{"id":5800,"date":"2016-04-13T19:44:42","date_gmt":"2016-04-13T23:44:42","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/klishis.com\/reading\/?p=5800"},"modified":"2021-12-16T07:56:09","modified_gmt":"2021-12-16T12:56:09","slug":"three-tales-of-love-and-murder","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/klishis.com\/reading\/archives\/5800","title":{"rendered":"Three Tales of Love and Murder"},"content":{"rendered":"

Three Tales of Love and Murder<\/a><\/em> (2012) I.J. Parker<\/a><\/p>\n

\"Three<\/a>Set in Heian-Kyo (Kyoto) in 11th century Japan.<\/p>\n

These are three Akitada short stories\/novellas, all about love and murder (of course, from the title).<\/p>\n

Death and Cherry Blossoms <\/em><\/p>\n

Heian-Kyo (Kyoto), during the Flowery Month (May)<\/p>\n

This finds Akitada at the start of his career, a poor junior clerk who has a penchant for getting involved in mysteries.<\/p>\n

High honors at the university and employment in the ministry had not helped him compose romantic poetry, a grave fault in an age which valued such things more than learning or character.<\/p><\/blockquote>\n

Akitada is sent to the country to deliver the settlement documents for a marriage between Lord Kiyowara and Lord Kose’s daughter and son. But there is, of course, a murder, and Akitada sees it as such, even as the families to to claim the death was a suicide.<\/p>\n

The Incense Murders<\/em> <\/p>\n

Heian-Kyo (Kyoto), during the Clothes-Lining Month (March)<\/p>\n

Akitada, still a poor junior clerk, is given a task by his mother.<\/p>\n

(O)n this occasion she would get him involved in a case that nearly ended his career and perhaps his life. He would forever after fear dealings with his parent and doubt himself.<\/p><\/blockquote>\n

His uncle Koremori is rich, and holds that over Akitada’s mother, since Akitada stands to inherit after Koremori’s death.<\/p>\n

Instruments of Murder<\/em><\/p>\n

Heian-Kyo (Kyoto), Leaf-changing Month<\/p>\n

This was the weakest story in the group, set after Akitada has become Lord Sugawara, and finds Akitada mixed up in the murder of a wrestler.<\/p>\n

I just had a difficult time believing the various twists and turns of the plot here.<\/p>\n

Rating: 7\/10<\/strong><\/p>\n

Published by I. J. Parker Inc.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

