Go Gently, Gaijin

Mystery fans who delight in Melville's exotic tales of sleuthing will welcomehis new novel, featuring again the estimable Superintendent Otani and others of the Kobe, Japan, police. The men and women on the force are trying to solve related cases: the suicide of one gaijin (foreigner) and the hit-run death of another. Both men were Muslim members of KISS (Kinki International Students Society), their only apparent link. The detectives attend a meeting of the society that breaks into clashes between Jews and Arabs before Otani and his team find any substantial clues. These come from Inspector Kimura's affair with an American student, Shulamit Steiner, and her secret relationship to the dead men and with a Japanese actress. Patching evidence from facts slowly coming to light, Otani closes the book on the sad, strange results of political strife. As always, Melville adds comic moments and intriguing descriptions of Japanese life. (August 29)