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The Fire Kimono (2008)

by Laura Joh Rowland(Favorite Author)

3.83 of 5 Votes: 1

ISBN

031237948X (ISBN13: 9780312379483)

languge

English

genre

Mystery & Thriller

publisher

Minotaur Books

series

Sano Ichiro

review 1: Once again I was transported into a completely different era full of conflict, wars, the need to maintain the family honor and the mystery of a long ago death. That death somehow has a connection to a Kimono that brought death to various young serving girls. And it's that mystery that the shogun wants Sano, his chamberlain to investigate. But Sano soon discovers that his mother may have had a hand in the murder. His understandable conflict with the need to solve this murder and also protect his mother was very well written. And I found it very emotional in its particular way, considering that they are not shown to be an emotional people per se. Another thing I found amazing was how violent and brutal the life of a samurai was, of course I knew they were elite soldiers but ... morethe ethic and their code of honor was so brutal and surprising.
review 2: Rowland presents a compelling picture of Tokugawa Era Japan. I wouldn't exactly call it a mystery in the traditional sense. The detective doesn't so much find clues and make brilliant logical deductions as fight difficult political battles while waiting for those who know whodunit to break down and confess the truth. One thing I thought was a little odd--though it didn't detract from the book--was that Rowland included not one but two couples experiencing stress in their marriage as characters in the book. The thing that seemed odd to me was that Rowland gave us considerable descriptions of what was going on in the minds of the husbands but was largely silent on the wives' inner dialogue. Was the female author trying to capture the male side of the eternal struggle while assuming that her readers would intuitively understand the female side? less

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