The year is 1690. The place is Nagasaki, Japan. But the motives for murder are the same as they always have been and always will be: lust, greed, and political expedience. With the skill of a master storyteller, Laura Joh Rowland draws her readers into the treacherous society of medieval Japan, where the disfigured body of a prominent Dutch trader is found washed ashore. With few leads -- and too many enemies -- Sano Ichiro is dispatched to find the killer and bring him to justice. But as Sano gets drawn more deeply into the intrigue and deceit that surround the dead Westerner's activities, he finds that nothing is as it seems, and no one can be trusted.

In the tradition of Shogun, The Alienist, and Gorky Park, Rowland's riveting and exotic mystery is a fascinating adventure into the world of feudal Japan -- where East meets West with catastrophic consequences.

"Like Umberto Eco's classic, The Name of the Rose, Rowland's novel is an excellent whodunit. Highly recommended for all mystery fans". -- Booklist