Three Tales of Love and Murder (2012) I.J. Parker Set in Heian-Kyo (Kyoto) in 11th century Japan. These are three Akitada short stories\/novellas, all about love and murder (of course, from the title). Death and Cherry Blossoms Heian-Kyo (Kyoto), during the Flowery Month (May) This finds Akitada at the start of his career, a poor […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"jetpack_post_was_ever_published":false,"_jetpack_newsletter_access":"","_jetpack_dont_email_post_to_subs":false,"_jetpack_newsletter_tier_id":0,"_jetpack_memberships_contains_paywalled_content":false,"_jetpack_memberships_contains_paid_content":false,"footnotes":"","jetpack_publicize_message":"","jetpack_publicize_feature_enabled":true,"jetpack_social_post_already_shared":true,"jetpack_social_options":{"image_generator_settings":{"template":"highway","default_image_id":0,"font":"","enabled":false},"version":2}},"categories":[31,33,8],"tags":[393,549,118,558],"class_list":["post-5800","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","hentry","category-asian","category-historical","category-mystery","tag-akitada","tag-high-middle-ages","tag-i-j-parker","tag-song-dynasty"],"jetpack_publicize_connections":[],"jetpack_featured_media_url":"","jetpack_sharing_enabled":true,"jetpack_shortlink":"https:\/\/wp.me\/piQkW-1vy","jetpack-related-posts":[{"id":5988,"url":"https:\/\/klishis.com\/reading\/archives\/5988","url_meta":{"origin":5800,"position":0},"title":"Black Arrow","author":"Michelle","date":"August 12, 2016","format":false,"excerpt":"Black Arrow (2006) I.J. Parker Set in Echigo Province, JAPAN GODS-ABSENT MONTH (NOVEMBER), A.D. 1015 Akitada has been sent to Echigo as provisional governor, and discovers that there are many problems at his new post, from the decrepit compound to a possible revolution to outcasts possibly harboring fugitives. Plus the\u2026","rel":"","context":"In "7.5\/10"","block_context":{"text":"7.5\/10","link":"https:\/\/klishis.com\/reading\/archives\/category\/7-5-10"},"img":{"alt_text":"Black-Arrow","src":"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/klishis.com\/reading\/wp-content\/uploads\/2016\/08\/Black-Arrow.jpg?resize=350%2C200","width":350,"height":200},"classes":[]},{"id":6022,"url":"https:\/\/klishis.com\/reading\/archives\/6022","url_meta":{"origin":5800,"position":1},"title":"The Crane Pavilion","author":"Michelle","date":"August 30, 2016","format":false,"excerpt":"The Crane Pavilion (2014) I.J. Parker I skipped the book before this after reading the blurb for this book. After the loss of his wife and newborn son, Akitada returns home, ostensibly to care for his motherless children, but really to withdraw from the world into his grief. When his\u2026","rel":"","context":"In "Asian"","block_context":{"text":"Asian","link":"https:\/\/klishis.com\/reading\/archives\/category\/asian"},"img":{"alt_text":"The-Crane-Pavilion","src":"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/klishis.com\/reading\/wp-content\/uploads\/2016\/08\/The-Crane-Pavilion-1.jpg?resize=350%2C200","width":350,"height":200},"classes":[]},{"id":5985,"url":"https:\/\/klishis.com\/reading\/archives\/5985","url_meta":{"origin":5800,"position":2},"title":"The Hell Screen","author":"Michelle","date":"August 14, 2016","format":false,"excerpt":"The Hell Screen (2003) I.J. Parker I was trying to figure out what I was in the mood to read, when I stumbled across The Hell Screen and remembered that I have the Lord Sugawara Akitada mysteries. Akitada is returning to the capital after receiving notice that his mother is\u2026","rel":"","context":"In "8\/10"","block_context":{"text":"8\/10","link":"https:\/\/klishis.com\/reading\/archives\/category\/8-10"},"img":{"alt_text":"The-Hell-Screen","src":"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/klishis.com\/reading\/wp-content\/uploads\/2016\/08\/The-Hell-Screen.jpg?resize=350%2C200","width":350,"height":200},"classes":[]},{"id":3053,"url":"https:\/\/klishis.com\/reading\/archives\/3053","url_meta":{"origin":5800,"position":3},"title":"Akitada and the Way of Justice","author":"Michelle","date":"July 29, 2012","format":false,"excerpt":"Akitada and the Way of Justice (2011) I. J. Parker This is a collection of eleven short stories featuring the 11th century Japanese \"detective\" (there wasn't such a term at the time) Akitada, over the span of his career, from the first mystery he was involved in to one towards\u2026","rel":"","context":"In "8\/10"","block_context":{"text":"8\/10","link":"https:\/\/klishis.com\/reading\/archives\/category\/8-10"},"img":{"alt_text":"Akitada and the Way of Justice","src":"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/klishis.com\/reading\/wp-content\/uploads\/2012\/07\/akitada-way-of-justice.jpg?resize=350%2C200","width":350,"height":200},"classes":[]},{"id":6005,"url":"https:\/\/klishis.com\/reading\/archives\/6005","url_meta":{"origin":5800,"position":4},"title":"The Fires of the Gods","author":"Michelle","date":"August 21, 2016","format":false,"excerpt":"The Fires of the Gods (2011) I.J. Parker The capital is plagued by unexplained fires, and panic threatens to break out, but Akitada has his own problems to worry about. His ailing wife expects a child and he loses his job to a political appointee. When he tries to confront\u2026","rel":"","context":"In "Asian"","block_context":{"text":"Asian","link":"https:\/\/klishis.com\/reading\/archives\/category\/asian"},"img":{"alt_text":"The-Fires-of-the-Gods","src":"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/klishis.com\/reading\/wp-content\/uploads\/2016\/08\/The-Fires-of-the-Gods.jpg?resize=350%2C200","width":350,"height":200},"classes":[]},{"id":6002,"url":"https:\/\/klishis.com\/reading\/archives\/6002","url_meta":{"origin":5800,"position":5},"title":"The Masuda Affair","author":"Michelle","date":"August 21, 2016","format":false,"excerpt":"The Masuda Affair (2011) I.J. Parker Akitada is struggling to deal with the death of his son in a smallpox epidemic, when he comes upon a small abused boy alone in the rain. Rescuing the boy has far greater consequences than he could have imagined, when this draws Akitada into\u2026","rel":"","context":"In "Asian"","block_context":{"text":"Asian","link":"https:\/\/klishis.com\/reading\/archives\/category\/asian"},"img":{"alt_text":"The-Masuda-Affair","src":"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/klishis.com\/reading\/wp-content\/uploads\/2016\/08\/The-Masuda-Affair.jpg?resize=350%2C200","width":350,"height":200},"classes":[]}],"jetpack_likes_enabled":false,"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/klishis.com\/reading\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/5800","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/klishis.com\/reading\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/klishis.com\/reading\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/klishis.com\/reading\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/klishis.com\/reading\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=5800"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/klishis.com\/reading\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/5800\/revisions"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/klishis.com\/reading\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=5800"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/klishis.com\/reading\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=5800"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/klishis.com\/reading\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=5800"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}