When an arson fire reveals three bodies in a house and a young woman found beaten and unconscious nearby, Sano enlists his wife's help in questioning her. But pressures to solve the case quickly force a split between the couple, as Reiko gradually sympathizes with the orphan who had to choose between entering the temple or becoming a prostitute to support herself, and Sano's need to solve the case quickly.

Complicating the case is Sano's cultural upbringing, which taught him that the man is always right and that a woman's shouldn't get involved in anything as nasty as a murder investigation. Much of "Black Lotus" is caught up in the struggle between the strong-willed couple.

Rowland invests much of the series into opening the world of medieval Japan, with its unusual customs and deadly palace intrigues. Her previous books are filled with the feeling of falling into a foreign and dangerous culture that readers of "Shogun" will find familiar. But in "Black Lotus," the conflict between Sano and the temple -- which seems inspired by the Aum Shinrikyo sect responsible for the gas attack on the Tokyo subway a few years ago -- permits a much narrower scope. With the villains in place early and seemingly little in the way of a mystery to plumb, "Black Lotus" rings the changes with its characters and situations in an energetic but predictable fashion. The earlier books, particularly "The Concubine's Tattoo," which I reviewed on Amazon, are better introductions to the series.