Shinju - Laura Joh Rowland

Not since Shogun has the lush and exotic world of ancient Japan been revealed in all its rich and fascinating detail. Beautiful, wealthy Yukiko and the lowly artist Nuriyoshi have been found dead, drowned together in a ritual double suicide or shinju. It is tragic, but these things happen.

Only, one man is unsatisfied with the official report. n nWhen beautiful, wealthy Yukiko and low-born artist Noriyoshi are found drowned together in a shinju, or ritual double suicide, everyone believes the culprit was forbidden love. Everyone but newly appointed yoriki Sano Ichiro.n nDespite the official verdict and warnings from his superiors, the shogun's Most Honorable Investigator of Events, Situations, and People suspects the deaths weren't just a tragedy -- they were murder. Risking his family's good name and his own life, Sano will search for a killer across every level of society -- determined to find answers to a mystery no one wants solved.

No one but Sano...n nAs subtle and beautiful as the culture it evokes, Shinju vividly re-creates a world of ornate tearooms and guady pleasure-palaces, cloistered mountaintop convents and dealthy prisons. n nPart love story, part myster, Shinju is a tour that will dazzle and entertain all who enter its world.n