Background
Ethnicity:
Her parents were immigrants from China and Korea, who took refuge in America.
Laura Joh Rowland was born in Michigan, United States in 1954.
(When beautiful, wealthy Yukiko and low-born artist Noriyo...)
When beautiful, wealthy Yukiko and low-born artist Noriyoshi are found drowned together in a shinju, or ritual double suicide, everyone believes the culprit was forbidden love. Everyone but newly appointed yoriki Sano Ichiro. Despite the official verdict and warnings from his superiors, the shogun's Most Honorable Investigator of Events, Situations, and People suspects the deaths weren't just a tragedy -- they were murder. Risking his family's good name and his own life, Sano will search for a killer across every level of society -- determined to find answers to a mystery no one wants solved. No one but Sano... As subtle and beautiful as the culture it evokes, Shinju vividly re-creates a world of ornate tearooms and guady pleasure-palaces, cloistered mountaintop convents and dealthy prisons. Part love story, part myster, Shinju is a tour that will dazzle and entertain all who enter its world.
http://www.amazon.com/gp/product/0061009504/?tag=2022091-20
2001
(A volatile, corrupt city threatened by toreign invasion a...)
A volatile, corrupt city threatened by toreign invasion and ru by an iron-fisted government, Nagasaki is the last place Sano Ichiro wants to be, Unfortunately, the shogun's Most Honorable Investigator of Events, Situations, and People has been banished there by a wicked adversary in the shogun's court. Surrounded by spies, Sano must tread carefully. When the body of a Dutch trader washes ashore, he finds himself leading an investigation that could push Japan into war -- even as it thrusts his life into the hands of powerful enemies. Sano has to unmask a killer and prove his innocence, or his samurai head, and maybe his country, will fall.
http://www.amazon.com/gp/product/0061010901/?tag=2022091-20
2001
(Japan, March 1700. The strife between Sano Ichiro, the sa...)
Japan, March 1700. The strife between Sano Ichiro, the samurai detective who has risen to power in the shogun's court, and his enemies has escalated to the brink of war. When a long-buried skeleton with mysterious links to the shogun suddenly comes to light, Sano and his wife, Reiko, who defies social conventions by joining in his investigations, must confront dangerous secrets. What was Sano's own mother doing on the night when a burning kimono ignited a blaze that nearly destroyed the city? The shogun gives Sano and Reiko just three days to find out--or risk losing not only their position at court but their families' lives. The Fire Kimono is another dazzling historical mystery from Laura Joh Rowland.
http://www.amazon.com/gp/product/0312588860/?tag=2022091-20
2009
(Japan, 1701. A terrified woman is brutally attacked amid ...)
Japan, 1701. A terrified woman is brutally attacked amid a swirling storm of clouds. Meanwhile, at Edo Castle, samurai detective turned chamberlain, Sano Ichiro, is suspicious of his old rival, Yanagisawa, who has been oddly cooperative since returning from exile. But just as Yanagisawa's true motives begin to emerge, Sano's estranged uncle comes to him for help: His daughter has disappeared, and he begs Sano and his wife, Reiko―who once suffered through the kidnapping of their own son―to find her before it is too late. Publishers Weekly calls Laura Joh Rowland's The Cloud Pavilion "One of the best mysteries of the year."
http://www.amazon.com/gp/product/0312652550/?tag=2022091-20
2010
(Japan, 1709. The shogun is old and ailing. Amid the ever-...)
Japan, 1709. The shogun is old and ailing. Amid the ever-treacherous intrigue in the court, Sano Ichiro 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.
http://www.amazon.com/gp/product/1250068320/?tag=2022091-20
2011
(The year is 1888 and Jack the Ripper begins his reign of ...)
The year is 1888 and Jack the Ripper begins his reign of terror. Miss Sarah Bain, a photographer in Whitechapel, is an independent woman with dark secrets. In the privacy of her studio, she supplements her meager income by taking illicit “boudoir photographs” of the town's local ladies of the night. But when two of her models are found gruesomely murdered within weeks of one another, Sarah begins to suspect it's more than mere coincidence. Teamed with a motley crew of friends--including a street urchin, a gay aristocrat, a Jewish butcher and his wife, and a beautiful young actress--Sarah delves into the crime of the century. But just as she starts unlocking the Ripper's secrets, she catches the attention of the local police, who believe she knows more than she's revealing, as well as from the Ripper himself, now bent on silencing her and her friends for good. Caught in the crosshairs of a ruthless killer, Sarah races through Whitechapel's darkest alleys to find the truth...until she makes a shocking discovery that challenges everything she thought she knew about the case. Intelligent, original, and utterly engrossing, Laura Joh Rowland's Victorian mystery The Ripper's Shadow will keep readers up through the late hours of the night. The year is 1888 and Jack the Ripper begins his reign of terror. Miss Sarah Bain, a photographer in Whitechapel, is an independent woman with dark secrets. In the privacy of her studio, she supplements her meager income by taking illicit “boudoir photographs” of the town's local ladies of the night. But when two of her models are found gruesomely murdered within weeks of one another, Sarah begins to suspect it's more than mere coincidence. Teamed with a motley crew of friends--including a street urchin, a gay aristocrat, a Jewish butcher and his wife, and a beautiful young actress--Sarah delves into the crime of the century. But just as she starts unlocking the Ripper's secrets, she catches the attention of the local police, who believe she knows more than she's revealing, as well as from the Ripper himself, now bent on silencing her and her friends for good. Caught in the crosshairs of a ruthless killer, Sarah races through Whitechapel's darkest alleys to find the truth...until she makes a shocking discovery that challenges everything she thought she knew about the case. Intelligent, original, and utterly engrossing, Laura Joh Rowland's Victorian mystery The Ripper's Shadow will keep readers up through the late hours of the night.
http://www.amazon.com/gp/product/168331445X/?tag=2022091-20
2017
(A photographer in 1889 London, Miss Sarah Bain runs a pri...)
