Poison River Audiobook By Josh Reynolds cover art

Poison River

The First Daidoji Shin Mystery (Legend of the Five Rings Series)

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Poison River

By: Josh Reynolds
Narrated by: Kaipo Schwab
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A charming slacker aristocrat discovers a talent for detection and a web of conspiracies in the Emerald Empire, in this snappy novel set in the fantastical world of Legend of the Five Rings.

Daidoji Shin, unrepentant wastrel with a taste for scandal and dice, coasts through his role as Crane Clan's trade envoy in the City of the Rich Frog. But when a case of poisoned rice threatens the brittle peace between the competing clans, the Imperial Governor drags Shin from his indolence and orders him to find the culprit. Despite himself, Shin uncovers an intriguing conspiracy involving more than just dead rats. A murder with no body and a missing actress present a distraction that could finally make Shin put in a full day's work, and maybe even save the city from tearing itself apart.

©2020 Fantasy Flight Games (P)2021 Tantor Amateur Sleuths Epic Fantasy Historical Mystery Supernatural Thriller & Suspense
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The narrator was engaging. The story details were excellent - I felt in the scene. The mystery was a simple premise and thr story stuck with it until the end. I kept thinking there were twins talking to the dectective when he said "them" at the end so much - I kept thinking I was missing a character.

Excellent Detective Story

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Come for the story, stay for the cast of characters. Funny one liners, amidst a believable backdrop.

Wonderful story with well constructed characters

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The author has taken elements from many different mystery and social comedy authors like Christie and Wodehouse. Fun.

Amusing.

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I had no idea I need samurai detective novel in my life until today so excellent

so good

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Main character is an interesting character. Story was good and well written. Overall good book!

Entertaining

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G g g g g g gg g g g g g g g Good good good good story plot voice vibe acting

Review

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The book was a great introduction to Rokugan with a clever mystery and faithful worldbuilding.

Good Read

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my only complaint is it stars one of the Crane (Crab Clan represent)

jokes aside, very fun detective story

Very Good

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Detective D and Sherlock Holmes rolled into the fantasy genre that is Legend of the Five Rings!!!

Sherlock Holmes in the land of Rokugan

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I've been a Legend of the Five Rings CCG player for decades, but this is the first L5R novel I've read.

I like Daidoji Shin as a protagonist; the combination of dissipation and competence, disgrace and personal honor makes for a compelling hero. The supporting characters are also memorable and entertaining.

The setting is generally a good one; Rokugan is well developed and detailed. That said, even for a longtime fan of the setting, this is complex. We have five different clans and many named characters, and the names are not especially familiar to a speaker of an Indo-European language.

Similarly, the plot is quite complex, with multiple layers of deception and hidden motives.

The result was enough confusion to make the story difficult to follow. Against that, the conclusion was done well, with hooks for follow-on novels and a satisfying solution to the riddles.

I can't give this a high rating or strong recommendation; it was too byzantine, especially for a first novel in a series. But I will likely be continuing the series, because I think the germs of a compelling series are there.

Byzantine

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