The Perfumed Sleeve: A Novel (Sano Ichiro Novels)

About this book

November 1694. The streets of Edo are erupting in violence as two factions struggle for control over the ruling Tokugawa regime. One is led by the shoguns cousin Lord Matsudaira and the other by the shoguns second-in-command Chamberlain Yanagisawa. Each side pressures Sano Ichiro the shoguns most honorable investigator to join its ranks. When one of the shoguns most trusted advisers is found dead Sano is forced to honor a posthumous request for a murder investigation. Senior Elder Makino believed that his death would be the result of assassination rather than natural causes. Although he and Sano were bitter enemies Makino knew that the incorruptible Sano would be duty-bound to oblige his final wish. Under the watchful eyes and thinly veiled threats of both Lord Matsudaira and Chamberlain Yanagisawa Sano moves with caution. Each is eager to implicate the other in Makinos death. Sano must discover whether the death was indeed murder and if so whether it was motivated by politics love or sex. The discovery of secret alliances both romantic and military further complicates matters. Sanos investigation has barely begun when violent death claims another of the shoguns favorites. With his wife Reiko working undercover Sano and his chief retainer Hirata must not only investigate multiple deaths but stem the tide of an impending civil war in Laura Joh Rowlands The Perfumed Sleeve.