Capture The Cloud Pavilion (Sano Ichiro, #14) Curated By Laura Joh Rowland Conveyed As Physical Book

fast read following the sleuthing adventures of Ichiro Sano, Now his wife Reiko and son Masahiro are really getting into the plot of the story, Reiko is proving herself to be quite a warrior in protecting others, Son Masahiro is honing his skills as a spy, Drugs, sex, and kidnapping are part of the things that happen in the cloud pavilion, Broken family ties are mended, Another excellent addition to this series, Sano is approached by his estranged uncle to find his missing daughter, Sano finds her, but she has been raped and dumped in the rain near the temple from which she was abducted, Her husband disowns her and she returns to her father's house in disgrace, Life in Edo Tokyo is hard in theth century, Reino and Sano determine they will find the kidnapper and bring him to justice, Sano is still feuding with the former chamberlain who has returned from exile to a place of honor with the shogun, Sano knows Yagishara is fomenting dissension, but he cannot prove it, This series is always full of information on the life of a samurai and the intricate details of walking the edge between offending the shogun and the rules of bushido, that govern the life of a samurai.
A good continuation of the series, but did not enjoy as much as I have others in the series, There were a few too many plot holes and lucky coincidences, and it felt rushed, And the court intrigue is becoming tiresome as its the same people, and I felt like we lost what little character development we gained a few books ago.
This was a slow read, I didn't feel absorbed until about halfway through, Perhaps if I persist to read the others in this series it might grow on me,th century Edo but eternal topics, The subjugation of women in Edoera Japan was horrific The plot was good, and I admit I was wondering what in the world Yanagisawa is upto as he's always constantly plotting and neverending in his plot to get rid of Sano.
Although it is getting somewhat stale and repetitive for the last several books and I'm wondering if there's anything new to this, At least the mystery case is new and different from previous cases, It's the same format, with Sano dealing with personal issues while trying to solve the case at the same time, It surprised me that this time the shogun did not threaten with his usual death threat when Sano wasn't doing his job "right", However, lo and behold, the shogun threatens him later in the book which induced eye rolling on my part, as it is tending to get extremely formulaic by now.


However, I still enjoy reading the well written historical descriptions of feudal Japan and its social mores and customs, It is interesting to read and I could picture the setting clearly in my head while reading, This is what I like the most about reading these books, The political intrigue was still there and I used to like reading about it in the past, this time however it was subtle and I kept on guessing what was going to happen.
It was a nice little surprise once I read Yanagisawa's vile little plot and here I thought he couldn't get any worse,

Regarding the mystery, it was all right to read, Although it wasn't as exciting as I thought it would be, The suspects weren't that great to begin with, and I felt myself not really guessing who was the perpetrator, There wasn't much to it and when it was solved, there was a great big climax which I did enjoy reading as I did sympathize with these women who were violated and then horribly ostracized and treated as if they were the ones at fault by their own families and friends.
It offered them closure, and it was a good way of ending the mystery, The political intrigue however just got started and just got really interesting however, it was at the end of the novel and I was stuck pulling my hair as to what was going to happen now to Sano and his family.


What really annoys me in this series lately is Hirata, I'm not into this mystic martial arts thing and it all makes him sound like he's superman, However I find that he doesn't do much with the plot and only continues to be annoying with using his powers, Although the introduction of the "mystery ninja" who's stalking Hirata got my interest, it wasn't enough to make me accept this mystic martial arts plot, I still prefer the "old" Hirata before he became a martial arts master,

Overall, a long time fan isn't missing much in terms of mystery but the political intrigue packs a huge punch at the end, I'd say read it just because you've probably read the previousbooks before, Those new to Sano Ichiro may or may not like this one however if you ask me, try reading The Concubine's Tattoo which is my personal favorite.
This was a favorite series of mine at one time, I still love Sano Ichiro and his wife Reiko, but Rowland got repetitive, sitelinkThe Snow Empress was a definite change of pace which I enjoyed, This book, however, is fairly usual, I did like the role that Reiko played in helping a couple of the woman victims and the way the book resolved, I'm never a fan of crime stories in which women are victims of perverse crimes, but I had a free copy of this book amp decided to read it or donate it.
So, I read it, although some of the crimes were really creepy, The scenes are written very clearly, and I feel as though I'd watched a movie rather than read a book, I liked the main characters and will have to read more from this series, I loved the book, although most members of a book club I belong to did not, I'm uncertain if it is the demographics of the group or something else,

