Belatedly and pointlessly, another review:

[I. J. Parker]

I just found this via Google. No idea where it's been hiding. I also found out that my book was one of the 10 bestselling tradepaper mysteries at Poisoned Pen in August.

Book Review

BookList
From BookList, , 2009, Copyright © American Library Association. Used with permission.



The sixth Sugawara Akitada novel, set in eleventh-century Japan, finds the Ministry of Justice official leaving his job to hunt down the murderer of an old friend. But his only clue is the victim's sword. Although the Akitada series is not as well known as Laura Joh Rowland's Sano Ichiro novels (which are set in a Japan six centuries later than Parker's), it is equally rich in period detail and fully fleshed characters-and equally rich, too, in suspenseful, engaging mysteries. Parker does an excellent job of bringing medieval Japan to life, clearly having done voluminous research (although she never shows it off with ponderous exposition or historical lectures). Readers of this series will flock to the new installment, and fans of the Sano Ichiro series who wonder if there is anything else in that vein will find this the perfect answer to their questions. Pitt, David

[Dana King]

Sometimes snark is the only reason I get out of bed in the morning.

[B.R.Stateham]

It feels good to act snarky sometimes. eh?

[I. J. Parker]

Thanks, guys. I felt snarky and sent it to my former Penguin publicist.

[Pepper Smith]

I agree with Dana. This should come in handy with any future publisher.

[Dana King]

This is an excellent review. Keep this, and the Poisoned Pen stats. They could come in handy as you look for another publisher. They'll know you were canceled by the previous pub, so it's good to be able to present it as having less to do with sales and critical acclaim than with external forces, such as the economy or maybe some internal issue at the pub.

Good luck.