Master ninja Hiro Hattori and Portuguese Jesuit Father Mateo investigate
the death of a Kyoto brewer. August 1565: When a rival artisan turns up
dead outside Ginjiro's brewery, and all the evidence implicates the
brewer, master ninja Hiro Hattori and Portuguese Jesuit Father Mateo
must find the killer before the magistrate executes Ginjiro and seizes
the brewery, leaving his wife and daughter destitute. A missing
merchant, a vicious debt collector, and a female moneylender join
Ginjiro and the victim's spendthrift son on the suspect list. But with
Kyoto on alert in the wake of the shogun's recent death, a rival shinobi
on the prowl, and samurai threatening Hiro and Father Mateo at every
turn, Ginjiro's life is not the only one in danger. Will Hiro and Father
Mateo unravel the clues in time to save Ginjiro's life, or will the
shadows gathering over Kyoto consume the detectives as well as the
brewer?