White Feathers, Crimson Leaves by Josh Reynolds: review

4/5 stars on Goodreads

White Feathers, Crimson Leaves by Josh Reynolds

White Feathers, Crimson Leaves is set in Rokugan, East-Asia inspired Legend of the Five Rings game world. I enjoyed Reynolds’ previous tie-in series, Daidoji Shin mysteries, so I was eager to read his return to Rokugan. The book is horror instead of mystery, with different characters and setting, and while I miss Daidoji Shin and his investigations in the city of the Rich Frog, I didn’t let that stop me from enjoying this book.

Wardmaster Yogo Shuko is in her late thirties, a brusque and straightforward member of Scorpion clan who has spent all her life banishing ghosts and breaking curses. With her is her apprentice, Kuni Tansho, a witch hunter in her early twenties. She’s from the Crab clan and has a different approach to investigations than her teacher. The women don’t really get along, but they won’t let that stop them from doing their job.

They’ve come to the mountains of Unicorn clan, into a backwater village of Red Grove, where a curse has been killing the people of the lord who has recently taken over the village. For Shuko, it’s a straightforward case of break the curse and be on your way. Tansho wants to find out why the curse was cast in the first place and by whom. While they are fairly sure the oppressed villagers who somehow escape the curse are responsible, they also sympathise with them. But the truth turns out to be something completely different.

This was a fast-paced, no frills, mild horror mystery that relied heavily on Japanese folk horror stories and creatures. It focused tightly on the case at hand. We don’t really learn anything about the main characters, both with their point of view chapters, more than that they’re powerful practitioners, and their inner workings aren’t important for the story. Neither of them has the charm and wit of Daidoji Shin and his stalwart bodyguard Kasami, and it took me a while to warm up to them, but they got there in the end. The setting didn’t have the cultural richness of Rich Frog, and as such, the remote village could’ve belonged to any fantasy world. Clan politics and the cultures of Rokugan didn’t feature.

Nevertheless, I was invested in learning who was behind the curse, and how Shuko would break it. It had some hair-raising moments, but it wasn’t terribly scary and I wasn’t entirely emotionally invested in the characters and their fates. If I compare it to a similar Five Rings book, The Night Parade of 100 Demons by Marie Brennan, where a priest and aristocrat fight evil spirits in a mountain village, it falls a bit short. Like with Daidoji Shin mysteries, the ending isn’t so much about justice and bringing the guilty party to face the law as it is about comeuppance, but it’s satisfying. I don’t know if this is a stand-alone story or a start of a new series, but I’d read more.

I received a free copy from NetGalley in exchange for an honest review.

A Bitter Taste by Josh Reynolds: review

3/5 stars on Goodreads

Bitter Taste by Josh Reynolds

A Bitter Taste is the fifth book in Daidoji Shin Mystery series set in the Rokugan Empire of the Legend of Five Rings game world. It’s an Asia inspired historical world divided in clans where honour is important, but women are equal and powerful, and same sex relationships are allowed. No knowledge of the game is needed, but the series, especially this book, builds on the previous books, so don’t start here. (Mild spoilers ahead.)

This has been a favourite mystery series of mine, and I was eager to read the latest addition. And it delivered—up until the very end. I wasn’t happy with how the book ended, especially since this seems like the final book in the series.

The beginning of the book finds Daidoji Shin, the Crane Clan representative in the City of the Rich Frog, sulking, because his grandfather has ordered him to marry. He’s not eager to do so and doesn’t have a candidate in mind, let alone feelings for anyone, but the order is absolute.

His day turns to worse, when he learns that the auditor his grandfather had sent to put him to rights has been murdered and Shin is the only suspect.

It’s only the start of Shin’s troubles. His cousin has arrived to town, ready to drag him back home in chains if necessary. The only thing stopping him is the murder investigator, someone with whom Shin has had a very personal relationship. Since it didn’t end well, he doesn’t have high hopes for a fair investigation. He needs to solve the murder himself.

What starts as a straightforward murder case turns more and more complicated at every step. Shin realises there’s been a conspiracy against him from the moment he arrived to town, the roots of which stem from long before. As he unravels it, he learns that people close to him he has trusted absolutely weren’t who he thought they were. Unable to believe it, he allows himself to be lured into a trap to expose the people responsible, no matter what it means to him personally. After some tense scenes, everything ends in a very satisfying manner.

And then the aftermath ruins it for me.

The series has always focused on the mysteries. Shin starts as a gambler and someone who likes the company of women, but the mysteries always take precedence, and during the course of the series there’s been no romances. There have been a couple of characters that could’ve become the romantic interest, but nothing serious. I didn’t mind. I never liked the one mainstay possibility, and Shin’s never indicated any romantic interest in them anyway.

This was bound to change here because of the order to marry. And the appearance of the old flame was interesting. They were given their own POV chapters and proved themself to be a great potential partner to Shin. I was looking forward to it even.

