Blog Tour Giveaway: The Iris Fan by Laura Joh Rowland

Today kicks off Laura Joh Rowland's Blog Tour & Book Blast for The Iris Fan and I have an excerpt to share with you and a chance for you to win your own copy!

02_The Iris Fan Cover 

Publication Date: December 9, 2014 | Minotaur Books | Formats: eBook, Hardcover

Series: Sano Ichiro Mystery Series (Book 18)
Genre: Historical Mystery

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Japan, 1709. The shogun is old and ailing. Amid the ever-treacherous intrigue in the court, Sano Ichirō has been demoted from chamberlain to a lowly patrol guard. His relationship with his wife Reiko is in tatters, and a bizarre new alliance between his two enemies Yanagisawa and Lord Ienobu has left him puzzled and wary. Sano’s onetime friend Hirata is a reluctant conspirator in a plot against the ruling regime. Yet, Sano's dedication to the Way of the Warrior—the samurai code of honor—is undiminished.

Then a harrowing, almost inconceivable crime takes place. In his own palace, the shogun is stabbed with a fan made of painted silk with sharp-pointed iron ribs. Sano is restored to the rank of chief investigator to find the culprit. This is the most significant, and most dangerous, investigation of his career. If the shogun's heir is displeased, he will have Sano and his family put to death without waiting for the shogun's permission, then worry about the consequences later. And Sano has enemies of his own, as well as unexpected allies. As the previously unimaginable death of the shogun seems ever more possible, Sano finds himself at the center of warring forces that threaten not only his own family but Japan itself.

Riveting and richly imagined, with a magnificent sense of time and place, The Iris Fan is the triumphant conclusion to Laura Joh Rowland's brilliant series of thrillers set in feudal Japan.

Excerpt

Prologue

Slow, hissing breaths expanded and contracted the air in a chamber as dark as the bottom of a crypt. Wind shook the shutters. Sleet pattered onto the tile roof. In the corridor outside the chamber, the floor creaked under stealthy footsteps. The shimmering yellow glow of an oil lamp diffused across the room’s lattice-and-paper wall. The footsteps halted outside the room; the door slid open as quietly as a whisper. A hand draped in the sleeve of a black kimono held the lamp across the threshold. The flame illuminated a futon, covered with a gold brocade satin quilt, in which two human shapes slumbered.

The quilt rose and fell with their breathing. The black-robed figure hovered at the threshold, then tiptoed, on feet clad in split-toed socks, into the bedchamber. The hem of its silk kimono slithered across the tatami floor. Its breathing was shallow, ragged with anxiety. It paused by the bed, holding the light over the two sleepers, whose gentle, rhythmic respirations continued. Then it crept to the one on the left, nearest the door. Kneeling, it set the lamp on the bedside table without a sound. In the dim light from the flame, a hand slowly, carefully, drew back the quilt.

Underneath, a man lay on his stomach, his head turned away from the intruder. He wore a white night cap over his hair; his body was naked. The intruder contemplated his thin back, his protruding ribs and spine, his scrawny limbs. Red blotches covered his sallow, sweaty skin. He coughed in his sleep; he didn’t wake.

The intruder sat back on its heels. Its ragged breaths quickened as its hand withdrew from beneath its sash a long, thin object with a sharp, gleaming metal end. The intruder glanced over its shoulder toward the door.

The corridor was silent, still.

Sleet battered the roof with a noise like raining arrowheads.

The wind moaned.

The intruder sucked in a deep, tremulous gasp, raised the weapon high above the sleeping man, and brought it slashing down.

