A Sugawara Akitada Mystery of Ancient Japan - Eleventh-century Japan. Government official Sugawara Akitada finds a small mute boy on a deserted road. Akitada, still grieving for his own small son, determines to find the boy’s parents. Meanwhile, Akitada’s faithful servant Tora has troubles of his own: he has lost his new bride to a powerful man who pursues beautiful women and will stop at nothing to possess them. The trails of these two seemingly unrelated cases lead Akitada and Tora to the entertainers and prostitutes of the amusement quarter, and murder follows in their footsteps . . .
The Masuda Affair (A Sugawara Akitada Novel)
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Book Description
Editorial Reviews
From Publishers Weekly
Starred Review. More than half of Parker's terrific seventh historical set in 11th-century Japan (after 2009's The Convict's Sword) goes by before Sugawara Akitada, senior secretary in the ministry of justice, has a definite murder to solve, but a personal crisis in Sugawara's life--the death of his young son, Yori, from smallpox--more than sustains interest, providing the trigger for a series of events that involve him in the case of Peony, a courtesan whose drowning years earlier was ruled a suicide. On the first night of a festival when the spirits of the dead return home, Sugawara meets an emaciated abandoned child who reminds him of Yori. His efforts to rescue the boy from the abusive people claiming to be his parents land him in trouble with the law and entangle him in the secrets of the noble Masuda family, reputed to be the subject of a curse. The evolving relationship between Sugawara and his wife, Tamako, adds depth. (Nov.) (c)
Copyright © Reed Business Information, a division of Reed Elsevier Inc. All rights reserved.
Copyright © Reed Business Information, a division of Reed Elsevier Inc. All rights reserved.
From Booklist
Readers looking for a new historical mystery with a twist will find what they’re after in Parker’s latest Sugawara Akitada mystery, set in eleventh-century Japan. Akitada, a senior secretary in the Ministry of Justice, is on his way home from a case in a nearby town when he spies a small boy—emaciated, bruised, and tearful—by the side of the road. The child tugs at Akitada’s heart because his own young son died just months earlier. But no sooner has Akitada decided to take the seemingly abandoned child home with him than he is accused by the child’s parents of kidnapping. And here begins Akitada’s most bizarre case, which involves the boy, a dead geisha named Peony, the servant Tora’s mysterious disappearance, an ill-fated love affair with terrible consequences, and a dark secret kept by one of the region’s wealthiest families. With so many disparate subplots, it’s sometimes difficult to see how Parker will tie all the threads together by the end of the book, but she does so in an unexpectedly clever way. An intriguing glimpse into an ancient culture. --Emily Melton
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More About the Author
I.J. Parker was born and educated in Europe and turned to mystery writing after an academic career in the U.S. She has published in Alfred Hitchcock's Mystery Magazine, winning the short story Shamus award in 2000. The Akitada series, about an eleventh century Japanese nobleman/detective, now consists of eight titles, with an ninth to be released soon. The books are available in print, audio format, and on Kindle and translated into twelve languages.
The historical trilogy THE HOLLOW REED is available on Kindle.
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Most Helpful Customer Reviews
19 of 19 people found the following review helpful:
4.0 out of 5 stars
Mystery, Intrigue and Romance in 11th Century Japan,
By Chocolate Lab (Northern CA, USA) - See all my reviews
Amazon Verified Purchase(What's this?)
This review is from: The Masuda Affair (A Sugawara Akitada Mystery) (Hardcover)
I have read the entire Akitada series and just finished reading The Masuda Affair. I didn't think it was possible to like Akitada more, yet the author has found a way to make him more human/flawed and yet more enjoyable as the protagonist than ever. In my opinion (and in my experience, at least as a person of Japanese descent), he struggles as a Japanese and as a male to express his deep feelings of grief, sorrow and loneliness. Some of his expressions are misunderstood or are taken in the wrong way by others. He continually struggles in his career to be respectable and successful. Surrounding him are his loyal retainers Tora, Gemba and Seimei. While trouble follows Akitada everywhere and past villains return to torment him, he finds his way with intellect and fine detective work to solve several murders and determine who is at fault.
If you haven't read the previous books in this series, I encourage you to find and read them! The author has another novel for this series waiting in the wings and I look forward to reading the next installment.
7 of 7 people found the following review helpful:
5.0 out of 5 stars
Series never disappoint,
By
Amazon Verified Purchase(What's this?)
This review is from: The Masuda Affair (A Sugawara Akitada Mystery) (Hardcover)
I love mystery series and the Sugawara Akitada series is by far my favorite. All the books in this series are page turners. I could not put down The Masuda Affair--it was a great read. I'm anxiously waiting for the next book in the series.
6 of 6 people found the following review helpful:
4.0 out of 5 stars
Series continues with good story and character development,
By book club member "Mystery Lover who can be en... (Indiana USA) - See all my reviews
Amazon Verified Purchase(What's this?)
This review is from: The Masuda Affair (A Sugawara Akitada Mystery) (Hardcover)
This series continues to offer excellent stories, sense of time and place and especially, character development.
I look forward to more adventures in the next book .
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