Scrolling back in history
Now beginning a new series with Penguin, Parker has just released "The Dragon Scroll." While the third full-length novel to be published, it is the first, chronologically, in her series and takes protagonist Akitada back to the beginning of his career.
Accompanied by his elderly retainer Seimei, Akitada is dispatched to Kisarazu in remote Kazusa Province (present-day Chiba Prefecture) to investigate the disappearance of three consecutive years of tax shipments.
Attacked by robbers on the Tokaido (highway), Akitada is rescued by a gallant military deserter, Tora, who is eventually recruited as a servant. Akitada's audit soon absolves the governor of the province from any wrongdoing, and suspicion shifts to others, including the head priest of an unusually prosperous temple.