FIVE STARS. "The Cloud Pavilion"by Laura Joh Rowland is a historical mystery novel that is set in seventeenth century feudal Japan in the Genroku period, Chamberlain Sano Ichiro is one of the two lead investigators working at the behest of the Shogun to solve all manner of crimes within and against his empire.
Sano, together with the main antagonist, Yanagisawa and their samurai brethren work together to solve the mystery of the abduction and rape of a nursing mother, elderly nun and a young girl.
Sano's estranged uncle, Major Kumazawa, reluctantly asks Sano for help in finding his missing cousin, Chiyo who is one of the rape victims, The main story is artfully woven within several subplots that keep the reader engaged, Rowland enriches the story with information about the Japanese culture, politics and structure of the empire, as well as elements of the mystical, Several strong women characters, including Sano's wife, Reiko who helps with the investigation, provide grace and balance to the story, The book is a good, steady read, Although there are some surprises, the main strength of the book is the tapestry of characters, images and plots, This was a thoroughly entertaining read for me, I kept going back to it as though I was spending time, comfortably with a good friend,

Go to sitelink blogspot. com/ for more reviews! This book landed in my lap and I picked it up, Afterpages if it hadn't been set in thes in Japan, and hadn't had a starred PW review, I would have dropped it, I should have. I'd never read Rowland before, and won't again, although I love the time period, Its characters were cookiecuttered, laughably sexist and transparent the storyline was simple and obvious the "dangers" were regular and predictable the feudal Japan details were interesting, but not nearly enough.
Oh well. Japan,. A woman is brutally attacked within a bamboo prison as clouds swirl around her head, Meanwhile, at Edo Castle, samurai detective turned chamberlain Sano Ichiro is suspicious of his old rival, Yanagisawa, who has been oddly cooperative since returning from exile.


But just as Yanagisawas true motives begin to emerge, Sanos estranged uncle comes to him for help: His daughter has disappeared, and he begs Sano and his wifewho once suffered through the kidnapping of their own sonto find her before it is too late.


I gave up on this one because of the theme and descriptions of rape, for the audiobook. Another detective story from Sano Ichiro the chief investigator of the Shogun, Blending detective story with political intrigue and a dose of historical and cultural background it sometimes loses the focus on the mystery to be solved, Sano with the help of his wife who aids with his investigation it comes together at the end, Not sure if all the side plots are needed though, This mystery in the Sano Ichiro series finds that Sano's cousin has been kidnapped and his estranged uncle comes to him for help, While looking for her, a yound girl and an elderly nun are also kidnapped and raped and all are found wandering in the streets, Sano tries to find who is doing this and when the Shogun's wife is kidnapped, the stakes are feven higher.
Reiko, Sano's wife gets involved in the investigation at physical risk to herself, As the story comes to a conclusion, Sano finds out his enemy, Lord Yanagisawa has been plotting against him even as he pretended to working in concert with Sano as both are sharing the Lord Chamberlain job which is second in comand next to the Shogun.
The end of this story finds Sano demoted to his former job and Yanagisawa in his former job, He now has to regain the Shogun's esteem, However, the rapists are found and punished, Court intrige and politics swirl and the Shogun's power is such that he can have anyone executed at whim,
Everyone walks on eggshells while conniving for power

and wealth, Perhaps the next book will find Sano restored to power, TBA I've read several of these books and, as the in my review say, I like them, I've liked other ones better than this one, though, For one thing, this one was about rapes, and I'd always rather not read about rapes, I didn't get a good immersive feel about the time and culture, as I have in other books, If you like books about Japan, historical mysteries, books with strong female characters, and maybe a touch of Crouching Tiger, Hidden Dragon, this series is for you.
Maybe don't start with this particular book, but it isn't a BAD book, I liked it. I just wasn't crazygonuts about it, This mystery involves Sano's estranged family and Sano's and Reiko's growing son, I always enjoy these books, I enjoyed this book, but then I have enjoyed all of Rowland's Sano Ichiro series, This series of stories are an intriguing mix of crime detection, political intrigue and the ins and outs of Japanese culture at the end of thes.
All these elements come together well in "The Cloud Pavillion",
Sano is approached by his estranged uncle who wishes him to investigate the abduction and later rape of his daughter, Sano's cousin, Rape, apparently, was not a crime inth century Japan, The husband, and family, could cast out the victim because of the "dishonour" she has brought on the family, The only reason why this "crime" is being investigated is because it is a matter of seeking revenge, In the process of investigating Sano uncovers two other abductions and rapes and the plot becomes more complex, There is a degree of predictability in the "crime", The villains turn out to be quite predictable in the end but the investigation, and all the complications attached to it, are quite interesting,
Then comes the politics, I have read criticism of the rolling feature of the political fighting between Sano and Yangisawa but don't totally agree with it, We are, after all, in the Shogun's court, in the almost neurotic and highly dangerous atmosphere of Samurai Japan, In the case of "The Cloud Pavillion" the politics becomes more subtle and the outcomes leave us with new possibilities, .