Title: Blade of the Samurai (Shinobi Mystery #2)
Author: Susan Spann
Publisher: Minotaur Books (Macmillan)
Acquired Via: Historical Fiction Blog Tours
Release Date: July 15, 2014
June, 1565: Master ninja Hiro Hattori receives a pre-dawn visit from Kazu, a fellow shinobi working undercover at the shogunate. Hours before, the shogun’'s cousin, Saburo, was stabbed to death in the shogun’s palace. The murder weapon: Kazu’s personal dagger. Kazu says he’s innocent, and begs for Hiro’s help, but his story gives Hiro reason to doubt the young shinobi’s claims.
When the shogun summons Hiro and Father Mateo, the Portuguese Jesuit priest under Hiro’s protection, to find the killer, Hiro finds himself forced to choose between friendship and personal honor.
The investigation reveals a plot to assassinate the shogun and overthrow the ruling Ashikaga clan. With Lord Oda’s enemy forces approaching Kyoto, and the murderer poised to strike again, Hiro must use his assassin’s skills to reveal the killer’s identity and protect the shogun at any cost. Kazu, now trapped in the city, still refuses to explain his whereabouts at the time of the murder. But a suspicious shogunate maid, Saburo’s wife, and the shogun’s stable master also had reasons to want Saburo dead. With the shogun demanding the murderer’s head before Lord Oda reaches the city, Hiro and Father Mateo must produce the killer in time . . . or die in his place.
Susan Spann's Blade of the Samurai is a complex mystery that will transport readers to a thrilling and unforgettable adventure in sixteenth-century Japan.
My Review
Susan Spann's Blade of the Samurai is the second novel in her Shinobi Mystery series set in Japan in the 1500. Though it is not necessary (as I was told) to read Claws of the Cat before reading this book, there are many references to the events in Hiro and Father Mateo's first book.
Though I'm self-admittedly not a big fan of mysteries, I enjoyed Blade of the Samurai because the history was so rich. Most of my historical research has been centered in Europe, so it's been exciting to learn all of the little tidbits of information Spann includes in her novel. She slips in facts about samurai culture, how the government worked, as well customs. That being said, it never felt like a history lesson - these things were expertly weaved into the story.