A Bitter Taste

A Daidoji Shin Mystery (Legend of the Five Rings Series)

By: Josh Reynolds

Narrated by: Kaipo Schwab

Length: 10 hrs and 30 mins

Publisher's summary

Gentleman sleuth Daidoji Shin faces his trickiest case yet when he finds himself being framed for murder in this captivating cozy fantasy mystery from Legend of the Five Rings.

In the fantasy empire of Rokugan, when a Crane Clan auditor turns up dead in a soy brewery, all eyes turn to nobleman-turned-detective, Daidoji Shin . . . but not to solve the man's murder; rather, Shin is the suspect. Now Shin must attempt to figure out who killed the victim and, more importantly, who framed him, all while outwitting the authorities on his trail—including a dogged Kitsuki investigator with a score to settle. Caught in a spider's web of intrigue and with his enemies closing in, time is running out for Dadoiji Shin . . .

©2024 Fantasy Flight Games (P)2024 Tantor

It would get five stars of it wasn't for one thing

I enjoyed this story of betrayal and intrigue with all of its twists and turns. It would have gotten a full five stars from me if one of my favorite characters wasn't killed off. Though I hope this pushes our favorite inquisitive crane into fighting the Iron Sect more.

The best Daidouji Shin novel yet

Josh Reynolds has finally gotten more of that spark that made me fall in love with his 40k writing in his masterful Fabius Bile and Apocalypse novels.

In the past, the setting of Rokugan felt more...stolid and static (a problem I feel is still present in other novels in the franchise's expanding library), despite Reynolds veteran authorship. There was a (vague) sort of "tell, not show" prose that felt like he was purposefully attempting to use setting keywords and terms like he had a word bank to use up, and the stories and characters GOOD, but not as subtle and likable as what I would expect from his previous works.

From the fourth Daidouji Shin to this, he's seemingly more comfortable with his cast, as well as using the setting naturally without gently bonking readers occasionally with, "Hey, look, we're in fantasy Japan!", or characters being flat archetypes you can read from a mile away. There are less slightly hamfisted or cheesy pseudo-Japanese cultural references that cheapen the experience (but this I partially blame on core L5R lore sometimes being too obviously a mixture of stereotypically Oriental tropes glued together with too on-the-nose and incongruous cultural names).

In this volume, the mystery and setup is the most refined yet. It is pleasingly intellectual and complex, with several twists and false narrative leads, but still simple and obvious enough for readers to play along with following Shin and guess at who is the culprit. 9.8/10 mystery quality, if only because there are literally one or two clues pointing too directly at the culprit/antagonist too soon before the finale (but so natural in narrative flow that I'm not even annoyed). Reynolds really shows off how he can use his cast to the ensemble's best ability, and their standardized archetypes (e.g. the foppish lackadaisical genius, Shin, the long-suffering but dutiful protector, Kasami, the slippery but trustworthy rogue, Kitano, etc.) more than the sum of their parts.

We also see the culmination of previous plotlines that Reynolds must have been planning since volume 1, while tacitly leaving room for more novels to explore without confirming it outright (should the publisher cruelly not agree). Friends and enemies alike find both unexpected enmity and grudges settled (or at least a strange sort of understanding established).

This was admittedly the first Daidouji Shin novel I have enjoyed so much that I feel Reynolds /really is/ the author that wrote the Fabius Bile trilogy (with admitted bias on my part; it remains my favorite books and central character without real competition...of which Shin is sneakily, slowly chipping at the Chief Apothecary's pedastal).

Overall, a delightful adventure I couldn't stop until it was finished, and completely recommended. Reynolds has established he has command and control over his piece of Rokugan, and I am both eager and impatient to see more volumes of Daidouji Shin mysteries in the future! Give it a try, and see that L5R novels has a good future to grow and expand into with Reynolds.

Thank you, Mr. Reynolds. I was afraid I'd never again have as much fun as I did with your Fabius Bile or Space Marine Battles: Apocalypse. Your work with Daidouji Shin is really letting me enjoy once again that feeling of smart adventure and intellectual suspense I know you can bring to life! I hope to see an announcement for a seventh volume of the Daidouji Shin Mysteries soon!

Good... mostly

I love Josh Reynolds' writing and I love the characters on this series, however I was not entirely happy with the plot. As much as I love the outcome at the end of the book, I didn't like the way it got there. Shin only discovered in the last few days what was happening, and the investigator and others would know it, it would be difficult for him to convince people that he had planned all this from the beginning.

One of the antagonists didn't meet the expected end, and there was no good explanation as to why that happened. I have a feeling this antagonist(s) will be used to string readers along and for the series to drag on and on about this group, much like how TV shows do it because they couldn't think of anything better (Think of the TV show "The Mentalist" and how they used Red John to keep the show going for many seasons) I hope this series of books doesn't go down that path.

Strong character writing

The consistency of old characters returning and the various new ones being introduced keeps fhe story told fresh and engaging. The performance from the narrator is well done as usual also.