Death at the Crossroads Reviews
Publisher's Weekly - The Anthony and Macavity Award-winning author of Death in Little
Tokyo (1996) and The Toyotomi Blades (1997) moves back in time with his third mystery,
a quietly reflective historical puzzler set in early-17th-century Japan. Matsuyama
Kaze is a ronin--an unaffiliated, wandering samurai--whose personal history is gradually
revealed as he investigates the murder of an unidentified man whose corpse is left
near a remote mountain village. Interrupting his mission to find the missing daughter
of his Lord and Lady, whose deaths came in the revolt that led to the oppressive
centuries-long rule of the Tokugawa Shogunate, Matsuyama gradually weaves himself
into the fabric of daily life in the region. He exercises his samurai skills in
martial arts, in cultivated patience and in cunning intelligence through which he
understands the obvious and hidden links among the local peasants, the petty village
officials, its Lord and the band of local outlaws whose power has recently increased.
Furutani surely and gradually creates an atmospheric setting in this increasingly
compelling story, casting in the hero's role a figure who manages to embody with
utter credibility both compassion and ruthlessness. This is the first tale in a
projected trilogy, and readers will look forward to the second installment.
Los Angeles Times - Dale Furutani's first two crime novels, "Death in Little Tokyo"
and "The Toyotomi Blades," were entertaining contemporary tales about Ken Tanaka,
a hapless amateur private eye who stumbles into murder. Furutani's new one, "Death
at the Crossroads: A Samurai Mystery" (Morrow, 210 pages, $22), is a more ambitious
work, a tale set in 1603 Japan- a turning point in Japanese history, according to
the author, when the new shogun, Tokugawa Ieyasu, began a period of oppression that
lasted 250 years.
"Crossroads" protagonist is Matsuyama Kaze, a ronin (a samurai without a master)
on a (three-book) quest to find his lord's daughter, abducted during the siege of
their castle. Here, his search is sidetracked by a corpse he discovers at the crossroads
in the title. The search for the killer is properly intriguing, and, when you add
the fascinating background, distinctive characters, unusual culture and unique hero,
you have a sure cure for readers sick to death of standard mystery fare.
The Chicago Tribune and Amazon.com - The face of that remarkable actor Toshiro Mifune
might insist on looming up before your eyes as you read this engrossing new historical
mystery about a rogue samurai warrior named Matsuyama Kaze ("Pine Mountain Wind"
) roaming through rural Japan in 1603 -- the year that began the long, oppressive
reign of the Tokugawa Shogunate. In the first book of a planned trilogy, Dale Furutani
first introduces us to Kaze in a scene straight from the Gregory Peck movie "The
Gunfighter," as the wily, middle-aged samurai outwits a young challenger. Then, on
the road to the country village of Suzaka, Kaze and a local charcoal seller find
the body of a stranger, pierced by an arrow. The local lords are quick to pin the
crime on a bandit chief, Boss Kuemon, but Kaze's investigation points to a less obvious
killer. Telling his subtle, strong story, Furutani conjures up compelling images:
"As he walked along the path, Kaze looked at the splashes of blue sky peeking through
the woven branches of the trees. It was a constantly changing mosaic that recalled
the intricately painted patterns on the expensive Satsuma porcelains he knew from
his youth."
