Shinju (Sano Ichiro)

by Laura Joh Rowland

Seventeenth-century Tokyo is the setting for Rowland's first book in a murder mystery series featuring Sano Ichiro the Senior Police Commander in the district of Edo. Ichiro is a samurai whose academic background puts him at odds with most of his peers.

When beautiful, wealthy Yukiko and low-born artist Noriyoshi are found drowned together in what seems to be a shinju, or ritual double suicide, everyone believes the cause was their forbidden love. Everyone, that is, but Sano Ichiro.

Despite the official verdict and being warned off by his superiors, the shogun's Most Honourable Investigator of Events, Situations and People suspects this double death was not only a tragedy - it was murder. Risking his family's good name and his own life, Sano will search for the killer across every level of society, determined to find answers to a mystery no one else seems to want solved . . .

• ISBN10: 0061009504
• ISBN13: 9780061009501
• Publish Date: 29 May 2001 (first published 20 September 1994)
• Publish Status: Active
• Publish Country: US
• Publisher: HarperCollins Publishers
• Imprint: Collins
• Format: Paperback (US Mass Market)
• Pages: 369
• Language: English

Reviews

[nannah]

I haven't really acquainted myself with many mysteries, so this probably isn't a very fair review. (3.5 rating)

Set in 17th century feudal Japan, Sano Ichiro is a yoriki (higher-ranking samurai police). His first case is a shinjū, a double suicide, and though he's not supposed to think anything of it, he doesn't think they committed shinjū. Investigating in secret, he finds himself in a much bigger plot than a simple shinjū.

I loved the setting and the characters! They were easily the strongest part of the novel, fully fleshed and well realized. But the entire mystery would have been much more engaging if Laura Joh Rowland never showed PoVs of the characters when they were spoiling the book's plot. I would have much rather found out the mysteries as Sano Ichiro discovered them, not when the author felt like showing them to us. I didn't like knowing them before the main character.

And while I appreciated the inclusion of characters with disabilities (Lord Niu with his withered leg & the sumo wrestler with a rageful "demon" - personality disorder ?), I didn't like that they were both portrayed problematically - both were killed and one was the villain. Not so good for representation . . .

[layawaydragon]

Just realized I never posted this after my Throwback Thursday post. So here it is!

Of course, after so long and without any notes I can't review the individual books or give content warnings. :(

But without a doubt, each book rated 4 stars for me and I can't wait to get back to reading this series. Long series often have trouble with getting into a rut, doing the same thing with zero growth (*cough* Stephanie Plum *cough*) but not Sano Ichiro.

There's character and series progression galore. Sano gets married and has a family, who join with great success and make it that much better. His wife that I won't name for those who haven't read any, is brilliant, subverts her cultural norms in subtle and livable ways, and genuinely contributes to solving cases. Her eventual motherhood isn't the typical, trope-spurred irritating display either.

It has court politics, intrigue, and sabotage done better than any other historical or fantasy novel (The Song of Fire and Ice, for instance) I've read before. As Sano moves up the chain, it only becomes more perilous.

There is of course a main antagonist, but not everything wraps back around to him at all times. Boy, does he make a good villain when he does though. He gets depth and growth as the series moves along as well.