Singapore, February 1942

The British Empire's Gibraltar of the East morphs into a changed possession. An Asian one. The lauded 'impregnable fortress' is no more.

The Baron Montague Bythesea III - nobleman, thinker, nonconformist - is a DCI in the Straits Settlements Police. Bred in the land of the Rising Sun, he becomes, by a cruel twist of fate, a fresh captive of Emperor Hirohito. A prisoner at Changi.

As the occupation dawns, the regime summons the imprisoned sleuth to probe into a death. A scion of samurai. Was it seppuku, a ritual suicide?

Circumstances propel him into the enigma - a hunt he feels honour and duty bound to pursue. In doing so, he risks being shipped to the gallows by the Crown for collaborating with the enemy.

Over the course of his controversial inquiry, he faces the shadowy world of political sects and secret societies, as his past in Tokyo catches up with him. It turns more lethal and the body count spikes.

All the while, guilt sweeps over Reiko, his Japanese foster daughter. Her native country, causing untold suffering, leaves her sickened. Shame engulfs her. Though free, the alluring nurse and kyūdōka fears their new rulers will see her status as a British subject as spitting at the Chrysanthemum Throne.

Split by an age gap, their kinship endures not as parent-and-child, but as soulfully close 'siblings' forged by tragedies. Then, his feelings for her shift. Unnoticed at first. It flummoxes him, unsure what it signifies. The life-and-death trials of his quest force him to a crossroads.

His choices stand plain. Will he suppress his innermost yearning? Or threaten their existing affinity?

If he survives his hazardous truth-seeking investigation.

❁

Spies, Yakuza thugs, and killings, along with comfort women and forbidden age gap romance, entwine in this tale of intrigue set during the dark oppression of Singapore. Imbued with S.E. Asian and Japanese cultures, it trails a web of clues to a thrilling end.

A mystery historic fiction laced with true WW2 and Meiji-era history.

Sign up now to get the most out of Books2Read

Discover something great at Books2Read.

Thanks for signing up for Books2Read notifications!