I.J. Parker - Death on an Autumn River (A Sugawara Akitada Novel)

DEATH

ON AN AUTUMN RIVER

An Akitada Novel

by

I. J. Parker

Copyright 2011 by I. J. Parker

Praise for I. J. Parker and the Akitada series

Elegant and entertaining... Parker has created a wonderful protagonist in Akitada.... She puts us at ease in a Japan of one thousand years ago. The Boston Globe

You couldnt ask for a more gracious introduction to the exotic world of Imperial Japan than the stately historical novels of I. J. Parker. The New York Times

Akitada is as rich a character as Robert Van Guliks intriguing detective, Judge Dee. The Dallas Morning News

Readers will be enchanted by Akitada. Publishers Weekly Starred Review

Terrifically imaginative The Wall Street Journal

A brisk and well-plotted mystery with a cast of regulars who become more fully developed with every episode. Kirkus

More than just a mystery novel, ( THE CONVICTS SWORD ) is a superb piece of literature set against the backdrop of 11th-cntury Kyoto. The Japan Times

Parkers research is extensive and she makes great use of the complex manners and relationships of feudal Japan. Globe and Mail

The fast-moving, surprising plot and colorful writing will enthrall even those unfamiliar with the exotic setting. Publishers Weekly, Starred Review

.. .the author possesses both intimate knowledge of the time period and a fertile imagination as well. Combine that with an intriguing mystery and a fast-moving plot, and youve got a historical crime novel that anyone can love. Chicago Sun-Times

Parkers series deserves a wide readership. Historical Novel Society

Also by I. J. Parker

The Akitada series in chronological order

The Dragon Scroll

Rashomon Gate

Black Arrow

Island of Exiles

The Hell Screen

The Convicts Sword

The Masuda Affair

The Fires of the Gods

Death on an Autumn River

The collection of stories

Akitada and the Way of Justice

The HOLLOW REED trilogy

Dream of a Spring Night

Unsheathed Swords

Dust before the Wind

The Author

I.J. Parker was born and educated in Europe and turned to mystery writing after an academic career in the U.S. She has published her Akitada stories in Alfred Hitchcocks Mystery Magazine, winning the Shamus award in 2000. Several stories have also appeared in collections, such as Fifty Years of Crime and Suspense and the recent Shaken. The award-winning Akitadas First Case is available as a podcast. Many of the stories have been collected in Akitada and the Way of Justice.

The Akitada series of crime novels features the same protagonist, an eleventh century Japanese nobleman/detective. It now consists of nine titles. Death on an Autumn River is the latest. Most of the books are available in audio format and have been translated into twelve languages.

Acknowledgments

Im grateful to my readers, Jacqueline Falkenhan and John Rosenman, and to my agent, Jean Naggar. Without them the series would not exist.

Pronunciation of Japanese Words

Unlike English, Japanese is pronounced phonetically. Therefore vowel sounds are approximately as follows:

a as in father

e as in let

i as in kin

o as in more

u as in would.

Double consonants (ai or ei) are pronounced separately, and M or k are doubled or lengthened.

As for the consonants:

g as in game

j as in join

ch as in chat.

Death on an Autumn River

In the Yodos waters

The young Ayu fish

Cries out.

Pierced by the Cormorants beak,

It writhes.

How pitiful!

( From the Ryojin hisho , a collection of the songs of courtesans by Emperor Go-Shirakawa)

Sugawara Akitada - midlevel official in the Ministry of Justice

Sadenari - his clerk

Tamako - his wife

Yasuko - his little daughter

Seimei - his elderly secretary

Tora and Genba - faithful retainers

Kobe - chief of the capital police

Characters in Eguchi:

Fujiwara Takeko - the lady of the River Mansion

Fukuda and Harima - two poor, elderly people

Mrs. Wada - owner of the Hananoya brothel

Warden Wada - her husband

Nakagimi - the reigning queen of courtesans

Akogi - a young trainee in the Hananoya

Characters in Naniwa and Kawajiri:

Oga Sadazane - governorof Settsu

Oga Yoshiyo - his son

Munata - the local prefect; a wealthy landowner

Nakahara - chief of the trade office

Nariyuki and Tameaki - his clerks

Otomo - a retired professor of Chinese

Watamaro - a local ship owner and merchant

Saburo - a severely disfigured former spy

Kunimitsu - owner of a sailors hostel

Akitada watched the passing scenery through half-closed eyes. The river was as deep green as the wooded shoreline and flowed heavily toward the sea. Fish swam dimly in the glaucous depths of the water, shadows of silver in the shifting shades of green. On shore, the green curtain of the forest was broken here and there by a shimmer of gold or a touch of red. It was autumn, the leaf-turning month.

Something he had read somewhere came to his mind: Ceaselessly flows the river to the sea, never pausing, always changing, losing itself in eddies and rice paddies, gaining new life from streams and tributaries. Even so is man.

He had reached the middle of his life after almost losing himself on several occasions. His lifes waters moved more calmly now, both in his official life and at home.

The boat rode low in the water, poled along by three half-naked men and guided by their master at the rudder. Under its reed covered midsection, the passengers drowsed in the late afternoon warmth. They huddled close together at a respectful distance. The motion of the boat had made them sleepy and their chatter desultory. Only the youngsters in front still chattered, bursting into laughter or song from time to time.

Akitadas clerk, Sadenari, was with them. The boy was nineteen and made him nervous with his awkward efforts to impress his superior. The young man was the son of a low-ranking official and had proved neither very capable nor useful. Being the newest member of the ministry, he was assigned to Akitada because he could be spared most easily.

As senior secretary in the Ministry of Justice, Akitada traveled on official business to the city of Naniwa on the Inland Sea. More elegant travel arrangements could have been made he was entitled to them by rank and position but he wanted to arrive with as little fanfare as possible. His true assignment, the delicate matter of finding out the truth about recent pirate attacks, must remain a secret. Ostensibly, he carried legal documents and instructions to the Naniwa office that handled matters of shipping goods from foreign countries and the western provinces to the capital.

Like most of the passengers, he was in a pleasant and soporific mood. Now and then a fish jumped in the distance, egrets made brilliant splashes of white against the dark green shoreline, and for a while seagulls had been circling overhead. Their boat would soon reach the coast. Soon enough he would have to deal with matters he knew little about. Anyone on this boat probably knew more about shipping and piracy than he did. The problem was that he could not ask questions and must learn from observation.

Pushing up a sleeve, he dipped his hand into the river. The water was cool on his wrist, and he instantly felt refreshed. They were turning into a bend of the river and the shore was coming closer. The curved roof of an elegant pavilion appeared among the trees.

There was a good deal of river traffic, coming and going between Naniwa and the inland towns and temples, but Akitada had not seen any villages or farms for a while. The pavilion had slender red-lacquered columns and a blue-tiled roof, and its veranda was suspended above the water. It was beautiful, almost other-worldly in its perfection. He watched it slowly gliding past, a dwelling fit for the heavenly beings in the western paradise.