Laura Joh Rowland Books in Order
Laura Joh Rowland has written 27 books, published between 1994 and 2023. The first book is Shinju (1994) and the newest is River of Fallen Angels (2023). Publication order is the reading order below.
- Books
- 27
- Published
- 1994–2023
- Pages on record
- 7,916 in 23 of 27 books
- Reading time
- 132–198 hours
Reading time is an estimate, not a recorded figure: 7,916 pages at 300 words a page, read at 200–300 words a minute, covering the 23 of 27 titles with a page count on record.
Feudal Japan is where Laura Joh Rowland's best known books take place. The Sano Ichiro novels put a samurai investigator to work in Edo during the late seventeenth century, starting with Shinju (1994). Rowland, born in 1953, also wrote a series casting Charlotte Bronte as a detective and another set in Victorian England around the Jack the Ripper killings. Twenty-seven catalogued books reach to River of Fallen Angels (2023), and nothing has followed.
How many Laura Joh Rowland books are there?
Laura Joh Rowland has 27 books, released between 1994 and 2023. They include 3 separate series.
Laura Joh Rowland Books in Publication Order
The table lists all 27 Laura Joh Rowland books in the order they were published, with the release year, the page count where one is on record, and how many independent book listings confirm each title. Catalogue data as of September 2026.
- 119943692/4
- 219964322/4
- 319973842/4
- 419983762/4
- 520003522/4
- 620013682/4
- 720023592/4
- 820033842/4
- 920043262/4
- 1020053682/4
- 1120063362/4
- 1220073102/4
- 13The Secret Adventures of Charlotte BrontëSecret Adventures of Charlotte Brontë #12008 · 378 pages · confirmed 2/420083782/4
- 1420083042/4
- 1520093062/4
- 16Bedlam: The Further Secret Adventures of Charlotte BrontëSecret Adventures of Charlotte Brontë #22010 · confirmed 2/42010–2/4
- 1720113362/4
- 1820123042/4
- 1920133262/4
- 2020143462/4
- 2120173582/4
- 2220182962/4
- 2320193042/4
- 2420202942/4
- 252021–2/4
- 262022–2/4
- 272023–2/4
Laura Joh Rowland books grouped by series
Each title below is a row in the publication-order table above. None of these groups has a reading-order page of its own on this site.
Sano Ichiro in order
18 books- 1. Shinju
- 2. Bundori
- 3. The Way of the Traitor
- 4. The Concubine's Tattoo
- 5. The Samurai's Wife
- 6. Black Lotus
- 7. The Pillow Book of Lady Wisteria
- 8. The Dragon King's Palace
- 9. The Perfumed Sleeve
- 10. The Assassin's Touch
- 11. Red Chrysanthemum
- 12. The Snow Empress
- and 6 more in the table above
Victorian Mystery in order
7 booksSecret Adventures of Charlotte Brontë in order
2 booksDo you have to read Laura Joh Rowland books in order?
You only need to read Laura Joh Rowland books in order within each series: the books listed here span 3 separate series, and each series has its own publication order.
Where to start with Laura Joh Rowland
Start with Shinju (1994), the earliest published title.
What is the newest Laura Joh Rowland book?
River of Fallen Angels (2023) is the newest Laura Joh Rowland book released so far.
Is there a new Laura Joh Rowland book coming?
No next Laura Joh Rowland book is announced in the catalogue, which is a gap in the listings it merges rather than a sign that the run has ended.
Laura Joh Rowland at a glance
- Paused
- No new Laura Joh Rowland title has appeared for 3 years. The last was published in 2023.
- Release pace
- Laura Joh Rowland books have appeared about one a year on average.
- Length
- 7,916 pages across the 23 of 27 books with a recorded length, a median of 346 pages each.
- Busiest decade
- Most Laura Joh Rowland books, 11 of 27, were published in the 2000s.
What the Laura Joh Rowland books are about
24 of the 27 Laura Joh Rowland books carry subject tags in Open Library's catalogue. The subjects below are the ones that recur across them, most frequent first: history is tagged on 18 of 24. The subjects are cataloguers’ headings, not a plot summary.
- History 18 of 24 books
- Ichirō Sano (Fictitious character) 15 of 24 books
- Historical fiction 10 of 24 books
- Japan 10 of 24 books
- Samurai 10 of 24 books
- Mystery & detective 9 of 24 books
- Ichiro, sano (fictitious character) 7 of 24 books
- Mystery & detective, historical 6 of 24 books
- Police 4 of 24 books
- American literature 3 of 24 books
- Crime 3 of 24 books
- Private investigators 3 of 24 books