A photographer in 1889 London, Miss Sarah Bain runs a private detective agency with her friends, Lord Hugh Staunton and former street urchin Mick O’Reilly. Their sole credential is that they solved the Jack the Ripper case, a secret they can never tell because they did it outside the boundaries of the law. Their new big case arises when a wealthy banker, Sir Gerald Mariner, posts a handsome reward for finding his missing infant. All of London joins in the search. But Sarah has an advantage―a photograph she took during a routine surveillance job, which unexpectedly reveals a clue about the kidnapping. After Sir Gerald hires Sarah, Hugh, and Mick to find his son, they move into his opulent mansion and discover a photograph of baby Robin. It eerily resembles postmortem photographs taken of deceased children posed to look as if they’re alive. Was the kidnapping real, or a cover-up for a murder? Is the perpetrator a stranger, or someone inside the troubled Mariner family? The case hits close to home for Sarah as it intertwines with her search for her father, who disappeared after he became the prime suspect in a murder twenty-three years ago. She finds herself on the wrong side of the law, which threatens her budding romance with Police Constable Barrett. But Sarah must uncover the truth about Robin’s kidnapping, and her own family, before her past catches up to her in A Mortal Likeness, the gripping follow-up to award-winning author Laura Joh Rowland’s The Ripper’s Shadow. A photographer in 1889 London, Miss Sarah Bain runs a private detective agency with her friends, Lord Hugh Staunton and former street urchin Mick O’Reilly. Their sole credential is that they solved the Jack the Ripper case, a secret they can never tell because they did it outside the boundaries of the law. Their new big case arises when a wealthy banker, Sir Gerald Mariner, posts a handsome reward for finding his missing infant. All of London joins in the search. But Sarah has an advantage―a photograph she took during a routine surveillance job, which unexpectedly reveals a clue about the kidnapping. After Sir Gerald hires Sarah, Hugh, and Mick to find his son, they move into his opulent mansion and discover a photograph of baby Robin. It eerily resembles postmortem photographs taken of deceased children posed to look as if they’re alive. Was the kidnapping real, or a cover-up for a murder? Is the perpetrator a stranger, or someone inside the troubled Mariner family? The case hits close to home for Sarah as it intertwines with her search for her father, who disappeared after he became the prime suspect in a murder twenty-three years ago. She finds herself on the wrong side of the law, which threatens her budding romance with Police Constable Barrett. But Sarah must uncover the truth about Robin’s kidnapping, and her own family, before her past catches up to her in A Mortal Likeness, the gripping follow-up to award-winning author Laura Joh Rowland’s The Ripper’s Shadow.
http://www.amazon.com/gp/product/1683314476/?tag=2022091-20
2018
cartoonist chemist painter quality engineer writer Sanitary Inspector
Ethnicity:
Her parents were immigrants from China and Korea, who took refuge in America.
Laura Joh Rowland was born in Michigan, United States in 1954.
Rowland completed her graduation with a Bachelor of Science and Master of Public Health degrees from the Michigan University.
During her career, Rowland changed a number of jobs, working as a chemist, sanitary inspector and as a quality engineer. While working, she would often indulge herself in developing mystery stories which led to her developing interests in writing mystery novels. Eventually, she gave up all her jobs in the public health sector and began working as a full-time writer.
Laura Joh Rowland is best known for her series of historical mystery novels set in the late days of feudal Japan, mostly in Edo during the late 17th century. She is also popularly known all over the world for developing the protagonist named Sano Ichiro of her successful mystery series. Her main works include novels Shinjū, Bundori, The Snow Empress, The Fire Kimono, The Iris Fan: A Novel of Feudal Japan, The Ronin's Mistress, The Assassin's Touch and her latest book, A Mortal Likeness.
Rowland's work has been published in 21 countries; nominated for the Anthony Award, the Hammett Prize, and the Barnes & Noble Discover Great New Writers Award and been included in the Wall Street Journal’s list of the five best historical mystery novels.
(A volatile, corrupt city threatened by toreign invasion a...)
2001(When beautiful, wealthy Yukiko and low-born artist Noriyo...)
2001(A photographer in 1889 London, Miss Sarah Bain runs a pri...)
2018(The year is 1888 and Jack the Ripper begins his reign of ...)
2017(Japan, March 1700. The strife between Sano Ichiro, the sa...)
2009(Japan, 1709. The shogun is old and ailing. Amid the ever-...)
2011(Japan, 1701. A terrified woman is brutally attacked amid ...)
2010Rowland lives in New York City with her husband Marty.
