The Cloud Pavilion

By: Laura Joh Rowland

Narrated by: Bernadette Dunne

Length: 11 hrs and 34 mins

Publisher's summary

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 returning 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.

©2009 Laura Joh Rowland; 2009 BBC Audio

Thoroughly enjoyable

I you are worried this book may not be accessible to the average western reader don't be, not even the most rudimentary knowledge of Japanese history is necessary (although history buffs will probably get more out of it).

It really is a good detective story for the modern reader despite its setting. Although the treatment of women was often depressing the strong female characters made up for this is some way (although I doubt it is historically accurate that women could move around as freely as this book would suggest, but who cares?). The political intrigue adds another interesting dimension to the story in keeping with previous books of the series.

This is the 14th book of the Sano Ichiro Series and despite not reading any of the previous books I still enjoyed it immensely.