The Samurai Detectives
#1 - The Samurai Detectives: Volume 1
It has been half a year since Akiyama Daijiro became a samurai; half a year since he left his father Kohei – the wisest swordsman in the land – to set up his own blade school by the cool of the river. Ever since, amid the swaying bamboo groves, he waits patiently for his first disciple.
But his serenity is soon disrupted by the visit of a mysterious samurai with an unhonourable offer: in exchange for a vast sum of gold, he must attack and injure the daughter of the Shogun’s most senior counsellor. Troubled by the proposal, Daijiro, alongside his father and Mifuyu, a female warrior without match, soon set out into the underworld of Edo-era Japan to uncover the conspiracy, before quickly finding themselves embroiled in a series of increasingly perilous adventures . . .
Widely considered to be the greatest work by Shotaro Ikenami, the master of Japanese historical fiction, The Samurai Detectives is a twisting, page-turning portrayal of one of the most intriguing, evocative periods in the history of Japan.
#2 - The Samurai Detectives: Volume 2
In the months since their last perilous quest, a fragile calm has settled over Edo. Daijiro dedicates his days to training the first pupil of his quiet riverside dojo, while his father Kohei – a famed swordsman whose name still inspires awe – drifts through an uneasy retirement, his razor-sharp mind too restless for leisure. But such peace never lasts long in the shogunate.
One chill autumn night, Kohei is set upon by a band of tsujigiri – lawless ‘street slashers’ who test their blades on the innocent. To his astonishment, the gang’s leader proves to be no mere rogue, but in fact one of the most important officials in the land. What begins as a chance encounter soon blooms into a deadly game of pursuit, vengeance and, finally, siege, as father and son are dragged into the city’s pitch-black heart. Other adventures soon follow, including the task of bringing to justice their most evil adversary yet, a villain of monstrous proportions . . .
The second instalment in Shotaro Ikenami’s bestselling historical fiction series, The Samurai Detectives: The Killer on the Streets is a perfectly coiled mystery as well as a profound portrait of honour and justice in the twilight of the Shogun’s world.
#3 - The Samurai Detectives: Volume 3
Late spring settles over Edo with a deceptive gentleness – soft rain, a drifting haze, the first warmth of summer. But it is not only fallen blossom that gathers in the streets and woodland of Edo city – there too a terrible villainy lies hidden.
When the fearless swordswoman Mifuyu returns to her secluded lodging, her long-awaited repose is shattered: while she rests one day, a group of intruders slip into the house with violent intent. Their attack is as swift and silent as it is inexplicable – and it takes all of her skill to beat them back. Her friend and ally Daijiro soon discovers that the men were not common burglars, but mysterious ronin hunting a ghost from the house’s past. What starts as a puzzling intrusion soon draws him and his father into a tangle of shifting identities, forgotten residents, and shadowy figures whose motives dissolve like mist in the morning light. . .
In The Man in the Mist, the brilliant third instalment in Shotaro Ikenami’s masterful Samurai Detectives series, mystery, swordplay, and human drama entwine to illuminate the secrets of one the most bewitching periods in Japanese history.