Eleven stories about crime and detection in eleventh century Japan are arranged chronologically. Sugawara Akitada, a court official, solves murder cases with clues like moon cakes, Chinese lutes, feral cats, and incense. Murder happens even on traditional holidays and in sacred places. An accidental meeting between a recently dismissed clerk and a father searching for his daughter, starts Akitada on his life-long search for justice. It takes him from palaces to the rice paddies of poor farmers. Evil, he discovers, is found everywhere and in unexpected places; it resides in learned men, beautiful women, humble servants, and devout monks. Death also arrives in many forms, during a go game, or while burning incense at an altar. It may even be the result of a tragic mistake.