print: 20 December 2014
• Publish Country: US
• Imprint: Minotaur Books,US
• Format: Hardcover
• Pages: 304
• 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!!