Seikei is the middle-class son of a merchant family who  has been adopted by the lofty Judge Ooka, which enables him to pursue his dream of being a samurai. Now he finds himself returning to his hometown of Osaka while Judge Ooka conducts some official business, and he discovers that his sister and brother may be involved in illegal activities. And he finds himself involved with two murders at a local puppet theatre. And do the murders have a connection to the local smuggling gangs? Seikei must find the murderer in three days, or an innocent man may be executed.

This story is set in Edo-period Japan. The story is rich in details: about tea merchants; the insular policies of the Shogunate, which kept Japan isolated from its near neighbors China and Korea; about blind shamisen players; and about traditional puppet theatre--- which eventually evolved into the Japanese art of bunraku. The murders are what drives the action, but the real fun of the story is in the depiction of historical Japanese life.

Veronica's smart, and loves to read, especially fantasy books. Her mother's a housekeeper, and her father was shot in the line of duty--- so she likes the well-organized structure of a familiar book. Heather knows more about manicures than magic, and hangs out at the local coffeeshop without noticing the bookstore beyond its borders. But when Veronica needs to make a late-night run to the bookstore to get a new copy of a favorite book for an essay--- and when Heather needs to find a last-minute copy of that book for an assignment due in the morning--- neither of them expect to get sucked into the book... and accidentally derail the plot, kill the heroine, and alienate the hero. Can they manage to find a happy ending?

Many readers familiar with the fantasy genre will enjoy this book, mostly because of its tongue-in-cheek treatment of very familiar subject matter. Readers will have a fun time picking up on send-ups, as the author draws freely from Lewis, Tolkein, Baum, Rowling, Jacques, and other familiar contributors to the genre. While such a lighthanded treatment isn't likely to be as gripping or engrossing as the originals, there's more than enough of the sly digs, the humorous, and occasionally, the gross and disgusting, to keep a reader entertained.