Customer Reviews

Shinju (Featuring Sano Ichiro)

5 star:		(19)
4 star:		(19)
3 star:		(9)
2 star:		(3)
1 star:		(2)

 

 

This book was recommended to me by a friend, and now I am hooked! 'Shinju' is a mystery about a supposed ritual double lovers' suicide (the title is the term that is used to refer to that act) that is in actuality a murder. Ichiro Sano, a young man recently appointed 'yoriki'(policeman) is assigned to a cursory investigation of what most of his colleagues and superiors view as a dishonorable and distasteful incident. Sano's takes his duties seriously, however, and almost loses his life -- and more importantly -- his honor in uncovering both a disturbing crime and a treasonous plot. Set against the backdrop of the Tokugawa Shogunate, this novel is educational as well as entertaining, and I really didn't know where the plot would take me as I read; the hero gets in some pretty dangerous situations. Rowland really paints a realistic picture of Japan in the 17th Century, with its dependence on personal obligation and honor. It's both frustrating and eye-opening for the reader to discover that although the hero knows 'whodunnit', his society prohibits him from bringing the guilty party (or in this case 'parties') to justice.

Rowland is great at making 17th century Japan seem real, and goes into exquisite detail about the material (and, more crassly, moral) circumstances in which her characters live. That alone made the book worth reading, and made me interested in reading Bundori as a follow-up. However, Shinju has serious drawbacks. Anyone who reads mysteries regularly will have no trouble solving Shinju by halfway through the book. The main problem, though, is Rowland's ponderous writing. Her action scenes and urban descriptions are great; but anything about characters' thoughts and motivations gets wordy and dull very fast. Instead of letting readers figure out why characters respond as they do (except for the highly-scrutable inscrutable suspects) she beats to death the possibilities with lists of questions the characters are supposed to have flashing through their minds. In addition, no one moves a muscle in this story without Rowland reporting on its flexion. It's as if she do! ! esn't trust the readers to be as smart as she is. That's annoying. Shinju is a lovely historical tapestry, and compelling as a result. Frankly, I think Rowland should drop the mystery element (which is profoundly unsatisfying) and just write novels of 17th Century Japan. They would probably be great.

A highly detailed series debut set in Tokyo (Edo) circa 1690. The detective is a newly appointed samurai police officer who quickly manages to piss off his boss and underlings by sticking his naively inquisitive nose into various matters, most notably, a ritual lovers' suicide he is ordered not to investigate. Of course our hero has an inner conflict which rages between duty and justice which battles most of the book, as he gets himself deeper and deeper in hot water. The mystery itself is nothing special, and relies on a villain who is more than slightly crazed. The fun in the book is in all the little details about urban Japanese life and customs of the era, as well as the political background. This is presented very fluidly and is well-woven into the plot.

Unfortunately this promising story is "over-told." The author seems overly enthusiastic to prove she's done her history homework, and the resulting writing style made me feel like I was back in grammar school. If you've ever read anything about Japan at all you will skim several of the awkward descriptions and translations that the author tries to weave seamlessly into the story. The conflict between the main character Sano's sense of filial duty and obedience as a samurai and his burning desire to get to the truth of the murder is weakly explored. Instead of any real conflict emerging, the author just has him think "oh, my father will be so upset, this goes against my whole being as a samurai, I should really stop this investigation" every few pages. By the end of each paragraph he has decided to carry on, in pursuit of justice (mostly for the people who have died as a result of his investigations, and also for the sad courtesan he slept with once, which is a bit tough to empathize with)! What a surprise! The ending took far too long and was a deus ex machina, there wasn't any real suspense. I wanted to know what happened, but I found myself consistently annoyed with having so far to go before the book's end. For those with zero understanding of medieval Japanese culture, this could be a pretty interesting way of learning a great deal. For a more fun take on medieval Japan (that also explores the mystical and spiritual) I'd recommend Tomoe Gozen.

This is an example of how mysteries should be written. The characters should be engaging, there should be action and twists in the plot, and of course there should be a cathartic moment for the main character.

