Book Review: The Fire Kimono by Laura Joh Rowland

The Fire Kimono

Well, I finally finished The Fire Kimono, not because it was dull or boring, quite the contrary, but because my cabin fever had me out and about. I finally had to head to the bookstore to sit in a corner and finish it in installments, all 207 pages.

Laura Joh Rowland does another excellent job in having her early 18th century protagonist, Chamberlain Sano Ichiro, solve crimes while avoiding family disasters as well as execution by an ineffective and vascillating shogun.

The discovery of a 40 year old skeleton buried under a tree brings to light old family secrets involving the shogun's family as well as Chamberlain Sano's mother. Trying to protect her as well as discover the truth about her past puts Sano and his immediate family in grave danger.

I loved the unfolding of the plot and how relationships are developed and tested during the novel: mother/son, husband/wife, daughter-in-law/mother-in-law, shogun/vassal, and the samurai/bushido code of conduct. Rowland has excelled in one of the best in this mystery series.