Sayonara Slam

March 28, 2016
Edgar-winner Hirahara’s sixth Mas Arai mystery (after 2013’s Strawberry Yellow) is as likable as its septuagenarian hero, who was born in America and survived the atomic bomb dropped on Hiroshima. Now a semiretired gardener settled in Southern California, the reticent Mas is forced into action when a sleazy Japanese reporter is murdered during the 2009 World Baseball Classic series between Japan and South Korea at Dodger Stadium. Yukikazu Kimura, a brash young journalist, persuades Mas to help him investigate the crime, using as leverage the fact that he’s the grandson of a woman who once was close to Mas. The pair uncover disturbing information concerning the Japanese government’s involvement in forcing women into prostitution during WWII. Mas must also face his fear that his deepening relationship with UCLA professor Genessee is a betrayal of his late wife, Chizuko. The past won’t stay dead for these characters, and though the action is mild, the characterization is quietly convincing. Agent: Allison Cohen, Gersh Agency.

March 1, 2016
LA's most unassuming and underestimated amateur sleuth investigates a sportswriter's death. Elderly gardener Mas Arai is at Dodger Stadium, where his son-in-law, Lloyd, has recently been appointed head groundskeeper. Mas is waiting for the start of the 2009 World Baseball Classic, which will pit teams from South Korea and Japan against each other. Only a few moments after a commotion breaks out among a tightly packed group of Japanese reporters, Itai, a man in a white suit who's the loudest and flashiest of the crowd, dies mysteriously. Mas, who gave the dead man his last drink, misses the game because he's being questioned by police and fingerprinted. Though much about the day keeps nagging at him, he's content to let it lie until he receives a strange offer from Yuki, a young Japanese woman who worked for Itai in their homeland. She hires Mas as a translator and driver--a cover story she sticks to in the ensuing days--but her real purpose is investigating Itai's death. Incriminating information Itai had on a whole raft of Japanese players makes them de facto suspects. The investigation unfolds at a busy personal time for Mas, who's contemplating cohabitation with his girlfriend, Gennessee, and worrying about his daughter, Mari, and his grandson, Takeo, in light of Lloyd's less-than-dependable history. The case itself triggers complex memories of Mas' World War II years. A major break in the case comes from an unlikely source: some graffiti on a bathroom wall. Written with heart, depth, and pace, Hirahara's sixth case (Strawberry Yellow, 2013, etc.) is hard to put down.

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April 1, 2016

It is 2009 and Korea is playing Japan in the World Baseball Classic at L.A.'s Dodger Stadium, but a sportswriter is murdered before the first pitch is thrown. Delving into baseball and World War II, Edgar Award winner Hirahara's latest Mas Arai adventure (after Strawberry Yellow) delivers a distinct perspective on the long history between Japan and Korea.

Copyright 2016 Library Journal, LLC Used with permission.

May 1, 2016
Mas Arai is a Hiroshima survivor, an accomplished gardener, a grandfather, and a reluctant detective living in L.A. It's the detective persona that's called into play when Mas is at Dodger Stadium, the site of a World Baseball Classic game between Korea and Japan. Just before the first pitch, a cranky Japanese sportswriter keels over. Mas knows it's bad news when two LAPD officers arrive and begin questioning everyone in proximity to the man when he died. They ask Mas about the bottled water he was helping pass out. Was it just a random bottle or did someone hand it to Mas? Oh, and we'd like to take your fingerprints, Mr. Arai. Things go downhill from there. Soon a couple of thugs appear and accuse Mas of treason. The history between Japan and Korea is very ugly, but sports should help heal old wounds, not reopen them, thinks Mas, who has no choice but to investigate the crime himself. Mas is a hyperobservant, methodical sleutha blend of Columbo and Hercule Poirotbut what makes this award-winning series shine is the way Hirahara takes readers inside her character's head. A winner.(Reprinted with permission of Booklist, copyright 2016, American Library Association.)