The Way of the Traitor: A Samurai Mystery

Sano Ichiro #3

by Laura Joh Rowland

In a novel with echoes of Noble House, The Alchemist, and Gorky Park, Japan's preeminent detective-Samurai, Sano Ichiro, returns to risk his honor and life. In 1690 Nagasaki, Sano must crack his most sensitive case yet as he sets about to discover who killed a Dutch trader whose body has washed up on the shore of a small island famed for its "barbarians."From the Hardcover edition.

Genres: Mystery, Historical Fiction, Japan, Fiction, Historical, Historical Mystery, Crime

384 pages, Kindle Edition

First published June 17, 1997

About the author

Granddaughter of Chinese and Korean immigrants, Laura Joh Rowland grew up in Michigan and where she graduated with a B.S. in microbiology and a Master of Public Health at the University of Michigan. She currently lives in New Orleans with her husband. She has worked as a chemist, microbiologist, sanitary inspector and quality engineer.

Reviews

[Amy · Rating 3 out of 5]

2.5 stars.

What I liked:

1) The setting--Nagasaki in the 1600s, at a time when Japan was beginning to have trade relations with the Western world. This allowed for the exploration of some interesting tension between the Japanese and the Dutch traders, and Laura Joh Rowland did a great job of highlighting and explaining these tensions.

2) Hirata's refusal to allow Sano to sideline him for his protection.

What I didn't like:

1) Sano's stupidity and naiveté! This man just bumbled from one self-made crisis to another. A man this clumsy in his investigations has no business being the Shogun's chief investigator!

2) The repetitiveness of the writing. From Sano's repetitive naval gazing, to the constant re-outlining of who the bad guys could be and what their motivation(s) might have been, I really did not feel like this novel was going anywhere most of the time.

3) Again, the device of someone always being out to get Sano. I get that we need roadblocks in order to keep the story tense, but crimony! Enough with the dastardly villain trying to take out personal revenge on Sano!

[The Girl with the Sagittarius Tattoo · Rating 4 out of 5]

This was my favorite of the first three novels in the series - in spite of there being very little mystery!

Different than the prior books, The Way of the Traitor starts with the evil Chamberlain sending Sano to Nagasaki for a routine inspection of the city. While there, the director of the Dutch trade organization goes missing and Sano can't resist getting involved in the search. Nagasaki is run by shady leaders at every level, and the book is structured with several chapters of Sano running down leads, followed by a chapter from the POV of someone involved, explaining their backstory and why he/she is mixed up in the situation.

Like I said, very different from the earlier novels which were true mysteries... yet I found the pacing and development of the plot much more satisfying this time around. Laura Joh Rowland seems to have hit her creative stride with this novel and I look forward to reading the next in the series.

[Alcornell · Rating 4 out of 5]

Less "feudal Japan smut" then in previous 2 books. I liked it...in this book Hirata and Sano become bound together by honor, loyalty, respect and friendship. (no spoiler here--this novel forwards the larger arc of the series--we all knew Hirata was struggling for Sano's acknowledgement for good reason.) So now we know Hirata is with us for a while at least, and probably for the long run.

We also got to enjoy Chamberlain Yanagisawa being thwarted once again...we knew it was going to happen, but how?

Nagasaki's history with foreigners in general and with the Dutch specifically was very interesting, as it unfolded in this story. If you have been to Nagasaki you will appreciate the descriptions of the landscape/topography and it's relationship to the sea (think of Madame Butterfly), Chinese temples and presence of the Chinese, references to the history of the Catholic church in Japan, the cosmopolitan mix of cultures, unlike other cities in Japan.

The Nagasaki jail of this story was significant -- "jail" has become the scene for a frightening and bizarre mix of truth-telling and depravity in these stories--a little like the connection between love and death played out in the sex scenes (speaking of the whole series so far); as I read the story I remembered the Nagasaki jail was ground zero of the Atom Bomb attack in WWII--a most painful legacy (indirectly) of Japanese foreign relations as instituted by the Tokugawa Shogunate. Was the jail that was incinerated in WWII built on the same site as the jail in the novel?

