Customer Reviews

The Hell Screen

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I.J. Parker surpassed many of her peers when she spun up the first story of Sugawara Akitada, an impoverished aristocrat in Japanese's medieval times.

And she does an even more entertaining -- and chilling -- job in the second book in the series "The Hell Screen," spinning together plenty of weird humor, a truly horrific serial killer, and plenty of historical details about medieval Japan's capital city. And her hero -- the perpetually stressed-out Akitada -- is a solid detective with plenty of brains and some intriguing skeletons hidden in his past.

After some years as a provisional governor, Sugawara Akitada is returning to Heian Kyo (Kyoto) ahead of his wife and baby son. His mother is dying, and even though they can't stand each other, traditions dictate he should be there. Along the way there he stays in a Buddhist monastery and hears a scream in the middle of the night -- and upon returning to Hiean Kyo, he learns that a young woman was murdered by her brother-in-law that night. It has nothing to do with Akitada until he learns that his younger sister Yoshiko is in love with the man who is accused of murder.

Even worse, his brother-in-law has been accused of stealing imperial treasures, so Akitada does some snooping around. But his investigations lead him back to the woman murdered in the monastery, a feisty female wrester, a traveling troupe, and to a strange old artist who makes extremely graphic "hell screens" for monks -- and who may be a murderer himself. But if he doesn't quickly uncover who is involved in the assorted deaths, he might be the next one to die....

Most murder mysteries take place either in gritty modern urban settings, or in cozy Anglo/American settings. So the setting of "The Hell Screen" is unusual in itself, since its urban setting is not only decidedly unmodern but is ruled by the mores and laws of a now-past historical era. And while Parker has clearly done her research, she doesn't overwhelm readers by trying to show how much she knows -- she simply coats her mysteries in the rich flavours, rituals and traditions of Heian-era Japan and lets the story flow.

The basics of your average murder mystery are here: A lot of clues, coverups, clever tricks, red herrings, a persistent detective and a disgruntled cop who hates it when the detective gets the limelight. And as in the first book, there are multiple crimes with multiple guilty parties -- theft, cold-blooded financial murder, and even a serial killer. Parker interweaves several different subplots with a juggler's dexterity -- the weird old artist, the seemingly obvious murder of the woman at the monastery, and the involvement of a acrobatic troupe. And Akitada is distracted during all of this by his continuing family troubles, especially since Mommy Dearest is about to croak.

And Parker's solid, detailed writing is able to evoke some pretty ghastly scenes, such as when poor Akitada is left to slowly freeze to death outdoors. But she also loosens up with some fun comic relief, mostly from ex-ruffian servants Genbu and Tora -- and particularly from Miss Plumblossom, an imposing and obese acrobat who does something really cruel to Tora's manly bits.

As for Akitada, he's a solid detective -- smart, logical, and now a doting daddy as well as a loving husband. Some new facets of his life are revealed in this book, as Akitada finds out why his mother has always loathed him and the true nature of his origins. Tora and Genba serve as excellent backup -- although Genba gets distracted by Miss Plumblossom -- while Yoshiko gets to take a front-and-center role in this book, when she tries to stand by her imprisoned lover.

Heian-era mystery, death, love and theft are all interwoven in "The Hell Screen," and IJ Parker's likable detectives and solid writing mean that there's room for many more of her books on the mystery shelves.

I don't know, but an 11th century Japanese aristocrat using words like "tomboy" just doesn't do it for me....while Parker's second novel is OK, it isn't anywhere near as polished as the Sano Ichiro series by Laura Joh Rowland.

I.J. Parker's "Rashomon Gate" was a solid, multilayered mystery that strays away from the typical twentieth-century American/British settings. The attention to detail, humor and horror intertwine to make her second book "The Hell Screen: A Mystery of Ancient Japan" even more likable than the first.

Sugawara Akitada is returning to Heian Kyo (Kyoto) after a time as a provisional governer far from home. He rides ahead of his beloved wife and young son, since his mother is dying and he wants to get there before she does die. When he spends the night at a Buddhist monastery along the way, he hears a scream in the middle of the night -- and when he returns to Heian Kyo, he learns that a woman was murdered by her brother-in-law that night.

To make things even worse, his sister Akiko's new husband is accused of stealing imperial treasures. Looking for the stolen objects leads him back to the murdered woman, and a disturbing secret about his own family: His other sister, Yoshiko, is in love with the man who seems to have murdered his sister-in-law. Perhaps most horrifyingly, he will learn the grisly secret behind the monastery's graphic depiction of torture, the "hell screen."

The basics of your average murder mystery are here: A lot of clues, coverups, clever tricks, red herrings, a persistent detective and a disgruntled cop. The setting is unusual in itself, since most mysteries don't dip into Heian-era Japan, which is shown in rich detail in "Hell Screen." Parker has clearly done her research. She doesn't overwhelm you with too many details of her research, just letting it flow.

