num_pages: 376
description: A richly crafted novel set in seventeenth-century Japan, Laura Joh Rowland's The Concubine's Tattoo unfolds with all the excitement of a superb murder mystery and a sweeping, sensuous portrait of an exotic land. Sano Ichiro, the Shogun's most honorable investigator, is summoned to the imperial palace to find the murderer of Harume, a young concubine poisoned while applying a lover's tattoo. Sano's new bride, Reiko, insists on helping him with the case. Reiko's samurai blood and warrior's skill alarm her new husband, who expected a docile wife. But Reiko is only the first of many surprises... As subtle as the finest lacquered screen, as powerful as the slash of a sword, The Concubine's Tattoo vividly brings to life a story of murder, jealousy, sexual intrigue, and political storms that keeps us under its spell until the final, shattering scene.
language: English
title: The Concubine's Tattoo
titlecomplete: The Concubine's Tattoo (Sano Ichiro, #4)
genres: Historical, Crime, Japan, Asia, Historical Mystery, Mystery Thriller, Historical Fiction, Fiction, Detective, Mystery
ratings_count: 2211
series: Sano Ichiro
publisher: St. Martin's Paperbacks