Review of "Black Lotus" by Laura Joh Rowland

I am addicted to this charming series of mysteries set in Japan when the samuris ruled the country. The time is 1693 in Japan. There is a temple called "Black Lotus," which plays a role as a spiritual center for hundreds of Buddhist nuns, monks, priests and orphans. Suspicions abound about the temple and the strange doings that go on there including perhaps murder.

The samurai-detective Sano Ichiro is called upon to investigate a fire in a cottage that belongs to the temple. Sano and his wife begin to look into things, with the social restrictions that are so rigid in the Japan of that time. We are taken on the careful and politically correct investigations that precede an arrest, and to see the speed with which the arrested are always found guilty.

This time, a young woman is being investigated in a death that involved the Temple and more fires. Sano's wife become very involved when she begins to feel sorry for the young woman, and to believe her tale of abused inside the cult. Women in Japan do not investigate police matters, and Sano's wife gets into a lot of problems both with her own beliefs, and her husband whose position depends on the peculiarities of the ruling clans.

Together Sano and his investigators discover the cult beliefs and traitorous intentions of the Black Lotus Monks. There are more murders and lots of excitement as a revolution breaks out and Sano must find the truth, for his and his wife's sake as well as the country.

Like the previous books, this is just a darn good yarn. Author Laura Joh Roland brings us into the daily life of seventeenth century Japan, and a mystery that is filled with characters that are foreign and familiar at the same time. Catch one of her earlier books "The Samurai's Wife" or "The Concubines Tattoo". Both are also fine mysteries to enjoy.