I am enjoying this series very much. Rowland knows how to spin a yarn. I can't wait to start #4, The Concubine's Tattoo.

[Rochelle · Rating 3 out of 5]

My first foray with this author and it was a good go. I was fully immersed in 17th century Japan.

18+

[Heidi Burkhart · Rating 5 out of 5]

There was much drama and excitement in this #3 book of the Sano Ichiro series. I also learned a fair amount about the Dutch trade in Japan in the late 1600’s.

If all of that isn't enough Rowland's descriptions of nature are stellar!

[Tocotin · Rating 2 out of 5]

The funniest moment of this book: when Sano muses that he "should never have trusted a barbarian; their worlds were too far apart, their values too different." This coming from the guy who sees right through the people of his time: how backward, corrupt and intolerant they all are! He is the lone wolf who's going to singlehandedly save his country. He doesn't let his subordinate to do his samurai duty because it would mean exposing him to danger, he's interested in Christianity, he thinks Japan is a small country, he thinks love comes first and duty second, his modus operandi is to walk up to the person and ask them straightforward questions... But you know, he's a samurai detective in feudal Japan (omg I how hate this crappy descriptive), so his values must be era-appropriate. Sure I am reading all this wrong.
On my copy there is this blurb: "Like Umberto Eco's classic, The Name of the Rose... excellent." Now I don't consider Eco a great writer, I think he's pretty overrated, but seriously people, there are standards. I love these books dearly, but they didn't even rub covers with Eco. Is there something like work ethics in the publishing business?

[Anna · Rating 1 out of 5]

Tenhle díl příběhů Sana Ičiró byl pro mne neobvykle namáhavý, co se týká četby. Dobré dvě třetiny knihy to byla když ne přímo nuda, pak minimálně rozvleklá a nepříliš zajímavá pouť po Nagasaki, omezená navíc jen na pár ulic (jak si ovšem vynucoval příběh).
Vím, že bych to neměla dělat, srovnávat. Jenže není to tak dávno, stěží pár měsíců, co jsem dočetla Mitchellových Tisíc podzimů Jakoba de Zoeta. Úplně jiný příběh, jiný autor - ale holandští námořníci a Dešima. Problémy s pašováním, pronásledování křesťanů, izolacionistická politika japonského království, podplácení úředníků a vychytralost i krutost překladatelů, to vše měly ty dvě knihy společné. A přesto byl Mitchellův příběh poutavější, i když je Cesta zrady vlastně detektivka.
Také jsem zbytek dočetla průměrným rychločtením, aniž by to příběhu jakkoliv ublížilo. Skutečně důležité byly až poslední dvě kapitoly - to vše předtím mohlo projít dobrou redukcí a stále by z toho byl čtivý (nejspíš i čtivější) příběh. Prozatím jedna z nejslabších letošních knih.

[Marilyn F · Rating 4 out of 5]

Well and intricately researched and told, maybe a bit much of trying to make the reader think oh my, how will he get out of this now? Also some good internal dialogue, all in all believably realistic if a bit of a tall tale now and then.

[jaroiva · Rating 3 out of 5]

Nebavilo.
Určitě ne tak, jako předešlé dva díly.
Asi to chce přestávku od Sana. Naštěstí fronta, čekající na přečtení je dost dlouhá, je kam sáhnout.
K dalšímu příběhu Sana Ičiró se ale jistě chystám.

[Brandy · Rating 5 out of 5]

review will come up after book talk on May 10th

[Shannon · Rating 3 out of 5]

I really enjoyed the first 3/4 of this book but then something happened that really changed where things were going and it really bugged me so I found the final quarter annoying and less fun to read. I still enjoyed the book a decent amount but I don't get why none of these books can be straight up mysteries and instead always have to have some weird political issue taking over toward the end. I'm hoping the series improves as it goes along.

[Rebecca · Rating 3 out of 5]

It's fun to read historical fiction set in places you only know a little about, and the author does seem to have done her research. However, the mystery is I suppose competent enough, but more workmanlike than anything else, and the characters are acceptable but uninspired.

