The Kizuna Coast

The earthquake and tsunami that devastated Honshu, Japan, in 2011 kick-starts Agatha-winner Massey’s moving 11th Rei Shimura mystery (after 2008’s Shimura Trouble). Rei, a Japanese-American antiques dealer, and her new husband, Michael Hendricks, a former spy now working for a think tank on Pacific Rim issues, are playing mah-jongg at home in Hawaii when they hear the devastating news. Rei ascertains that her family escaped serious harm, but it takes a bit longer for her to discover the fate of her mentor in the antiquing business, Yasushi Ishida. To her relief, Yasushi survived as well, although he suffered a serious head injury. When Yashushi asks her to come to Japan to help him, she agrees immediately, to Michael’s dismay. The book’s most effective portions deal with Rei’s role in the relief efforts. The whodunit takes a while to manifest itself and could have been dispensed with without loss. [em](BookLife) [/em]