The Hell Screen

Government official turned sleuth Akitada Sugawara, on his way home to attend the sickbed of his bitter, aging mother, is spending the night at a monastery when he finds himself drawn to a brilliantly illustrated screen depicting the horrors of hell. His brief stay is complicated by the murder of a beautiful young woman. Personal and professional interests begin to merge as Akitada becomes ensnared in a tangled web of deceit and malevolence that will, in the end, strike very close to home.

The Convict’s Sword

“Some days he felt the shame of that half-forgotten promise almost like a physical blow, or a sword thrust into his belly, like that agonizing wound which had taken Haseo’s life.” Haunted by his vow to find the man responsible for the death of his friend Haseo, Lord Sugawara Akitada, senior secretary in the Ministry of Justice, temporarily abandons his post and sets out to fulfill his promise. But Haseo, condemned to die in exile for a crime he did not commit, left only his sword behind as a clue to his past. At the same time, Akitada’s retainer, Tora, is investigating the violent death of a blind street singer amid a smallpox outbreak that threatens the entire city. Weaving together history, drama, mystery, romance, and adventure, The Convict’s Sword is a story of passion and redemption that brings eleventh-century Japan vividly to life.

The Masuda Affair

Eleventh-centuryJapan: Government official Sugawara Akitada is on his way home to the capital of Heian-Kyo when he finds a small mute boy on a deserted road. Akitada, still grieving for his own small son, opens his arms to the child. The search for the boy’s parents uncovers a harrowing story of love, murder and abandonment, distracting Akitada from his own troubles, but putting his career and reputation at risk. Meanwhile, Akitada’s faithful servant Tora has troubles of his own: he has lost his new bride to a powerful man who pursues beautiful women and will stop at nothing to possess them. The trails of these two seemingly unrelated cases lead Akitada and Tora to the entertainers and prostitutes of the amusement quarter, and murder follows in their footsteps .

The Fires of the Gods

Eleventh-centuryJapan: Eleventh-century Japan. The capital of Heian-Kyo is plagued by unexplained fires, and panic is threatening to break out, but government official Sugawara Akitada has his own problems to worry about. His ailing wife is expecting a child, and he loses his job to a political appointee. When he tries to confront the nobleman who is responsible for his dismissal, however, he ends up suspected of his murder.

With no income and a growing family to support, Akitada desperately plunges into the investigation of this crime, aided by his faithful servant Tora, inadvertently placing not only his own life, but also the lives of his wife and child, in grave danger .

Death on an Autumn River

In this ninth novel in the Akitada series, Akitada takes a river journey to Naniwa to unmask officials selling information to pirates. Accompanied by a very young and naïve clerk, he witnesses the recovery of the body of a drowned child prostitute. Her image follows him even as his own problems and disasters multiply in Naniwa. Someone is sabotaging his investigation. His young clerk disappears. Akitada is attacked by two thugs, and armed men brutalize his family in the capital. When Tora joins his master, they both fall into the hands of the pirates and must fight a bloody battle to escape. Even after his official assignment is completed, it is the tragic story of the dead girl that will haunt Akitada most.

The Emperor's Woman

She was intended to be the emperor’s concubine, but she died at the bottom of a cliff near Prince Atsuhira’s private villa. The palace covered up the scandal. Months later, Akitada is drawn into the case when his best friend is accused of plotting against the emperor. Atsuhira, his alleged co-conspirator, refuses to defend himself. The mystery of the lady’s death unravels slowly, bringing danger to Akitada, whose household is already threatened by an ill-fated relationship between Genba and a prostitute which leads to his arrest for the brothel keeper’s murder.

Surrounded by a cast ranging from outcasts and assassins to noblewomen serving in the inner apartments of the imperial palace, Akitada not only delves into murky palace secrets, but his efforts to solve two murders require him to examine the many roles played by women in his society.

The Short Stories Akitada and the Way of Justice

NEW: A collection of eleven Akitada stories, arranged chronologically for his career, is now available as a Kindle Exclusive. Eleven stories, arranged chronologically, illustrate Akitada’s career. The cases are diverse, with clues ranging from moon cakes and Chinese lutes to feral cats and incense competitions. They have previously appeared in Alfred Hitchcock's Mystery magazine, and the first story won the Shamus Award.

Instruments of Murder (October 1997)

This is the first of the Akitada stories to appear in print and tells how Akitada is called away from his flute practice – much to the relief of his family – to rescue Tora who has been arrested for the murder of a wrestler. Akitada’s investigation takes him among ordinary people with extraordinary passions.

The Curio Dealer’s Wife (November 1997)

She is on tiptoe, trying to catch a glimpse of her children over the fence, when Akitada first sees her. Her strange tale about a man who, claiming to be her lost husband, has driven her out and taken over her family and her husband’s business causes Akitada to discover a vicious murder.

A Master of Go (December 1998)

Akitada arrives for his lesson with a master of go and finds the police investigating his murder. None of the old man’s earlier visitors appears to have a motive. In a contest of wits with Kobe, the police captain, Akitada solves the crime by studying the game board and applying the go lessons learned from the master.

Akitada’s First Case (July/August 1999)

Akitada, newly dismissed from his first job as a clerk in the Ministry of Justice, confides his troubles to a disappointed petitioner who hires him to find his missing daughter. His first investigation reveals that the young woman was murdered in the secret villa of a high-ranking nobleman and forces him to make a dangerous accusation.

Rain At Rashomon (January 2000)

While waiting under the wide eaves of the city gate Rashomon during a heavy rain, Akitada, overhears two men discussing murder. A month later he recognizes one of the voices again during the murder trial of a poor vagrant. The voice, however, is not that of the accused, but of one of the constables. Akitada sets out to uncover a plot within a plot.

The New Year’s Gift (April 2001)

A former maid brings Akitada a small carved turtle as a New Year’s gift and begs him to help her husband who has been arrested for the murder of his adoptive father. He had a motive and was seen by a neighbor. Akitada discovers that others also had motives and left clues. One just had to look in the right places.

Welcoming the Paddy God (December 2001)

A middle-aged Akitada runs into his old friend Kobe, now Police Superintendent, who invites him to meet a monk who has confessed to an unspeakable rape-murder of a peasant girl. Though the prisoner appears depraved and repulsive, neither Kobe nor Akitada are quite satisfied. The subsequent investigation takes Akitada to a peasant village and a strange clue involving rice planting and the worship of the paddy god.