THE FIRES OF THE GODS, by I.J. Parker. Severn House, Surry, 2011, 247 pp., $28.95, (hardcover), THE DEVOTION OF SUSPECT X, by Keigo Higashino. Minotaur, 2011, 298 pp., $24.99 (hardcover)

"The Fires of the Gods," the eighth installment of I.J. Parker's saga of Heian Period official Sugawara Akitada, begins as a study in the abuses of power. The protagonist is removed from his position in the justice ministry by an incompetent appointee with connections to Kiyowara Kane, a powerful minister.

Akitada, whose wife Tamako is expecting, can ill afford to lose his job. But when he goes to the official's mansion to ask that his dismissal be reconsidered, Kiyowara is found dead and Akitada — who indeed had a motive for killing him — falls under suspicion. This defines the rest of the plot as investigator Akitada finds himself obliged to prove his own innocence, all the while under the scrutiny of those who want to put him away.

This situation severely tests Akitada's heretofore cordial relationship with Kobe, the Kyoto police superintendent who had collaborated with Akitada on several previous cases.