Jade Palace Vendetta Reviews
Publishers Weekly (Starred Review) - The second installment in Furutani's samurai
trilogy has a startlingly modern sensibility. As ronin Matsuyama Kaze follows the
Tokaido Road in search of his beloved Lady's kidnapped nine-year-old daughter, he
saves the merchant Hishigawa from a gang of bandits. The coarse but enigmatic merchant
insists on repaying Kaze with a new sword and invites him to his home in Kamakura,
where the merchant lives with Yuchan, his cherished young wife. But something is
rotten in Hishigawa's sumptuous villa, and as Kaze acquaints himself with members
of the staff, including the chief bodyguard Enomoto, and the suspiciously powerful
female "head of household," Ando, he gradually discovers the depths of the merchant's
depravity. Furutani names film director Kurosawa as "an inspiration" for this novel,
and it shows. Every gesture- from Kaze's "gently cupping" his Lady's face as she
dies, to the parrying of swords- is rendered with the unhurried care of a master
craftsman. Even the novel's one truly surprising scene, where Kaze learns the secret
of Unchain's life in the Jade Palace, has a kind of visual poetry, horror and beauty
nightmarishly juxtaposed. Like Kaze's miraculous new sword "the Fly Cutter," Furutani's
pen is "light and lively," but capable of gross violence when necessary. Yet what
makes this novel so poignant is that Kaze's Jedi-like purity and self-restraint seem
outmoded even in 1603 Japan- a time in which violence, sex and commerce proliferate,
and 50,000 ronin samurai roam the countryside.
The Washington Post - Dale Furutani takes us back to feudal 17th-century Japan in
Jade Palace Vendetta, the second in his trilogy of works about Matsuyama Kaze, a
samurai warrior turned ronin (masterless) after his master and mistress are killed.
Kaze roams the countryside trying to fulfill his promise to his lady to find her
kidnapped daughter, while he himself is sought by troops loyal to the new shogun,
Ieyasu Tokugawa. Moving along the Tokaido Road in his quest, Kaze aids a threatened
merchant, Hishigawa, by killing the thieves who are anxious to rob him. Asked to
give the merchant help and protection, Kaze tacitly agrees, until he eventually becomes
Hishigawa's guest and bodyguard in his home in Kamakura. There Kaze learns more than
he wants to about the unscrupulous trader, who speaks passionately of his wife, Yuchan,
and her beauty while guarding -- or imprisoning -- her in a jade palace along with
other young women. Meantime, Kaze discovers that there is a legal vendetta out for
Hishigawa, and joins forces with Unchain's family while serving the merchant.
Furutani writes with a spare detachment that gives us a sharp portrait of the Japanese
landscape and an even more detailed understanding of the reigning codes of conduct
and class and the ideals of the 1600’s. There is some awkwardness in the memory portions
of the story, in which Kaze recalls both the last days with his lady and lord and
his earlier training in the samurai code. But Kaze's single-minded sense of purpose,
along with his efforts to reconcile events with the ethics of his training, makes
for a wonderful study of morality and history. Add carefully drawn action scenes
of swordplay and night-crawling ninjas, and you have a story worth attention.
As the middle of a trilogy (begun in Death at the Crossroads), this book both stands
alone and makes me eager to see its sequel.
Library Journal - In 1603 Japan, with the Tokugawa clan newly established as rulers,
Matsuyama Kaze, now a masterless samurai, roves the land searching for the lost nine-year-old
daughter of his former lady. Along the way, he rescues a rich merchant besieged by
bandits, purchases a new sword with his reward, then learns that the merchant has
been targeted for revenge by an ancient harridan of a grandmother. Someone else
has targeted Kaze himself for destruction, but he handles this and all danger with
practiced aplomb. Elements of samurai training, religion, class structure, and culture
make this essential reading for historical mystery fans.
Chicago Tribune and Amazon.com - As he did so well in Death at the Crossroads, his
first book about a ronin--a rogue samurai warrior--on a quest across the feudal Japan
of 1603, Dale Furutani combines cinematic action, deep research and images of startling
beauty into a moving and satisfying historical mystery. His hero, Matsuyama Kaze,
once again calls out for an actor of the strength and grace of the late Toshiro Mifune
to bring this complex character to screen life. Kaze is a shrewd and practical man
who can figure out many ways to fool bandits, but he's also a man who sees and talks
to ghosts--in particular, the spirit of the noble woman he used to work for and whose
missing nine-year-old daughter he has sworn to find. "There standing in the middle
of the bridge, he could see the woman," Furutani writes. "She was dressed in a kimono
of white, the color of death and mourning. Her long black hair hung loosely against
the kimono, looking like the stroke of a calligraphy brush against snowlike paper...
