Our friend Akitada is arriving back to the capital from his provisional governor stint in the north, and he immediately gets involved in the investigation of several gruesome murders. At the same time he has some changes in his family situation, and he has to learn how to balance his medieval Japanese cultural values with the more liberal western values of his readers. Er, well, something like that. He has to learn that judging the value of others involves more than just looking from his personal, egoistic perspective. The book is written with the same style as the earlier books, and our hero again makes and learns from his share of mistakes. Overall a very nice read, and well recommended.