The Snow Empress is a 2007 mystery novel written by Laura Joh Rowland, set in the Genroku of historical Japan It is the 12th book in the Sano Ichiro series. It combines a murder mystery with a portrayal of the strained, and often xenophobic relations between the Japanese rulers and the aboriginal inhabitants of Hokkaido, the Ainu . The prologue begins in autumn of AD 1699, with the murder of an unidentified woman in Hokkaido, followed by the kidnapping of Sano Masahiro, son of the Shogun's Lord Chamberlain, Sano Ichiro, at the autumn festivities at the Zōjō Temple in Edo city.... Several months later, Sano is summoned by the shogun to undertake a mission. Lord Matsumae Masaki , who administers the country's northernmost domain, has failed to report to the capital as scheduled, and messengers despatched to Hokkaido have not returned. With tensions rising between Sano and his rival, Lord Matsudaira, the last thing Sano wants is to leave Edo, but Matsudaira produces the piece of a toy sword belonging to Masahiro: it seems Matsudaira's agents have sent Sano's son north, leaving him no choice but to go to Ezogashima.
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| Author: | Laura Joh Rowland |
| Genre: | Fiction, Mystery, Suspense |
| Year published: | 2007 |
| Number of editions: | 2 |