That the author is an intelligent woman is clear from the writing style and the history that fills the background of the novel comes to life through the author's efforts. I particularly liked the good descriptions of the cities and caste system.

The main character Sano Ichiro is a good solid main character - he's different than the corrupted or lazy compatriots of his class. He's got a lot of brains and some martial skill, but he fights the oppressive weight of Fate, most of the time. He is no expert in solving crimes, no expert in politics, but he has a good heart and he is motivated by wanting to make his family proud. The frustrations that he experiences come from all directions - even from those whom he thought were friendly. And, this naturally causes the reader to feel compassion for him.

The villian was a bit on the slightly ridiculous side, but not so much that it made the novel unbearable. I recommend this mystery to anyone who doesn't need a lot of action to their mysteries and who likes historical novels. It encouraged me to pick up the next book in the series, so I must admit that I am well-pleased.

Sinju is the first, but definitely not the best of the Sano Ichiro series.

While this is a good book, it is not a great book. That being said, it is pretty much necessary character development if you want to get some of the dynamics of interaction in the rest of the stories. If I had read this first, I may not have been so enthusiastic about the rest of the series, but because I read "Bundori" first I was hooked years ago. I kind of look at Sinju as an interesting prequel. It is a pretty good detective story, a pretty good historical novel, and a pretty good look at the "Boshido Way" in the end of the Samuri era.

So my advice is, if you are interested in any of these themes, this is a good read. However, you will probably like the next story much better (I know I did), so get "Bundori" also and read through if you have the patience, otherwise, start with Bundori and get hooked on the series first and then go back and read "Sinju" for a better understanding of the primary characters.

As for the rest of the series, Ms. Roland's writing gets better all the time .

I very much enjoyed this book (and indeed the whole series). A medieval samurai detective sounds kind of far off, but the books are well written and well researched (I had my Japanese exchange students verify that). The book is well paced, the plot well scripted, and the characters fleshed out. The actual murderer is always a revelation, the mark of a good mystery writer. You were SURE it was so-and-so, and here.....

If you like a story about a samurai policeman who bumbles his way through 437 pages, you'll like this book. Entirely unsamurai-like, Sano allows himself to be pushed around by commoners and other samurai alike. His interrogation of witnesses is childlike, but luckily everyone always blurts out what he needs to know. And don't worry about the plot getting too complex to follow...Sano clicks on to what is actually happening about a half page after the reader. And he's really good at spotting lies. Of course, so would I be if every liar shifted nervously from foot to foot and/or stared at the ground while talking! The author treats her audience as if they were stupid and better "mystery" can be had with The Hardy Boys. Very disappointing.

This was my introduction to Sano Ichiro (and Rowland's books) and I was fascinated with the descriptions of 17th century Japan. I've done a bit of historical reading into that era (early Shin Buddhism) and found this book was accurate and richly descriptive.

As for the character of Sano, I understand some of the other comments that he wasn't "heroic" enough for a Samurai. But that was one of the things that made him interesting to me. He is a quite "average" man who gets caught up in a system that can easily swallow him whole.

The book, although it had a few minor flaws, was intriquing enough for me to read several more of the series and it's interesting to see the way Sano's character develops. I just finished the fourth book in the series (The Concubine's Tattoo) and look forward to all the others.

What to say about this one? Exotic setting (17th century Japan), interesting main character (Sano Ichiro, a samurai lawman dedicated to finding out the truth), a solid plot (will the valiant detective be able to solve two murders in a corrupt society that just wants to cover them up). I really was sold on it when I first heard of this book.

Unfortunately, this is another first novel with some big stylistic problems. What was good about it was good enough that I will probably try the next book in the series, but the writing style--passive action scenes and a superabundance of description--so weighed down my enjoyment that I had to put the book down at a certain point and read other things for awhile before I could return to it and finish.

But what was good about it...her characters are fully fleshed people. Even minor characters resonate. The plot was complicated and intriguing, but not at all hard to follow, and some of those passages of description were quite beautiful.