The Convict's Sword [Paperback]

Lord Sugawara Akitada, senior secretary in the Minstry of Justice, cannot forget the promise to his friend Haseo. Condemned to die for a crime he swears he did not commit, Haeso has left few clues behind to help Akitada's hunt for answers. Although his sword remains, Akitada must first uncover the very details of the charged crime, including the victim. All records have been wiped away just as the family name of convicts are erased. Meanwhile, Akitada's retainer, Toro, investigates the the murder of Tomoe, a blind singer. As the two seek to uncover the truth, smallpox disrupts the city's normal patterns as residents flee and others seek to protect themselves.

Set in 11th century Japan, THE CONVICT'S SWORD gives an authentic look into the history of the period without sacrificing the mystery to the historical details. THE CONVICT'S SWORD is a delight for mystery lovers like myself who crave challenging complex mystery puzzles over the more linear mysteries peppered with a few red herrings. Indeed, the historical details and the mystery itself combine in equal measure to make THE CONVICT'S SWORD a thrilling adventure for fans of both genres. The mysterious lack of details sets the stage for an exciting mystery while Akitada's reasoning and examination of clues creates a mystery that leads him deeper and deeper into the setting and characters related to the mysteries. Alongside the main storyline, I.J. Parker creates subplots, such as the events and troubled relationships in his workplace and family, that create a rich depth of characterization. The characters are never static but their ongoing relationships change and deepen throughout the story as the events challenge them in new ways.

Sixth in the Sugawara Akitada mysteries, not including the short stories, THE CONVICT'S SWORD works as a stand alone for newcomers to the series, like myself, although in finishing this novel, I am eager to explore I.J. Parker's earlier mysteries and anxiously await any future releases as well. The mystery is not bogged down with a retelling of past cases nor does a reader feel a lack of information coming to the series fresh thanks to the richness of the author's characterization. Likewise, a reader need not be a scholar of Japanese history to enjoy this mystery. While the novel is packed full of historical detail, the author's style is not antiquated nor do the characters feel remote and detached. The historical details are never superfluous but rather are exquistely integrated into the characterization and hunt for clues. I.J. PARKER gives the reader a look into the Heian age and the dynamics within the city and its residents as the case takes both Akitada and Toma to look for clues in various groups of residents. THE CONVICT'S SWORD has a wonderful mixture of action, a more intellectual fine analysis of records, and the rich relationships within society and between individuals.

Sugawara Akitada, First Secretary in Heian Japan's Ministry of Justice, has a burden he needs to lay down. Five years ago, living in exile, he offered to clear a man's name for an injustice he had suffered. But he has no name, no details of the crime, and no idea what transgression he has to avenge. Add to that a superior who buries him in paperwork and spite, and you have a recipe for a man ready to question his life.

Akitada's house-man Tora loves a blind street singer. But the police find Tora standing over her body and assume he's her killer. To save himself from the gallows, he must find the real killer, but he too doesn't know enough. What is her real name, who are her mysterious connections all over the capitol, and why would a poor blind woman have a valuable hand-made cosmetics case full of silver hidden in her tiny room?

I.J. Parker's newest Akitada mystery runs her characters through the paces of solving a cascading sequence of mysteries in the midst of a medieval smallpox outbreak. Like the best historical mysteries, this novel blends character and suspense with a gradual, erudite exposition of its time and place. Parker's characters divulge their secrets a little at a time, leading us through their trials at the careful speed of life.

Fans of action detectives won't care for this book. Though it has some sword-fights and feats of derring-do, it's mainly a contemplative account of characters and place. Though that place is famous for its warrior ethic, it's also famous for etiquette and hierarchy, so to get to the dust-ups, you must sit through the proscribed bowing and scraping. But Parker makes even this intricate politesse fascinating, if you're willing to move at the pace this novel sets.

For fans of historical fiction and careful deduction, this slow but gripping novel will be a reward and treat. Smart, humane characters tell us a fascinating story in a stunningly realized setting. Nearly everything a thoughtful reader could want can be found within these pages, if you're willing to work as hard for the story as Akitada does for the people he loves.

Sugawara Akitada, an eleventh-century Japanese senior secretary in the Ministry of Justice, is determined to prove the innocence of two men: one, his current retainer who has been arrested for the murder of a blind woman, and two, a convict who died in exile. As he bails out Togo, his accused employee, and searches for deceased convict Haseo's family, Akitada also contends with a contemptuous superior, Minister Sogo, and the persistent rumors of a small pox epidemic in the city.

All of these worries eat at his relationship with his only wife Tamako (unlike other men his age he hasn't taken multiple wives -- yet). Listening to her own women's network, Tamako believes the epidemic is real and wants to protect their young son from exposure to it. But her husband, who functions in official circles in the capital and who gets out among the people more than she, insists that, since there has been no warning announcement by the government, those who leave the city out of fear of contagion are just foolishly causing panic. The rift between husband and wife grows as he rashly judges her actions and acts himself without consulting her. Feeling the distance, Akitada yearns for someone who can give him the warmth he once shared with Tamako and this leads him into a tempting situation with a beautiful woman who is already a wife of a powerful -- and dangerous -- lord. Akitada is a man from another culture and another time, but his tendency to discount his wife's opinions and behavior, his focus on job and personal crusades while allowing vital domestic issues to fester, remind us that the centuries have not changed us human beings that much. For Akitada, his "poor judgments" will exact a heavy price on him, Tamako, and others. He truly desires to do the right thing but repeatedly speaks or acts precipitously. This Achilles' heel of Akitada's renders him a character whom the reader may long to guide out of his misconceptions. Alas, one can only stand by and watch the consequences.

About fifty years ago, Robert van Gulik authored a series about crime-fighting magistrate Judge Dee who lived in seventh-century China. One of these volumes was called The Chinese Maze Murders: A Judge Dee Mystery (Gulik, Robert Hans, Judge Dee Mystery.). I. J. Parker's The Convict's Sword follows, to a degree, in van Gulik's footsteps. Although Judge Dee is a wiser man than Akitada, he also seems, by design, more god-like and less human. And Judge Dee is more secure professionally and domestically. It is interesting to compare van Gulik and Parker's depiction of women. Herself a woman, Parker, in tune with the twenty-first century, compellingly shapes the chasm of communication between the sexes as her female characters inhabit the traditional roles but also emerge with distinct personalities and strong wills.

Containing martial arts and mayhem, drama, intrigue, and romance; THE CONVICT"S SWORD is many things including an intricate and absorbing mystery reaching in several directions (although, like many mysteries, the ultimate closeness of its human associations is a trifle too coincidental). This is an as-accurate-as- possible picture of life in Japan among a cross-section of the classes and a poignant look at a harried middle rank civil servant whose sense of duty blinds him. Blindness, this superior novel imparts, isn't only a physical impairment. Highly recommended.

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