Flask of the Drunken Master

May 25, 2015
Spann does a good job recreating 1565 Japan in her otherwise so-so third mystery featuring Fr. Mateo Ávila de Santos and his ninja bodyguard, Hattori Hiro (after 2014’s Blade of the Samurai). One morning in Kyoto, Mateo and Hiro are ordering breakfast from a noodle vendor when they hear cries from a brewery down the street. The police have arrested a brewer, Ginjori, for murder, while Suke, a monk, yells that he’s the real killer. The victim, Chikao, was also a brewer, until someone used a sake flask to bash his head in. Hiro, who owes Ginjori a favor, displays expertise in analyzing blood-splatter patterns that equals any shown on TV’s CSI franchise. Mateo questions the integrity of the official inquiry, and the pair manages to get a delay in Ginjori’s trial so they can ascertain the truth. Close attention to period detail makes up in part for the underdeveloped leads and a less than gripping plot. Agent: Sandra Bond, Bond Literary Agency.

May 15, 2015
Hattori Hiroand his partner in crime-solving take on the case of a murdered brewer. Hiro is a shinobi assassin who has been hired to guard the Portuguese priest Father Mateo Avila de Santos. Although Hiro tries to keep the priest out of the limelight, they keep getting sucked into murder cases, this time in order to help Ginjiro, a sake brewer to whom Hiro owes a personal debt. Ginjiro has been arrested for the brutal murder of Chikao, a brewery owner whose son Kaoru owed Ginjiro a good deal of money. Chikao had been pestering Genjiro to sell him the brewery and have his daughter, Tomiko, marry Kaoru, whose debts are mounting all over town. Once Genjiro is arrested, Tomiko begs Hiro to help her father. After examining the body and the broken sake flask presumed to be the murder weapon, Hiro is certain that Ginjiro is being framed. Kaoru had angered many people, but why would any of his debtors kill the doting father who struggled to pay his debts? Hiro even suspects the female samurai Akechi Yoshiko, who's worked as a debt collector since her father was murdered (Blade of the Samurai, 2014, etc.). Kyoto is rife with political intrigue and jostling for power since the shogun died. Hiro works to keep the outspoken priest out of trouble while trying to save Ginjiro from a death sentence. Like earlier series entries, this one is most likely to interest readers with tastes for political intrigue in 16th-century Japan and red herrings.

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July 1, 2015

Hiro Hattori is a shinobi assassin (ninja) who masquerades as an interpreter for a Jesuit priest, Father Mateo Avila de Santos, who is from Portugal. One morning in Kyoto, the two men come upon Ginjiro, a sake brewer, as he is arrested for killing another brewer, Chikao. Hiro and Father Mateo only want to see justice served and begin an investigation of the murder. It is 1565, and the shogunate is under siege from the daimyo, feudal lords. The samurai are trying to figure out which leader they should back and tempers are volatile at best. VERDICT Spann's third historical set in 16th-century Japan (after Blade of the Samurai) offers an accessible entry into the country's fascinating history and culture. Now that Laura Joh Rowland has finished the "Sano Ichiro" series, Spann's mysteries, as well as the excellent historicals of Dale Furutani and I.J. Parker, will fill the gap. An added draw are Hiro and Father Mateo, who make a remarkable crime-solving team.

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