The setting here is engrossing. Tokugawa Japan balanced on a knife's edge, trying to protect itself from European guns and ideas by being rabidly isolationist. This balancing act is the core of the book, as Sano tries to solve a mystery when the Dutch are convinced that the Japanese are responsible and the Japanese very much want a foreigner to be responsible.

Unfortunately, while the characterization and pacing are there, and aren't terrible, they're also kind of clumsy. We have awkward flashbacks that reveal various possible motives. We have two or three scenes where a key character's identity is kept from us artificially. We have a pretty much unneeded prologue. And we have a protagonist and a supporting character who repeat their paper-thin motivations to us again and again and again. It doesn't make the motivations any less boneheaded. Sano's insistence on refusing his second-in-command's help comes across as just stubbornness instead of nobility--he's being an idiot, especially within the Bushido code. He has a big epiphany and they totally kiss and make up, with less kissing. Maybe there should have been kissing.

Look, the book works ok. It's not terribly flawed. It's fine, it's just kinda lackluster. I wouldn't warn people away, but I probably also will skip the rest of the series.

[Nina Miteva · Rating 5 out of 5]

Ревю в Wanderbook тук

Без да подозира, при предните си две приключения, Сано си навлича гнева на опасен противник - дворцовия управител Янагисава. За да го махне от пътя си, той изпраща младият сосакан на далечна и опасна мисия - на остров Дешима, единственото място в Япония, където е разрешен достъпа на чужденци и търговията с тях. В наложената изолация, дори и проява на благосклонност може да бъде разтълкувана като измяна. Като по поръчка, щом Сано стъпва в Дешима, един холандец е убит. Както винаги, сосакан Сано не може да остави нещата да бъдат претупани. Докато разследва обаче, в стремежа си да научи всички подробности, той сам е обвинен че е предател - урагири.
......

[Mary JL · Rating 3 out of 5]

This is a mystery sent in Japan in 1690. There are several in the series--this is the second one I have read.

The auhtor writes a quick easy to read prose sytle but her historical research is well done also. Will review after I finish--but looks like a very good historical mystery to me. I am enjoying it.

(((((((((((((((((((((((((((((((((((((((((((((((((((((((((((((((

Okay, finished Way of the Traitor. A perfectly satisfacotry historical mystery. Good on history and atmosphere; average on character. I will probably try to read more in this series.

[Mirjam · Rating 2 out of 5]

what do you know...usually I love these, but this one was a bit hamhanded.

[Shane Duquette · Rating 4 out of 5]

An entertaining murder mystery set in medieval Japan. Enjoyable series all around.

[Alice · Rating 4 out of 5]

Due to the shogun's evil chamberlain briefly taking over the court in the shogun's illness, Sano Ichiro is exiled, more or less, to Nagasaki with his chief retainer, Hirata. While at this time, Nagasaki is more like a resort town, it is also a hotbed of treachery and smuggling. This is because it is the only port that is open to the outside world. Everything is tightly controlled here because it's much easier to commit treason with the Dutch on your doorstep. It's also a recipe for disaster for Sano, who prizes truth and investigation above all. One easily misconstrued step, and he is finished. Yet, he and Hirata navigate the numerous alliances and secrets to discover the truth about who killed the Dutch director Jan Spaen.

In his search for truth, Sano is repeatedly pushed into the world of the Dutch, where he learns that Japan is a small country in a very big world, that there are all sorts of knowledge - scientific and otherwise - that are forbidden to locals simply because they're foreign. More than anything else, this tests Sano's loyalty to Japan. Throughout most of the book, he questions his life choices and his loyalties. He really grows in this book, and his transformation is really interesting.

The mystery is really compelling, but it's not resolved well, in my opinion. Sano keeps getting ultimatums to solve the mystery (three days, then two more days, then another day), so that the gimmick starts to lose its urgency. Additionally, the mystery isn't solved by Sano's deadline. All he and Hirata have are theories, but by a stroke of luck, they get that one more day they need to come upon the criminals in the act. It's wrapped up a little too miraculously at the end, but it was a very ambitious story. It's no surprise that things didn't quite come together. This untidiness also comes through in Sano's personality. There are times when the stress seems to get to him, and he becomes almost violent with his suspects, particularly a low class prostitute named Peony, that felt uncharacteristic of him.

