Cloud Pavilion

A fortress in the sky...

Japan, 1701. 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 his return from exile.

But just as Yanagisawa's true motives begin to emerge, Sano's estranged uncle comes to him for help: his daughter has disappeared, and he begs Sano and his wife - who once suffered through the kidnapping of their own son - to find her before it is too late.

“Positively smokes with historical atmospherics.”

- Publishers Weekly

Exotic and beguiling... a tour de force of imagination.

Masterfully evokes the subtleties and contradictions of seventeenth-century Japan. - Kirkus Reviews

Like Umberto Eco's The Name of the Rose, Rowland's novel is an excellent whodunit. - Booklist

Laura Joh Rowland came to writing by accident, having first gained a degree in microbiology and a masters in public health, and then working as a chemist and microbiologist. She is the author of more than a dozen acclaimed murder mysteries, particularly the Sano Ichiro series set in feudal Japan and featuring samurai detective Sano Ichiro. The granddaughter of Chinese and Korean immigrants, Laura Joh Rowland grew up in Michigan and now lives in New Orleans.

A fortress in the sky... Japan, 1701. 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 his return from exile.But just as Yanagisawa's true motives begin to emerge, Sano's estranged uncle comes to him for help: his daughter has disappeared, and he begs Sano and his wife - who once suffered through the kidnapping of their own son - to find her before it is too late.

This item is eligible for free returns within 30 days of delivery. See our returns policy for further details.