Free today from Amazon:
The Fires of the Gods (Sugawara Akitada Mysteries #7) by I.J. Parker
UK
Publishers Weekly says the book comes after the The Masuda Affair (free last month), but the author's
Wikipedia page lists the book between The Convict's Sword and The Masuda Affair.
Quote:
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Japan, in the eleventh century. Sugawara Akitada, senior secretary in the Ministry of Justice, is having a bad couple of days. A series of fires is devastating the capital city of Heian-Kyo (much later to be known as Kyoto). On the personal and professional front, some nasty, behind-the-scenes political machinations cause Akitada to be demoted to junior secretary, and an incompetent crawler to be installed in his place. Then, after Akitada goes to the home of the man who orchestrated his demotion, the man is murdered, and, wouldn't you know it, Akitada is accused of the crime. He knows he has the ability to prove his innocence, but he's wading into very dangerous waters, and there's a good chance he might not emerged unscathed. This is another sharply written, imaginative entry in the Akitada series. Parker, like Laura Joh Rowland, author of the Sano Ichiro series (set some 700 years later), is adept at blending historical fact and fiction and at giving the reader an education in Japanese history and culture without making a big deal about it. --Booklist, March 1, 2011
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