Sent into virtual exile to investigate a high level murder in Miyako, the Imperial City fifteen day's journey away from the shogun's court, Sano undertakes a desperate search for a killer whose method is as terrifying as it is elusive: Only the most powerful warriors posses the secret of kiai, "the spirit cry" that can kill a man with a scream. Surrounded by treachery and mounting danger, Sano and Reiko must find safe passage through the mazes of court intrigue -- before the repercussions of the violence in Miyako reach all the way to the shogun himself. The Samurai's Wife is the richest, most compelling thriller yet in a series that, according to Publishers Weekly, "positively smokes with historical atmospherics."