Laura Joh Rowland is a detective/mystery author best known for her series of mystery novels set in the late days of feudal Japan, mostly in Edo during the late 17th century. Her main protagonist is Sano Ichirō . The novels deal with the experiences of Sano Ichiro, a samurai and minor official who by the end of the first novel, became the trusted chief investigator for the fifth Tokugawa Shogun, Tokugawa Tsunayoshi, and by the tenth novel, promoted to a very high office. Throughout the stories, Sano constantly had to deal with his problems following the code of bushido while serving both... justice and his master, the Shogun; and with his wife, Ueda Reiko , who frequently involves herself in Sano's investigations. Throughout the books, Sano experiences great pressure as he is faced with death if he doesn't fulfill his obligations to the shogun as well. Rowland takes some licence with known figures, creating fictionalised versions of Tokugawa Tsunayoshi and Yanagisawa Yoshiyasu. Objective historical details, however, are credibly accurate.
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