The Sano Ichiro Mystery Series Titles

Shinjū
Bundori
The Way of the Traitor
The Concubine's Tattoo
The Samurai's Wife
Black Lotus
The Pillow Book of Lady Wisteria
The Dragon King's Palace
The Perfumed Sleeve
The Assassin's Touch
The Red Chrysanthemum
The Snow Empress
The Fire Kimono
The Cloud Pavilion
The Ronin's Mistress
The Incense Game
The Shogun's Daughter
The Iris Fan

Buy the Book

Amazon US
Amazon UK
Barnes & Noble
Book Depository
IndieBound

About the Author

03_Laura Joh RowlandGranddaughter 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 is the author of sixteen previous Sano Ichiro thrillers set in feudal Japan. The Fire Kimono was named one of the Wall Street Journal's "Five Best Historical Mystery Novels"; and The Snow Empress and The Cloud Pavilion were among Publishers Weekly's Best Mysteries of the Year. She currently lives in New Orleans with her husband. She has worked as a chemist, microbiologist, sanitary inspector and quality engineer.

For more information please visit Laura’s website. You can also follow her on Facebook.

The Iris Fan Blog Tour & Book Blast Schedule

Tuesday, December 9
Book Blast, Excerpt, & Giveaway at Passages to the Past

Wednesday, December 10
Review at Oh, For the Hook of a Book
Book Blast at Literary Chanteuse

Thursday, December 11
Review at Buried Under Books

Friday, December 12
Book Blast at Queen of All She Reads

Monday, December 15
Book Blast at Layered Pages

Tuesday, December 16
Review at Book Dilletante
Interview at Dianne Ascroft's Blog

Wednesday, December 17
Book Blast at CelticLady's Reviews

Friday, December 19
Review at Unshelfish
Book Blast at I'd So Rather Be Reading

Monday, December 22
Review at Broken Teepee

Tuesday, December 23
Review at Book Nerd

Monday, January 5
Review & Interview at Jorie Loves a Story

Wednesday, January 7
Review at Book Babe
Review at Svetlana's Reads and Views

Giveaway

To enter to win a paperback of The Iris Fan, please leave a comment below with your email address.

Rules

- Giveaway ends at 11:59pm on December 18th. You must be 18 or older to enter.
- Giveaway is open to US residents only.
- Only one entry per household.
- All giveaway entrants agree to be honest and not cheat the systems; any suspect of fraud is decided upon by blog/site owner and the sponsor, and entrants may be disqualified at our discretion
- Winner have 48 hours to claim prize or new winner is chosen.

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10 comments:

  1. sounds like an original mystery in an unusual setting, at least for me. would love to try it. thanks for the giveaway. Emma: ehc16e at yahoo dot com

    ReplyDelete
  2. New author for me sounds great.
    Lomazowr@gmail.con

    ReplyDelete
  3. Beautiful cover!!
    Thanks for the giveaway!
    sandy.mccarthy@yahoo.com

    ReplyDelete
  4. I've been living under a rock since this is the first I'm seeing this author and her series. I need to read this series. It sounds fab.

    Thanks for the giveaway opportunity.
    sophiarose1816 at gmail dot com

    ReplyDelete
  5. This novel sounds captivating and memorable. Thanks for this feature and giveaway. saubleb(at)gmail(dot)com

    ReplyDelete
  6. I am always on the lookout for books set in different eras. Thanks for the giveaway!!
    raquel36m(at)gmail(dot)com

    ReplyDelete
  7. I've never read a thriller set in Japan, but this one sounds really good. I would love to read it. Thanks for having the giveaway.

    ayancey1974(at)gmail(dot)com

    ReplyDelete
  8. Such wonderful descriptive passages in the excerpt. I'd love to win a copy just for the language. Thanks. carlscott(at)prodigy(dot)net(dot)mx

    ReplyDelete
  9. I cannot believe I almost missed this; I am eager to read this author's work. This new release is on my to-read list for sure; please consider me when you draw a winner for this contest. Thanks Amy! Best regards, Kara S

    If I win: try shamy at post dot harvard dot edu

    ReplyDelete
  10. So sad to see the series end
    Leen
    Leenisabel@gmail.com

    ReplyDelete

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