Review: The Concubine’s Tattoo by Laura Joh Rowland

by Chriss Cornish published: May 3, 2010 No Comments

C is for Concubine’s Tattoo, The

This Book Is About

Sano Ichiro, the shogun’s most honorable investigator of events, situations, and people, looks forward to the comforts that his arranged marriage promises. However, the death of the shogun’s favorite concubine interrupts the couple’s wedding ceremony and shatters any hopes the samurai detective had about enjoying a little peace with his new wife.

After Sano traces the cause of Lady Harume’s death to a self-inflicted tattoo, he must travel into the cloistered, forbidden world of the shogun’s women to untangle the complicated web of Harume’s lovers, rivals, and troubled past to identify her killer. To make matters worse, Reiko, his beautiful young bride, reveals herself to be not a traditional, obedient wife, but a headstrong, intelligent, aspiring detective bent on helping Sano with his new case. Sano is horrified at her unladylike behavior, and the resulting sparks make their budding love as exciting as the mystery surrounding Lady Harume’s death.

My Thoughts On This Book

The Concubine’s Tattoo is my favorite book in the Sano Ichiro historical mystery series, which is set in 17th century feudal Japan during the Tokugawa era. It’s told from the third person and the narration follows both Sano and Reiko equally, though they’re just two of the three point of view characters (the other being one of the Shogun’s advisers, who is also an antagonist and Sano’s opposition at court).

The book starts with Sano and Reiko’s wedding. The interesting part of that is that you not only get the ceremony but the young bride’s adjustment to the restrictions of suddenly being a man’s wife; she has to blacken her teeth and her father can no longer take her advice on his court cases. So, in addition to the murder mystery itself (which both Sano and Reiko play important roles in solving) you get a more personal tale of young people bound by their society.

I enjoy the author’s writing style, which is both visual and gritty. You get a grimier vision of Edo Era Japan than author’s usually write, from children sold as circus freaks by their parents to a physician who has to live in jail in order to practice anatomy. You also get a bigger picture of women in feudal Japan as well, not just through Reiko (the main character’s new bride) but the victim herself, the Shogun’s mother, the concubines, the prostitutes, and one of the antagonists.

Overall, The Concubine’s Tattoo is more like a police drama set in Japan in the 1600s.