Kidnapping, death and intrigue are all on the menu for Rei Shimura in Massey's winning seventh mystery (after 2003's The Samurai's Daughter
) to feature the half-Japanese, half-American antique dealer and sometime sleuth. After moving in with her fiancé, lawyer Hugh Glendinning, in Washington, D.C., Rei takes on the decoration of a trendy new Asian restaurant, Bento. Barred from reentering Japan, where her business was originally based, she hopes to plan her upcoming wedding and find a market for the art objects she's stored locally. All hell breaks loose when Rei's cousin Kendall Johnson disappears during the opening dinner at Bento, leaving Rei with Kendall's twin toddlers. Then Bento's hostess approaches Rei for help in locating her Japanese-born mother, a war bride who went missing from her Virginia home more than 30 years earlier. Finally, sweet Aunt Norie arrives from Japan to help with the wedding preparations and ever-dependable Hugh makes himself scarce for propriety's sake. Crosscultural misunderstandings and prejudices, plus behind-the-scenes machinations, add spice to an already volatile mix. Adept at crafting dead-on dialogue and juggling serious issues with humor, Massey has produced another triumph. Agent, Kim Witherspoon. (Aug. 1)
FYI:
Massey has won Agatha and Macavity awards.
