Rating: 
Summary: Moderately Diverting
Review: The joy I get out of reading this author's series of mysteries is mainly from the exotic nature of the Japanese culture and the California-native Rei's interactions within it. This book (and the last one) take place mostly in the US. So my joy is muted. I do get pleasure out of learning a lot more about the main character's father and mother and of some of her past life (before living in Japan). As I *am* a San Francisco Bay Area native, the local SF scenes and characters didn't really ring true for me. I don't think the author captured us all that well. It's always more interesting to encounter the alien than the familiar for me as a reader (so maybe I am bit biased? Blase?). I hope the next book (I surely hope there's one or two more) will again take place in the unfamiliar territory (to me) of Japan. I have always enjoyed the comedic aspects of the interactions of a foreigner who looks like native yet still is "gaijin" no matter how hard she tries to fit into the Japanese culture. Would she have been more Japanese if she had a Japanese mother than a Japanese Father? So my girlfriend asks me while I type.
Rating: 
Summary: Another Winner from Massey
Review: This latest in the delightful Rei Shimura series finds our intrepid Japanese-American once again up to her delicate neck in mystery and mayhem--with a bit of intrigue and a lot of love interest thrown in. Stuck with her parents in their San Francisco homestead, Rei is in turn pleased to be spoiled, and chafing under the bit to get back to her privacy in Japan. But she has a strange house guest, a native Japanese student, to contend with--as well as the ardent courtship of her long-time boyfriend, the sexy Scots lawyer Hugh Glendinning. While contending with the usual East-West contradictions of her everyday life, Rei is contenting herself with researching and writing her family's history. But she uncovers more than she bargained for when it turns out that her grandfather actually tutored Emperor Hirohito--and may have been part of a right-wing Japanese political group that fostered the ultimate events of World War II. Now Rei has to face the Japan of the War, and contrast it with the modern-day Japan, her much-beloved adopted country--and the country of her father. Add to that the top-secret case that Hugh is working on, which concerns reparations for Japanese war crimes, and one gets an idea of Rei's state of mind. For the first time, she becomes distant from her father and her family as she searches her soul for who she really is. The answer is there, and always has been, for the enchanted reader to see--and when Rei ultimately finds herself, there is a wonderful treat in store for her and for us.
Rating:
Summary: Between two worlds...
Review: Unlike other reviewers, I enjoyed Rei's experience of returning to America after living so long in Japan. We see Japan through her Americanized eyes and then we see San Francisco filtered through her Japanese experience. I agree with other reviewers: This series is best read from beginning to end. But if you've been following Rei Shimura and have come to care about the heroine, this volume offers background into the heroine's life and how she has been formed into a unique individual -- someone who grew up in the US but lives comfortably in Japan. The plot was a little far-fetched and there is some reliance on coincidence. Most readers will smell a rat as soon as they meet the character who turns out to be the villain, although the connection won't seem at all obvious. However, I didn't mind and didn't question the plot or the motive until I put the book down, after a long and satisfying read. And Rei's alliance with Hugh should lead to more adventures. As others have noted, the author is at
her best when she's writing about Japan. However, beginning with The Bride's Kimono, I suspect the author wants to write more about the US. And I'll look forward to the next volume in the series, no matter where it takes place.
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