In The Way of the Traitor Bushido is criticized even more than it was in the previous book. Many of the characters express they had no choice but to follow a life of crime because it was what their lord required of them, and Bushido demands complete and utter obedience. With such a strong cultural guide, you can't help but wonder as a reader what choice some of these people had, as they're forced to become criminals by circumstance. I also couldn't help the feeling that this is all likely to repeat itself, and more innocent people will be condemned because of their adherence to their strict culture. It certainly is a bittersweet ending.

Overall, this entry isn't as strong as the previous two, but it's still a poignant story that debates several themes of loyalty, truth, honor, and patriotism. The world is as vibrant as ever, and the scope is admirable. I highly recommend this book, and I look forward to the next one in the series.

[Pat MacEwen · Rating 4 out of 5]

This is the third outing for Sano Ichiro, the shogun's Most Honorable Investigator of Events, Situations, and People. Having saved the life of the shogun's utterly corrupt favorite and Chamberlain, Yanagisawa, the previous year, Sano finds himself banished from court by that same villain. His assignment? An inspection of the one Japanese port open to any Westerners at all, Nagasaki. Only the Dutch are allowed to land there, and even then, they can bring in only one ship in a given year, with but a handful of the Dutch East India Company's officials allowed to remain in between visits, wholly confined to an island offshore, under heavy guard, and forbidden to keep any firearms or Christian relics. So how did one of the Dutchmen get off the island, only to end up hacked to pieces? For Sano, the assignment is a trap, with Nagasaki's governor laying in wait for him on Yanagisawa's orders. His only way forward is to solve the murder, and more that soon follow, all in the face of Dutch and Japanese hostility amid the threat of war as well as attacks by assassins, slander and lies on several sides, and a triad of judges intent on fulfilling Yanagisawa's orders by arranging Sano's own execution for treason. A fast read, a fascinating puzzle with a multitude of suspects, and a grand finale fraught with firearms as well as Samurai swords and naginata. Recommended.

[Erin · Rating 3 out of 5]

Again, my love for Japan and history help me finish a Sano book, despite the *excessively* annoying villains. I have little patience for politicking in life and less in what is supposed to be entertaining. We get it—Yanagisawa is all evil and Sano is all good. A little culture-blind to his own culture and a lot stubborn, but good.

I agree with other reviewers who question why the author includes sporadic Japanese phrases, only to immediately translate them, immediately knocking the reader out of the story.

I also agree that Sano seems less devoted to bushido than he is just stubborn; he should understand Hideki’s position better, and he should have some allies and political skill of his own.

Hopefully the next books will be less irritating and more about the mystery than about mustache-twirling cardboard villains.

[Trish · Rating 4 out of 5]

Samurai detective Sano Ichiro and his aide, Hirato, have been sent to Nagasaki to keep them away from the Shogun. However, when they arrive there, the body of a Dutch trader has been discovered in the sea. Sano is to find out his murderer. Many complications arise. Each one brings Ichiro deeper in trouble. He tries to keep Hirato out of his investigation so the stigma and punishment (death) will not fall on him but he cannot leave his master to face the troubles alone. While trying to discover the murderer, his actions cause him to be accused of treason. What he does discover is illegal trade, smuggling of weapons and Christian articles.
He is shot with an arrow, his house burned, and other wounds. Several people die or are killed, but Sano and Hirato survive and are recalled to Edo.

[Diane Shearer · Rating 5 out of 5]

read it in one sitting

It contains none of the sex and violence that turned me off in Book 2. It’s fast paced, interesting, and filled with historical information and cultural references that I have never heard before. As a Christian I’m deeply moved by the persecution of Christianity in the East, and deeply grateful for the Bible and the Magna Carta, the foundation of the West. That said, I love Japanese culture, as much as I can experience it without going there. I love manga and anime. I love the poetry and literature. I love the art and the gardens. I want to know more about their country and their history. Historical fiction is one way to experience it. Great novel, great series.

