Sano Ichiro Series, Book 13 – 18 – Laura Joh Rowland Free Audiobook

Written by Laura Joh Rowland
Read by Bernadette Dunne
Format: MP3
Bitrate: 64 Kbps
Unabridged

The Fire Kimono
Sano Ichiro Series, Book 13
Publisher: Blackstone Publishing
Release date: November 1, 2008
Duration: 11:05:26

Japan, March 1700. The strife between Sano Ichiro, the samurai detective who has risen to power in the shogun’s court, and his enemies has escalated to the brink of war. 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 secrets. What was Sano’s own mother doing on the night when a burning kimono ignited a blaze that nearly destroyed the city? The shogun gives Sano and Reiko just three days to find out—or risk losing not only their position at court but also their families’ lives as well.

Many will listeners will remember Bernadette Dunne’s work on MEMOIRS OF A GEISHA, which serves her well in creating the setting of seventeenth-century Japan in this historical mystery, part of a series. The intrigue continues between Sano Ichiro, whom the shogun earlier raised to the rank of chamberlain, and his longtime rival, Lord Matsudaira. Sano’s wife and detective partner, Reiko, is also involved in the story. Dunne tells this story in graceful and genteel tones. The characters represent a broad spectrum–from toddlers to octogenarians, as well as both genders. Dunne creates unique personas for each, providing continuity in an otherwise winding narrative that alternates between the present and scenes that occurred 43 years earlier. The Ronin’s Mistress

The Cloud Pavilion
Sano Ichiro Series, Book 14
Publisher: Blackstone Publishing
Release date: November 1, 2009
Duration: 11:34:30

Japan, 1701. A woman is brutally attacked within a bamboo prison as clouds swirl around her head. Meanwhile, at Edo Castle, samurai detective turned chamberlain Sano Ichiro is suspicious of his old rival, Yanagisawa, who has been oddly cooperative since returning from exile. But just as Yanagisawa’s true motives begin to emerge, Sano’s estranged uncle comes to him for help: his daughter has disappeared, and he begs Sano and his wife — who once suffered through the kidnapping of their own son — to find her before it is too late.

In Rowland’s masterful 14th historical to feature Sano Ichiro, a year has passed since the events chronicled in 2008’s The Fire Kimono, but the calm that has prevailed since the shogun made Sano and his archrival, Yanagisawa Yoshiyasu, co-chamberlains is about to be shattered. Maj. Kumazawa Hiroyuki, Sano’s estranged uncle, comes to him for help after the major’s 33-year-old daughter, Chiyo, disappears. The detective-turned-politician manages to find Chiyo, but not before she has been violated. The search for her assailant becomes more complicated once word reaches Sano that Chiyo was the third in a series of victims, following an elderly nun and a powerful gangster’s teenage daughter. Established fans will be pleased by how Rowland has developed Sano’s son, Masahiro, along with other secondary characters they have become attached to, while newcomers should find the people, plot and early 18th-century Japanese setting hard to resist.

The Ronin’s Mistress
Sano Ichiro Series, Book 15
Publisher: Blackstone Publishing
Release date: September 1, 2011
Duration: 11:47:32

Japan, 1703. On a snowy night, 47 warriors murder a man who stood at the center of the scandal that turned them from samurai into master less ronin two years before. Clearly this was an act of revenge—but why did they wait so long? And is there any reason they should not immediately be ordered to commit ritual suicide? Sano Ichiro, demoted from Chamberlain to his old post as Most Honorable Investigator of Events, Situations, and People, has mere days to solve the greatest mystery of samurai legend—while his own fortunes hang in the balance.

At the outset of Rowland’s tense 15th Japanese historical featuring Sano Ichiro (after 2010’s The Cloud Pavilion), 47 ronin (samurai without a master) enter the estate of Kira Yoshinaka, the shogun’s master of ceremonies, and one of their number beheads Yoshinaka in delayed revenge for Kira’s role in the death of their master, Lord Asano, two years earlier. The motivation for the initial feud between Kira and Asano as well as the attack’s timing are the questions considered by a specially convened supreme court, which delegates Sano, who’s adjusting to his demotion from the position of chamberlain, to investigate. Meanwhile, Okaru, the mistress of the ronins’ acting leader, reveals to Sano’s brilliant and assertive wife, Reiko, that the origin of Kira and Asano’s vendetta is not what is popularly believed. Rowland nicely balances action and detection while providing a revealing glimpse of Japan under the shogunate.

The Incense Game
Sano Ichiro Series, Book 16
Publisher: Dreamscape Media, LLC
Release date: September 18, 2012
Duration: 11:07:04

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 yet.

The Shogun’s Daughter
Sano Ichiro Series, Book 17
Publisher: Dreamscape Media, LLC
Release date: September 19, 2013
Duration: 12:48:32

Japan, 1704. In an elegant mansion a young woman named Tsuruhime lies on her deathbed. The death of the Shogun’s daughter has immediate consequences on his regime. Faced with his own mortality and beset by troubles, he names as his heir Yoshisato, the seventeen-year-old son he only recently discovered was his. Until five months ago, Yoshisato was raised as the illegitimate son of Yanagisawa, the shogun’s favorite advisor. Yanagisawa is also the longtime enemy of Sano Ichiro. When Sano learns that Tsuruhime’s death may have been a murder, he sets off on a dangerous investigation as he struggles to keep his pregnant wife and his son safe. Instead, he and his family become the accused. And this time, they may not survive the day.

Bernadette Dunne is the ideal choice to narrate this tale of intrigue and betrayal in eighteenth-century Japan. She especially captures the strength and vividness of the female characters–from teenagers to pregnant wives. She’s a master at switching between the narrative and the voices of the wide-ranging cast, both men and women. Dunne sets the stage for this complex story of murder, loyalty and succession by making the most of the emotions built into the story. Though this is a world unfamiliar to most listeners, Dunne’s delivery reflects the common human experience at the center of the story, thereby making a bygone world familiar. M.R. (c) AudioFile 2013,

The Iris Fan
Sano Ichiro Series, Book 18
Publisher: Dreamscape Media
Release date: December 9, 2014
Duration: 13:00:05

Japan, 1709. Amid the ever-treacherous intrigue in the court, Sano Ichiro has been demoted from chamberlain to a lowly patrol guard. His relationship with his wife Reiko is in tatters, and a bizarre new alliance between his two enemies Yanagisawa and Lord Ienobu has left him puzzled and wary. Then a harrowing, almost inconceivable crime takes place. In his own palace, the shogun is stabbed with a fan made of painted silk with sharp-pointed iron ribs. Sano is restored to the rank of chief investigator to find the culprit. This is the most significant, and most dangerous, investigation of his career. If the shogun’s heir is displeased, he will have Sano and his family put to death without waiting for the shogun’s permission.