Garden District Books in New Orleans, where I did my first-ever bookstore signing. Thank you, Britton Trice, for your continued support.
My readers: If not for you, my series couldn’t have lasted twenty years. I hope you’ve enjoyed the adventures of Sano and company and you won’t be too sad that this is the end. Many thanks for your loyalty.
Pam Ahearn, did you think I forgot you? No way! You’ve been the best agent I could have asked for—always there to advise, encourage, and inspire, and to fight on my side. Your belief in Sano, and in me, is the engine that’s been powering the series from behind the scenes all this time. I can’t thank you enough. We’ve been together for twenty-one years, and I wish it could be twenty-one more.
ALSO BY LAURA JOH ROWLAND
The Shogun’s Daughter
The Incense Game
The Rōnin’s Mistress
The Cloud Pavilion
The Fire Kimono
The Snow Empress
Red Chrysanthemum
The Assassin’s Touch
The Perfumed Sleeve
The Dragon King’s Palace
The Pillow Book of Lady Wisteria
Black Lotus
The Samurai’s Wife
The Concubine’s Tattoo
The Way of the Traitor
Bundori
Shinjū
About the Author
LAURA JOH ROWLAND is the author of seventeen previous novels in her acclaimed series of thrillers set in feudal Japan; two of them have been named among the Best Mysteries of the Year by Publishers Weekly, while a third was declared one of the five best historical mystery novels by The Wall Street Journal. She lives in New York City.
This is a work of fiction. All of the characters, organizations, and events portrayed in this novel are either products of the author’s imagination or are used fictitiously.
THE IRIS FAN. Copyright © 2014 by Laura Joh Rowland. All rights reserved. For information, address St. Martin’s Press, 175 Fifth Avenue, New York, N.Y. 10010.
www.minotaurbooks.com
Cover design by Laura Klynstra
Cover photographs: woman © Ricardo Demurez / Trevillion Images; texture: © javarman / Shutterstock.com; flowers © graph / Shutterstock.com
eBooks may be purchased for business or promotional use. For information on bulk purchases, please contact Macmillan Corporate and Premium Sales Department by writing to [email protected].
The Library of Congress has cataloged the print edition as follows:
Rowland, Laura Joh.
The iris fan / Laura Joh Rowland.—First edition.
pages cm (Sano Ichiro novels; 18)
“A novel of feudal Japan.”
ISBN 978-1-250-04706-9 (hardcover)
ISBN 978-1-4668-4743-9 (e-book)
1. Sano, Ichiro (Fictitious character)—Fiction. 2. Samurai—Fiction. 3. Japan—History—18th century—Fiction. I. Title.
PS3568.O934I75 2014
813'.54—dc23
2014027065
e-ISBN 9781466847439
First Edition: December 2014
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