[Shadowsword · Rating 4 out of 5]

Besser als die Vorgänger, da zwar ein neuerlicher innerer Zwiespalt Sanos geschildert wurde, aber nicht mehr sooo oft wiederholend. Interessant die Sicht der Japaner früher auf die Europäer.
Positiv als auch negativ ist, dass die Autorin von jedem Charakter die Vergangenheit erzählt, sei es Pfingstrose, die nur kurz vorkommt, oder die Hauptpersonen in Nagasaki. Positiv, weil es Beweggründe zeigt. Negativ, weil oft in Tagträumen über mehrere Seiten die Handlung unterbrechend. Das Buch ist zwar immer noch sehr üppig und manchmal zu ausschweifend erzählt, aber nicht mehr so langatmig, weil mehr passiert.

[Useresu · Rating 4 out of 5]

Sano has not changed much since the last two books - driven by Bushido, making questionable choices, which with a mix of luck and stubbornness throw him in every other direction. However pace of this story is different - Sano is very slowly digging himself a grave, only to be kicked hard into it at the last moment. I’m not sure if I liked it as much as the previous books, maybe that slow pace goes on for too long at first and the conclusion hits too hard then. But a promise of new Sano in next stories leaves me wanting more :)

[Gintautas Ivanickas · Rating 4 out of 5]

Trečioji serijos knyga. Šį sykį Sano vyksta revizuoti Nagasaki uosto – vienintelio, per kurį dar vyksta šioks toks bendravimas su išoriniu pasauliu. Ir, žinoma, nesusilaiko neįsivėlęs į dar vieną sunarpliotą istoriją. Kažkas nužudė olandą. Gal ir nebūtų didelė bėda, bet į uostą kaip tik įplaukia patrankomis pasišiaušęs olandų laivas. Tuoj tuoj prasidės rimtas tarptautinis konfliktas. Ir tik Sano gali jį sustabdyti, jei jam pavyks per porą dienų sučiupti žudiką.
Kaip detektyvas – skystokas, bet viską atperka fonas ir jo detalės. Keturi iš penkių. Ir tikrai dar grįšiu prie Sano nuotykių.

[Typhor · Rating 2 out of 5]

A side story

The book takes place far away from Edo. This all the personal relationships and character development from previous books are put on hold.
The mystery is just as complicated as ever and if you only read the books for that reason then you'll find it on par with previous books.
I admit that this might be the wrong genre for me to read, since i prefere more personal growth and character development in books. Something that's lacking in this one due to the removed nature of the plot

[Robert · Rating 3 out of 5]

This third Sano Ichiro book seems to complete a trilogy of introductory novels about who Sano and what late 17th Century Japan was like. It is a police procedural with a number of dead ends where Sano has to retrace his steps and rethink his assumptions and hypotheses. This is a bit of a tedious process, but no less realistic for all that. The ending is quite satisfactory and Sano seems to have reached a decision about who he is and what his role needs to be that points to a possible shift in the upcoming books' narratives.

[Mililani · Rating 4 out of 5]

Book three of the series. Sano, Ichiro is sent to Nagasaki by the Shogun and a manipulative member of the court. The effort was to keep Sano out of the purview of the Shogun but crime has a way of attracting Sano's talents and sense of justice. In this book, Sano's assistant Hirata emerges as an excellent sidekick.

[Matt · Rating 5 out of 5]

Another enjoyable addition to the series! Laura Joh Rowland really pulls no punches with her portrayal of Edo-period Japan. Like the previous books, there were a few passages that I skipped because the subject matter was just too disturbing. However, I think it speaks to her overall writing abilities that such emotions can be elicited.

[Dan Blackley · Rating 4 out of 5]

The third book in the series. This one is one of my favorites. It is fast paced and an interesting plot. San Ichiro keeps on the good graces of the Shogun and keeps moving up the ladder of social promotion.

[Gail Barrington · Rating 3 out of 5]

Interesting to visit Nagasaki when the Dutch merchants lived there in a compound. Lots of well-described action. Sano is developing some maturity as he gains more experience; I am anxious to see what he does next.