SummaryNovember 1694. The streets of Edo are erupting in violence
as two factions struggle for control over the ruling
Tokugawa regime. One is led by the shogun's cousin, Lord
Matsudaira, and the other by the shogun's second-in-
command, Chamberlain Yanagisawa. Each side pressures Sano
Ichiro, the shogun's most honorable investigator, to join
its ranks. When one of the shogun's most trusted advisers is found
dead, Sano is forced to honor a posthumous request for a
murder investigation. Senior Elder Makino believed that his
death would be the result of assassination rather than
natural causes. Although he and Sano were bitter enemies,
Makino knew that the incorruptible Sano would be duty-bound
to oblige his final wish.
Under the watchful eyes and thinly veiled threats of both
Lord Matsudaira and Chamberlain Yanagisawa, Sano moves with
caution. Each is eager to implicate the other in Makino's
death. Sano must discover whether the death was indeed
murder, and if so, whether it was motivated by politics,
love, or sex. The discovery of secret alliances, both
romantic and military, further complicates matters. Sano's
investigation has barely begun when violent death claims
another of the shogun's favorites. With his wife, Reiko, working undercover, Sano and his
chief retainer, Hirata, must not only investigate multiple
deaths, but stem the tide of an impending civil war.
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