Parker also shows her ability to manage subplots: Akitada is distracted by his mother's rage toward him, and a startling secret about his parentage. We also get to see more of Genba and Tora, a pair of ex-ruffians who work for Akitada. There's also more humor in this book than in "Rashomon Gate," as if Parker has loosened up. (Exhibit A: The imposing, obese acrobat, Miss Plumblossom, and what she does to poor Tora) As in the first book, there are multiple crimes with multiple guilty parties -- theft, cold-blooded financial murder, and even a serial killer.

Akitada is a good detective. He's smart and has a logical mind, while still being flawed; his carelessness almost gets him killed at one point. Tora and Genba serve as good backups, and police superintendent Kobe is still stubborn and unwilling to take Akitada's help. Additionally, Akitada's sister Yoshiko -- a minor character in the first book -- gets to go front and center when she tries to stand by her imprisoned lover.

Mystery fans will enjoy Parker's second mystery set in Heian-era Japan, and the likable hero and characters she's crafted for it. "Hell Screen: A Mystery of Ancient Japan" is a solid sequel, and highly recommended.

In a dramatic opening scene, a woman and an unconscious man wait in the darkness of a monastery cell for the woman's lover, who arrives bearing the body of a another young woman. Annoyed when her lover shows signs of weakness and has qualms about beheading the corpse, the woman begins the gory process herself. The reader quickly becomes caught up in the action as a former official in the Justice Department, also spending the night at the same monastery, begins an investigation into the murder. Clever deduction, additional gory murders, threats to the life of the investigator, and his single-minded dedication to unmasking the murderers, while combatting professional jealousies among his peers, make this an exciting addition to the traditional murder mystery genre.

Only the structure of the novel is traditional, however, for this murder takes place in eleventh century Japan, and the detective is Lord Akitada Sugawara. Seen primarily as a family man, he is fully drawn, a man with foibles and failings, in addition to high ideals of honor. As Akitada investigates the murder, the author subtly develops the intellectual climate of the times: the use of hell screens in Buddhist monasteries to instill the fear of death, the value placed on antiquities and the scholarly life, and the integration of art (calligraphy, painting, elaborate embroidering, and flute-playing) into the lives of the characters. Customs, including the payment of dowries, the leaving of paper messages at local shrines, the social separations between classes, funeral and mourning customs, and the obligations of the aristocracy to the court, combine gracefully with period details, even including the kind of straw raincoat and headcovering worn by travelers, and the number of finely made, colorful silk gowns worn under a woman's kimono.

Intelligent and impelled to action more by his passions than by his sense of duty, Akitada comes alive, while his "helpers"--Tora, a former soldier, and Genba, a former wrestler--add liveliness, spark, and comic relief to the novel. Tora falls in love with an acrobat/actress, and Genba falls for the immense owner of an athletic training hall, a wonderful character named Miss Plumblossom, who is an expert in stick-fighting. The author's ability to reveal emotion through gestures (a hand on a servant's shoulder and the servant touching the fingers in return) is matched by her ability to describe scenes of humor, love, and torment. In short, she recreates life in its beauty and sorrow as lived by characters with whom the reader will feel a kinship, despite the unusual setting in another country over a millennium ago. Mary Whipple

I can hardly put these mysteries (Hell Screen and Rashomon Gate) down. If you like a mystery in a colorful period setting, you'll love these! I really hope that Parker will write a few more of these and they will then be made into a TV series, either here or in Japan (their setting). The maps and guide to the main characters in the front, and the historical notes in the back, help keep everything in perspective. More, please!

With his mother ill and perhaps dying, government clerk Akitada Sugawara returns home from the provincial north to Edo. Some things never change in Akitada' mind as his rancorous mother rips his skin off from almost the moment he arrives.

However, Akitada has bigger problems than surviving the acrimonious Lady S. His sisters turn to Akitada for help. His older sister's husband is accused of stealing government treasures. His other sister loves Kojiro, a landowner whose social standing is beneath that of the noble Sugawara, making him unsuitable for her. However, worse yet is his sibling pleads with him to help Kojiro, a prime suspect of police inspector Kobe in his investigation of a vicious murder.

THE HELL SCREEN is a strong amateur sleuth eleventh century Japanese mystery that will provide plenty of entertainment for those readers who enjoy something different. Akitada is a strong detective following clues in a methodical manner. It is interesting to notice the contrast between Akitada is Kobe, who resents his rival and prefers fast solutions whether he catches the right culprit or not. This is a strong tale rich with eleventh century Japanese culture though at times the "formal" dialogue feels like a certain female sumo wrestler ran over the reader.

Harriet Klausner