Looking within his soul, Kaze recited a piece of the 'Heart Sutra.' I have no doubt
and therefore no fear. No doubt and therefore no fear. No doubt and no fear..." Kaze
has helped a wealthy merchant keep his gold from marauding bandits on the road from
Edo to Kamakura, but in the process has become involved in a vendetta by the family
of the beautiful young woman whom the merchant has forced to become his wife, imprisoning
her in a luxurious Jade Palace on his estate. The bride's family has a clue to his
own missing girl, so Kaze is willing to combine their objectives--especially when
he realizes how evil the merchant and his associates really are. There is plenty
of swordplay and lots of fascinating period detail--such as the fact that a samurai
had the right to commit "practice murder" or "sword-testing killing." "He could cut
down a heimin, a commoner, for the simple pleasure of trying his blade on a living
body. But in practice, a samurai who indulged this right too often soon got a bad
reputation. Killing too many peasants could hurt rice production."
Booklist - The second in Furutani's Samurai trilogy finds Matsuyama Kaze the ronin
("masterless samurai") still roaming the dangerous countryside of feudal Japan, searching
for the missing daughter of his slain lord. After coming to the aid of a merchant
who was attacked by bandits, Kaze decides to continue traveling with the man to his
home. Once there, he finds it difficult to discern who he can trust and what is really
going on with the merchant's beautiful wife, Yuchan, who resides in the mysterious
Jade Palace. Furutani's flowing, graceful prose enhances a highly entertaining story
full of heart stopping sword fights and thought-provoking Zen riddles. His intimate
knowledge of his subject matter will transport readers back in time.
Kill the Shogun Reviews
Publishers Weekly - Anthony and Macavity award winner Furutani manages a fluid mix
of cultural history and swashbuckling adventure--the swordplay conjures memories
of Sabatini--in this concluding volume of the Samurai Mystery Trilogy (Death at the
Crossroads; Jade Palace Vendetta), set in early 17th-century Japan. Samurai Matsuyama
Kaze's solitary quest to find the young daughter of his slain Lord and Lady, who
figure in the previous two books, brings him to Edo (Old Tokyo), the bustling new
capital of Japan, where fortune has made Tokugawa Ieyasu the new Shogun (ruler).
Tokugawa is rebuilding and expanding Edo, recently ravaged by fire, at a feverish
pace. Kaze's search for the young girl, who's been sold into slavery as a child
prostitute, is difficult enough in the large city, but when he's mistakenly identified
as the unsuccessful assassin who fired a shot at the Shogun, it becomes dangerous
too. Single-mindedly pursing his goal, Kaze adopts various disguises and eventually
locates the brothel where the girl is likely kept. He then has to plot to extricate
her while at the same time figuring out how to prove himself innocent of attempted
assassination.
A memorable cast of warriors, gamblers, merchants and craftsmen adds dimension to
the proceedings. Kaze's subtle humor, supreme sword skills and calm spirituality
are appealing, as Furutani succeeds in making this final volume stand alone as a
complete and entertaining period mystery.
Booklist - The concluding volume to Furutani's samurai series set in seventeenth-century
Japan finds wandering samurai Matsuyama Kaze continuing his search for the young
daughter of his slain lord. Kaze has determined that she is being held prisoner in
a whorehouse called "Little Flower" in the town of Edo. Before he can rescue the
child, however, an assassination attempt is made on the Shogun Ieyasu, and Kaze is
publicly blamed for the crime. Normally cautious, he now must take extraordinary
actions to avoid capture; a huge reward has been placed on his head, and the townspeople
of Edo are eager to claim it. As usual, Furutani proves adept at combining historical
fact with compelling fiction. His prose is flowing and lovely, even when describing
rather gruesome fight scenes, and the haiku at the beginning of each chapter is an
added bonus. If Furutani doesn't devise a way to extend this excellent series beyond
what appears to be its finale, let's hope he continues to make use of the samurai
setting in future novels.
