Author Index

Title Index

Reviewer: Josh S. '12

The suspenseful adventures of Seikei, 14-year-old samurai apprentice to Judge Ooka in early 18th-century Japan, continues in this sequel to The Ghost in the Tokaido Inn and The Demon in the Teahouse, though this volume can stand alone. A samurai lord is mysteriously murdered while under the shogun's protection. Only an origami butterfly is left behind as a clue. Judge Ooka is called in to solve the crime, and he enlists Seikei to help him. Disguised as a pilgrim and accompanied by a ninja, Seikei travels to a province in the far north to ascertain the maker of the paper from which the butterfly is created. Along the way, Seikei learns about ninjas and also about the dire condition of the impoverished peasantry. When he takes the peasants' complaints to their lord, he is thrown in prison; but luckily he is rescued by his resourceful ninja companion. In the end, brave Seikei must hike a sacred mountain and confront a famed, but dangerous ninja alone in order to discover who has hired the ninja to kill the samurai lord, and why.

Spring 2005