Authors: Shotaro Ikenami & Yui KajitaClassic fiction (pre c 1945) | Historical mysteries | Historical adventure | Historical fiction | Fiction in translationPublished on 30th October 2025 by Penguin Books Ltd in the United Kingdom as part of 'The Samurai Detectives' series.Paperback / softback | 272 pages 197mm x 129mm | 194g 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.
