The first of the Sugawara Akitada series, this well written book gives a detailed and fascinating account of life in medieval Japan, focusing on the life of a minor government official (much more interesting than it sounds!). Terrific characters, plausible and suspenseful plot, real historical insight. I've read althe whole series now and am waiting impatiently for the next! I'm going to suggest my favorite, The Masuda Affair, to my bookclub. If you like these, you will probably also like Robert van Gulik's old mysteries (written in 1960s) about the Chinese magistrate Judge Dee. van Gulik was a Dutch diplomat who lived in China for years and wrote the definitive scholarly work Sex in the Tang Dynasty.