The Dragon Scroll (Sugawara Akitada Series #3) by I. J. Parker
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(Paperback)
- Pub. Date: June 2005
- 432pp
- Sales Rank: 68,880
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Product Details
- Pub. Date: June 2005
- Publisher: Penguin Group (USA) Incorporated
- Format: Paperback, 432pp
- Sales Rank: 68,880
- Series: Sugawara Akitada Series, #3
- ISBN-13: 9780143035329
- ISBN: 0143035320
Synopsis
In an adventure filled with highway bandits, unscrupulous politicians, and renegade monks, The Dragon Scroll introduces readers to the lively world of eleventh-century Japan and an irrepressible hero—Sugawara Akitada. On his first official assignment, Akitada—an impoverished nobleman and earnest young government clerk in the Ministry of Justice—is sent from the capital city on a nearly impossible mission to the distant province of Kazusa to discover why tax convoys are disappearing. In the politically murky world of the Japanese court, he has been set up to fail. Against the odds, the ever-resourceful Akitada, his elderly servant Seimei, and his impudent bodyguard Tora are determined to fulfill their mission and discover the truth in a town of dangerous secrets.
Publishers Weekly
Shamus-winner Parker's impressive third Sugawara Akitada mystery (after 2003's The Hell Screen) deftly pulls the reader into the world of 11th-century Japan. Someone sets up Akitada, a young junior clerk in the ministry of justice, to fail on his first assignment, which is to travel to the province of Kazusa and track down the thieves responsible for missing tax shipments from that remote region. While Akitada's suspicions center on Kazusa's governor, he has to rethink his plans when the governor's predecessor, who had requested a clandestine meeting with Akitada, is murdered. Before he can make much headway solving either crime, Akitada is recalled to the capital, where he faces additional challenges. Parker manages the impressive feat of presenting a classic whodunit in an exotic and unfamiliar setting. Agent, Jean Naggar. 3-city author tour. (June 28) Copyright 2005 Reed Business Information.
More Reviews and RecommendationsBiography
I. J. Parker, winner of the Shamus Award for "Akitada's First Case," a short story published in 1999, lives in Virginia Beach, Virginia. She writes regularly for Alfred Hitchcock's Mystery Magazine.
Customer Reviews
Love, crime, honor all in feudal Ancient Japan - a Sugawara Akitada mystery!by gl
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May 22, 2009: The third in the series by I.J. Parker, The Dragon Scroll features young Sugawara Akitada, an impoverished samurai of noble birth serving as a government clerk at the Ministry of Justice. Sugawara is assigned to investigate the disappearance of tax convoys in the distant province of Kazusa, a seemingly impossible mission. He is accompanied by his loyal family retainer and trusted companion, Seimei. Along the way, Sugawara and Seimei befriend Tora, an army deserter who becomes his servant, and a familiar character in the Sugawara Akitada series.
Sugawara must exercise his full powers of diplomacy as he examines the accounts of the outgoing governor Fujiwara Motosuke, soon-to-be father-in-law of the Emperor and confronts Master Joto, the Abbot of the local temple. It is while hunting down the lost tax convoys, that Sugawara comes across evidence of several seemingly unrelated murders - that of a lady-in-waiting of the imperial household in the capital, of a retired former governor of Kazusa province, of local prostitutes in Fujisawa and Kazusa provinces.Fortunately, Sugawara's good nature and honesty win him friends and allies. He is accompanied by his loyal family retainer and trusted companion, Seimei. Along the way, Sugawara befriends Tora, an army deserter who becomes his servant, and a familiar character in the Sugawara Akitada series. Sugawara is also aided by Higekuro, a crippled instructor in martial arts and Higekuro's two lovely and unconventional daughters.Review:I like escapist fiction very much and I'm partial to detective novels that are set in an unusual time or place. The Sugawara Akitada series, set in Ancient Japan, piqued my interest immediately. The style and language fully communicate a different time and place. The dialogue, interaction between the characters, the description of landscape, customs, and culture work so that you are always aware that the action is going on in a very different time and place. However, at the same time, Sugawara and his colleagues are very accessible and I found myself sympathizing with their problems, heartaches, and difficulties and hoping for their triumphs. I recommend this book to anyone looking for an unusual detective series and with a fondness for Japanese history and culture.Old Japan? It's fun, anyway.by Anonymous
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March 02, 2009: This is an entertaining read in historical Japanese dress. Characters and plot are sharply drawn and amusing. Certain plot elements seem a bit modern and anachronistic for their setting. For example, one of the hero's servants seems far too saucy, and his master is improbably tolerant of misbehavior. This could simply be due to my unfamiliarity with mores of that time and place. Other story elements remind me of Toshiro Mifune movies. Perhaps that is not a bad thing. Main character Sugawara Akitada is appealingly noble and acute. This particular story features a very strong (literally) female martial arts expert.
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