• The Hell Screen

  • By: I. J. Parker
  • Narrated by: Roy Vongtama
  • Length: 15 hrs and 2 mins
  • 4.2 out of 5 stars (42 ratings)

Publisher's summary

An exotic mystery set in 11th-century Japan....

Akitada is on his way to the bedside of his dying mother when bad weather forces him to take refuge in a temple whose central treasure is a brilliantly painted hell screen. Perhaps its violent imagery influences his dreams: that night he is awakened by a terrible scream.

It's only after Akitada returns to his family and a scene of domestic unhappiness and scandal that the significance of that cry becomes clear. For while he slept, a woman was murdered, and now he must find her killer, even if it means looking very close to home.

©2008 I. J. Parker (P)2008 Books on Tape

Critic reviews

"Elegant and entertaining....Parker has created a wonderful protagonist in Akitada....She puts us at ease in a Japan of one thousand years ago." (The Boston Globe)
"Akitada is as rich a character as Robert Van Gulik's intriguing detective, Judge Dee." (The Dallas Morning News)

What listeners say about The Hell Screen

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  • Overall
    5 out of 5 stars

The Hell Screen

I wish I had read this one in order.....UGHHHHH. This one is set when Akitada takes a job in the far north, and the trials the family endures while up there. But, this is a very good novel featuring this family and his retainers.

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  • Overall
    4 out of 5 stars
  • Performance
    3 out of 5 stars
  • Story
    5 out of 5 stars

probably the best one in the series

gruesome horror, but better character development than others. ends positively. narrator's regional accent was distracting.

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