"Mr. Van Dorn, I'm sorry. . . but I must inform you that your brother is . . ."

Yokohama, Japan, 1873. Japan has opened up to the world after almost three hundred years of self-imposed isolation and is rapidly developing.

Nelson Van Dorn, a former New York City police detective, has sailed for Yokohama, expecting to start a new life by going into the silk exporting business with his younger brother, Warren, whom he plans to meet there, only to learn that his brother has died in a mysterious fire, that he was an opium addict, and that he has left Nelson in debt.

To pay off this debt, Nelson reluctantly takes on an investigation to find the nephew of a mysterious, elderly Jewish man, Ari Markel. Nelson is assisted in his investigation by Mr. Markel's beautiful Chinese mistress, Fei Wu, who has become Nelson's lover. They face blatant racist threats and, more troubling, threats from the American consulate general, which only emboldens Nelson to continue the investigation. The consulate general has to be hiding some dark secret. His wife, an exotic Hungarian, also attempts to dissuade Nelson from continuing the investigation by using the only means at her disposal--flirtation--but Nelson, being a seasoned New York City detective, and Fei Wu, who is strong and has endured Japanese racism toward Chinese, persevere.

What they learn is the real reason Nelson Mr. Markel's nephew has disappeared, a doomed love triangle, and the pervading corruption involving other expatriates and Japanese officials, all while their love deepens.

"Somehow J. Roth is able to transport the reader back to a different time and place smack dab in the middle of a vastly different culture - 19th Century Japan. Things were different back then and the author doesn't shy away from it. Was there prejudice and other unpleasantries in that world? By today's standards, yes. But J. Roth doesn't shy away from it. And it all balances out with the tremendously detailed settings and complex multi-dimensional characters. You see and feel what it was like to walk the streets of pre-war, pre-modernization Japan. And the mystery was compelling from start to finish. All in all, it was an enjoyable read and I think I'd like to read more from this author." Japanese-American Friendship Society.

Excerpt: Nelson felt his heart begin to beat a little faster; his throat suddenly became dry. He hadn't felt this way in many years. He followed the girl up the stairs, to the second floor, and then along a hallway to a room that had its fusuma closed. The girl knelt, her knees on the floor, and said something in Japanese.

Fei replied.

The girl put both of her hands on the fusuma and drew it back.

Sitting on the tatami, at a low Japanese table, was Fei. She smiled. Her smile was all Nelson needed to guess at their future. He stepped into the room and sat down at the table beside her.

“I hope you didn't wait long," he said.

“I am waiting my life for today."

The girl had come into the room and was now pouring them both cups of tea from an iron teapot that had bamboo wrapped around the handle. The girl finished pouring the tea, bowed, and left, sliding the fusuma closed.

"It's beautiful day," Fei said. She sipped her tea and, holding the cup, looked out a window that opened onto a garden. In the garden there was a small stream that flowed from a pond dotted with reeds and lily pads. A flagstone path led to a stone bridge that crossed the stream and continued on to a teahouse made of bamboo. In the garden a man was with a girl in a kimono who was holding a red paper parasol. Beautiful, Nelson thought, as I had thought Nippon would be. He found himself longing for his new life to begin and, now, turning to look into Fei's eyes, he felt that it soon would.