And then, in the aftermath, they’re sent away without so much as a token of reminiscing and what ifs. Instead, Shin chooses the worst possible person fairly out of the blue—the reader has insight into Shin’s thoughts, and there has been no indications. Romantic feelings are expressed. Reader is to believe they’re genuine.

I found this a great let-down that lowered my rating of the book. Before the aftermath, I was anxious that this would be the last book in the series, but now I’m sort of fine with it. He's in a good(ish) place, even if I’m not happy for him.

I received a free copy from NetGalley in exchange for an honest review.

Three Oaths by Josh Reynolds: review

4/5 stars on Goodreads

Three Oaths by Josh Reynolds

Three Oaths is the fourth Daidoji Shin mystery set in the Legend of Five Rings game world. It’s an Asia inspired historical world where same sex marriages are allowed and women can become army generals, samurais, and sumo wrestlers. Like with the earlier books, knowledge of the game isn’t at all necessary, as the game doesn’t play any role in the series. There is some continuity between the books, and the characters and settings will be more interesting if one has read the earlier books, but it’s not entirely necessary.  

The powerful Lion clan in the City of the Rich Frog is preparing for a wedding. But Lady Minami (whom we met in the first book) believes the groom isn’t who he claims to be, and she asks Shin, the no-good trade envoy of the Crane clan turned theatre owner to investigate. He agrees, on a condition that he’s allowed to plan the wedding too. She’s more than happy to let him.

The mystery reminded me of The Return of Martin Guerre by Natalie Zemon Davies, a true 16th century account of a man convincing the entire family and village of his presumed wife that he was the husband who had abandoned her ten years earlier, only to be thwarted by the return of the real husband. Here, Itagawa Mosu has been taken captive by the pirates, only to return as a broken and altered man to claim his role as the groom to the powerful Akodo family. Some people are happy to believe he is who he claims to be, others are less so.

Shin soon discovers that there is more to the mystery than the true identity of the groom. There is a conspiracy afoot, but by whom and to what end. This and the wedding preparations keep him, his bodyguard Kasami, and manservant Kitano busy. Like before, the solution isn’t so much about justice as it is about compassion and avoiding a clan war.

This was again a slow and meandering mystery where the people Shin encounters are at front. Most of the book is from Shin’s point of view, with some chapters by Kasami and Kitano, but we don’t get the other players’ points of view this time round, which was for the better. Shin and Kasami spent most of the book in different locations, so we were robbed of their banter, but a bodyguard borrowed by Lady Minami proved to be a suitable replacement.

The wedding preparations are easily as diverting as the mystery itself, and on top of it, there’s personal trouble brewing for Shin in the form of the accountant sent by his powerful grandfather. It may be that Shin’s carefree days as a bachelor are over. I’m looking forward to finding out how he wiggles himself out of it this time, or if he is saddled with a wife or a husband. I’m hoping for a handsome Dragon lord myself.

I received a free copy from NetGalley in exchange for an honest review.

Poison River by Josh Reynolds: review

4/5 stars on Goodreads

Poison River by Josh Reynolds

Poison River, the first Daidoji Shin Mystery, is set in the Legend of Five Rings RPG world. It’s a mixture of Asian cultures, mostly Japanese Samurai culture, set in some imaginary historical period. In the game, there are dragons, and kaijus that threaten the society, but that wasn’t even mentioned here and there was only a hint of fantasy. I wasn’t familiar with the game world before reading, but it didn’t matter. The world was suitably Asian to feel different and western enough to be understandable.

The main character, Daidoji Shin, is an unrepentant wastrel of an important Crane clan sent to the City of the Rich Frog as a penance. He’s supposed to watch over the clan’s interests in a place where they don’t really have any clout so he can’t muck things up too badly. He’s happy to spend his time in various entertainments, much to the annoyance of his bodyguard Kasami.

Then the governor gives Shin a job. He’s to find out who poisoned a shipment of rice and prevent a war between clans if at all possible. He sets eagerly out to work and finds himself enjoying solving the mystery. It isn’t a complicated one, and the reader knows from the start who the players are, as they are given their own point of view chapters. Only the mastermind is kept hidden, and even that it isn’t all that great a mystery. The solution, when Shin reaches it, isn’t so much about justice as it is about keeping peace.

This is the kind of mystery I currently enjoy, set in a strange culture that makes both the crime and solving it feel fresh and unique. The story took a roundabout way to get to the truth, and it was slow at times, but it kept my interest from start to finish.

The worldbuilding was rich, with interesting details that felt authentic even if they weren’t. Writing was good and nothing gave to understand this was merely gameworld merchandise. Shin was a great character, seemingly lazy but with sharp mind, who was happy to gather useful people—and a theatre troupe. I’d be happy to read more about Shin and his mysteries.