Red Chrysanthemum: A Thriller (Sano Ichiro Novels) (Hardcover)

by Laura Joh Rowland (Author)
Key Phrases: honorable chamberlain, daimyo district, chief retainer, Lord Mori, Lady Mori, Lord Matsudaira (more...)

Editorial Reviews

From Publishers Weekly
Starred Review. Rowland's 11th 17th-century Japanese historical (after 2005's The Assassin's Touch) is even more of a page-turner than its predecessors. Sano Ichiro has risen through the ranks from his position as the shogun's special investigator to the powerful station of chamberlain, but the shift in his duties has not shielded him from political opponents. He faces his greatest crisis yet when his terrified pregnant wife, Reiko, is discovered naked and blood-covered beside the corpse of a nobleman suspected of treason. Aided by his friend and successor, Hirata, the dogged and principled samurai sleuth must probe both personal and political motives for the crime, even as he entertains doubts about his beloved's innocence. Rowland matches her talent for storytelling with her ability to render convincing historical detail in this long-running but fresh series. (Nov.)
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Review

“Sano may carry a sword and wear a kimono, but you’ll immediately recognize him as an ancestor of Philip Marlowe or Sam Spade.” —The Denver Post
 
“Rowland has a painter’s eye for the minutiae of court life, as well as a politician’s ear for intrigue.” —The New York Times Book Review
 
“Rowland uses her fine eye for detail to portray the intricate surface and roiling underbelly of life in a tightly structured, controlled society. Her Japan is a mix of Kabuki theater–like stylized formality, palace intrigue, and physical action that would do a martial arts move proud.” —The Times-Picayune (New Orleans)
 
“A careful, beautiful portrayal of a dangerous time in Japanese history . . . Rowland has created a compelling and lively series.” —Dallas Morning News
 
 “As a fan of Shogun, it’s easy to say that The Samurai’s Wife provided me with the same sense of place and culture that was so invigorating in James Clavell’s epic yarn. . . . Laura Joh Rowland is a pretty terrific storyteller.” —Chicago Tribune
 
“The compelling story line, evocative detail and suspense should engage newcomers and satisfy longtime fans alike. At a point when many series show signs of wear, Rowland’s characters remain fresh.” —Publishers Weekly on The Assassin’s Touch

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Product Details

• Hardcover: 304 pages
• Publisher: St. Martin's Minotaur (November 14, 2006)
• Language: English
• ISBN-10: 0312355327
• ISBN-13: 978-0312355326
• Product Dimensions: 9.3 x 6 x 1.2 inches
• Shipping Weight: 1.2 pounds (View shipping rates and policies)
• Average Customer Review: 3.8 out of 5 stars See all reviews (19 customer reviews)
• Amazon.com Sales Rank: #595,812 in Books (See Bestsellers in Books)

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Customer Reviews

Most Helpful Customer Reviews

7 of 7 people found the following review helpful:

2.0 out of 5 stars Sano Jumps the Shark, May 16, 2007

By	Hikari (Lima, OH USA) - See all my reviews

I have been a long-time fan of this series and own all the books. I eagerly await each new Sano Ichiro release. The great cover on this latest installment had me all pumped up to read it . . .and I came away quite disappointed. Great cover or no, this is the first book in the series that I won't be purchasing. Rowland's period detail is, as always, spot-on, but I felt that both the action and the character development suffered this time around. This outing feels very rushed, almost like a Cliffs Notes version of a more well-rounded Rowland thriller. I think the author has painted herself into a corner with Sano's promotion to Chamberlain. Compared to his former post of Sosokan-sama, Sano finds himself with very little to do except tedious court appearances, and it's a real stretch to get him involved in cases with anything like his old verve. Reiko-san, too, has suffered in her elevation to esteemed court matron. Most of her spunk and seemingly all of her intelligence has disappeared. Sano was never a very warm or accessible character, but his deeply-felt relationships with his wife and with his loyal retainer, Hirata, gave him some humanity. The relationship Sano had with Hirata was the centerpiece of past books; now with Sano's promotion and Hirata occupying his master's former post, they hardly see one another. A subplot involving Hirata's secret study of a deadly, mystical martial-arts form is vague and uninvolving. Rowland seems to hint, with one brief chapter, that things will get shaken up in the next book, with the escape from his island prison of the nefarious Yanagisawa. But the chapter dedicated to him in this book reads more like an outline of the more fully fleshed-out chapter she should have written. It's pretty insulting to the readers' intelligence, and I'm hoping against hope that Rowland is not pulling a Patricia Cornwell on us, and letting the air go out of a long-established series because she's tired and/or under deadline pressure. This is definitively not up to the high standard of her previous books. I would rather see Sano commit seppuku than to go out with a whimper. Let's hope Rowland finds the means to re-enegize this series with her next effort.

7 of 7 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars Did She OR Didn't She, April 21, 2007

By	Marc Ruby™ "The Noh Hare™" (Warren, MI USA) - See all my reviews (TOP 10 REVIEWER)

I've reached what you might think of as a crisis point with this series. I've given Rowland a lot of five star reviews for these books. About 10, I believe. They have continued to fascinate me as mysteries and for their insight into the politics and life of medieval Japan. A time when barbaric cruelty and oppressive social customs combine with exquisite artwork, literature, and craftsmanship. It was a time of great conflict and Rowland seems to have mastered its complexities.

Sano Ichiro is a wonderful character. Staying true to his ethical standards he has solved crimes, kept the shogunate from crumbling he gradually rises to one of the most powerful positions in the country. In many ways he is a samurai's samurai -- and a rag's to riches story as well. But most of his successes are due more to his ability to recover from his wife Reiko's mistakes. Up to a point the plot device of the stubborn, well-meaning samurai wife is digestible. But Reiko seems unable to understand that getting involved in the deadly politics of the capital will inevitably put Sano at risk.

This habit reaches a peak in Red Chrysanthemum, in which Reiko decides to investigate a missing child on her own and finds herself naked, in the bedroom of the man she was investigating, with the killing dagger clutched in her hand. She is accused of murder and Ichiro's enemies arrange things to that he may very well have to execute her if he is to save face, and the lives of his son and himself. Sano barely manages to get permission from the Shogun to investigate on his own and the race is on. His long time enemy Hoshina sets traps everywhere, and the powerful Lord Matsudaira suspects Ichiro of plotting treason.

One can't complain too much about Reiko's lapses, without her Rowlands series would never happen. I just wish she displayed just enough more sense so that the continued use of her as a plot device didn't rankle so much. But outside of this weakness, Rowland as written another complex tale of Japan, once again revealing a society which differs in many ways from our western concept of it. There is a part of me that wishes that this was all real history, and I keep looking in history books hoping to find Sano Ichiro and Yanagisawa, but no such luck. Rowland has once again produced one of the better mysteries of the year.

3 of 3 people found the following review helpful:

1.0 out of 5 stars Kabuki Theater Meets Madame Butterfly Melodrama, December 30, 2007

By	Wisconsin Reviewer - See all my reviews

This review is from: Red Chrysanthemum: A Thriller (Sano Ichiro Novels) (Mass Market Paperback)

Reader, be prepared to be jerked around by the writer. This is the first (and will be the last) book in the series I've read. I like thrillers with exotic (for me) settings, but this one was way over the top. There were unfortunate lapses into contemporary English vernacular (like "Hey!" coming from one of Sano's subordinates). Stage machinery was way too evident, and the "acting" by the principles, by Lady Mori and her servant, was overwrought and operatic. Perhaps, as other reviewers have noted, the writer was forced into getting the book to the publisher before it was ready. (I'm surprised she even found a publisher.)