Praise for Naomi Hirahara
“Hirahara’s well-plotted, wholesome whodunit offers a unique look at L.A.’s Japanese-American community, with enough twists and local flavor to keep you guessing till the end.”
—Entertainment Weekly
“A brilliant, unique addition to mystery fiction, [Mas Arai] has straddled time, place, and culture, with roots in one of the most terrible acts of violence war has ever inflicted upon humanity. And Mas has prevailed while growing older in a country that does not always value the wisdom of its elders, or those who work with their hands . . . Kudos to Naomi Hirahara.”
―Jacqueline Winspear, author of the New York Times–bestselling Maisie Dobbs mysteries
“Like a Zen poet, Hirahara creates a quiet surface with a powerful storm beneath.”
―William Kent Krueger, New York Times–bestselling author of the Cork O’Connor mysteries
“In an age in which too many books are merely echoes of previous books, Naomi Hirahara has the distinction of writing a mystery series that is unlike any other . . . Mas Arai is one of the freshest, most realistic and fascinating characters in the mystery genre.”
—David J. Montgomery, Chicago Sun-Times
“A shrewd sense of character and a formidable narrative engine.”
—Dick Adler, Chicago Tribune
“Poetic, affective and artful.”
—Tom Nolan, Orange County Metro Magazine
“The offbeat characters are engaging, the humor gentle, the cultural insights many, and the writing briskly skilled.”
—Patricia McFall, San Gabriel Valley Newspapers
“Seamless and shyly powerful . . . Peppered with pungent cultural details, crisp prose and credible, fresh descriptions . . . [A] perfectly balanced gem.”
—Publishers Weekly, Starred Review
