The writer Laura John Rowland executes an extremely interesting literary combination. Knowing his Chinese origins by both parents, he has a vast knowledge of oriental cultures. On the other hand, she herself confessed on one occasion that her father instilled in her the literary passion for suspense or thriller typical of such prolific authors as Agatha Christie.
Sometimes the most surprising cocktails arise from the most unpredictable mixtures. Over time, when the author reached the age of 40, she decided to write novels. Or at least that was the intention if she was lucky with the first one: Shinju. Forbidden love...
So it was. The mixture of Japanese history and tradition with a purely suspenseful plot ended up penetrating an audience eager for fresh and innovative proposals. Sometimes, reading Laura Rowland seems to be accompanied by Zen music, until a much darker tone emerges that disturbs and fascinates...
3 Recommended Novels by Laura Rowland
The Samurai Woman
I said, scent of purple shiso in the land of the rising sun. The shogun is in trouble, a great threat looms over the Japanese army. Sano Ichiro comes to the aid of this commander of the Japanese army to solve a great mystery and stop the thug who manages to intimidate all the soldiers.
Summary: Accompanied by his beautiful and vehement wife Reiko, whom after heated discussions he has accepted as an assistant to preserve marital harmony, the very honorable event, situation and person investigator Sano Ichiro travels to Miyako to solve the most challenging case of his career.
Driven by the need to maintain their status quo before the shogun, challenged by the cunning machinations of his rival Chamberlain Yanagisawa, Sano and his impetuous wife arrive at the emperor's palace with the urgent mission of unmasking the murderer who possesses the secret of kiai, 'the spiritual cry', a powerful howl capable of killing a man on the spot.
The scented kimono
Again Sano Ichiro takes the reins of an enigmatic case. After receiving a letter, the signer ends up dying. The most curious thing is that in that letter the author is already anticipating his own death. From that letter where Sano Ichiro will learn of the deceased's suspicions, he will have to compose some surprising facts ...
Summary: At the end of the XNUMXth century, Japan was on the brink of civil war. In a climate of unrest and great popular unrest, Sano Ichiro - "a very honorable investigator of events, situations, and people" and the protagonist of all the novels in the series - receives a posthumous letter from Makino, one of the Tokugawa shogun's most venerable advisers. , with the strange request that he investigate his own death.
Indeed, the late Makino sensed that he would leave this world for unnatural causes and trusted that Sano would honor his last wish. However, the investigation will soon become a dangerous state affair.
In a frantic race against time, Sano and his impetuous young wife Reiko discover that Makino was in league with Chamberlain Matsudaira, the leader of one of the warring factions, and that the dead man found in a luxurious whorehouse is nothing less than Daiemon, nephew of the chamberlain.
Shinju, the forbidden love
This first book by the author turned out to be a knock for her career. A novel that although it could still have been improved, already anticipated great coming mystery plots.
Summary: An intricate plot that transports us to the sumptuous and wonderful world of Japan in the seventeenth century. With detailed descriptions it presents us with a deadly story of conspiracy, intrigue and murder.
In complete solitude and knowing that he is being persecuted, only the integrity of Sano Ichiro will guide him to the truth, although the mystery rests even at the highest levels of government. Will he be able to discover the true nature of murder and corruption, or will the truth die with the shinju in the waters of the Sumida River?
