Sins as Scarlet

July 1, 2018

In this follow-up to Obregón's well-received debut, Blue Light Yokohama ("a fresh new voice in crime fiction," LJ), Inspector Iwata has fled Japan for sun-dappled Los Angeles and is now working as a private investigator. He's taken on the case, abandoned by the police, of an old friend whose daughter has been murdered. It's a brutal business, so why did the murderer whisper, "I'm sorry," before doing the deed?

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September 24, 2018
Obregón’s gripping sequel to 2017’s Blue Light Yokohama takes former police officer Kosuke Iwata from Japan to Los Angeles, where he spent his teen years, to become a private investigator. When his late wife’s mother, who blames him for her daughter’s and granddaughter’s deaths, asks him to investigate her other child’s murder, he feels unable to decline. Clues he uncovers in L.A.’s Skid Row lead him to Ciudad Cabral, Mexico, where he discovers a complex, sinister, and far-reaching conspiracy that preys on vulnerable immigrants. Obregón raises a range of cultural and social issues, from corrupt border patrol officers and high crime rates against trans women to the lucrative black-market organ trade, though the plot moves so quickly that the treatment feels cursory in places. Insights into Iwata’s backstory and troubled relationship with his mother, who has her own painful secrets, add depth to the characters. Despite minor flaws, this is a satisfying effort from a writer to watch. Agent: Daniel Kirschen, ICM Partners.

November 1, 2018
A cold case gets hot and deadly when a veteran detective digs too deep.After catching the Black Sun Killer in his native Japan (Blue Light Yokohama, 2017), veteran detective Kosuke Iwata has left behind both Tokyo and his police career for sunny Southern California and work as a private investigator. Part of this transition has involved leaving behind his wife, Cleo, who recently died after having been in a vegetative state for several years following a suicide attempt. When Cleo's mother, Charlotte, angrily confronts Iwata in his new life, demanding that he find the killer of her trans daughter, Meredith, both his conscience and his mother-in-law's righteous rage dictate his compliance. Born Julian, Meredith was living on Skid Row at the time of her murder and making ends meet as a prostitute. She worked at the same club as her best friend, Geneviève, who's now gone missing. A little digging reveals Meredith's pimp, Talky, as her likely killer, and his death via overdose seems to put paid to the case. But defense wounds found on Talky's corpse prevent Iwata from resting easy. The more he investigates, the more victims he finds: five altogether, dead or missing, by the time he confronts the man who links them all together. Interspersed flashbacks to 1975 Tokyo provide insight into the struggles and challenges facing Iwata's mother, Nozomi, as well as his early life. Obregón's second is a neonoir gem with a compelling story, solid prose, and a brooding, honorable, and all-too-human hero.

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November 1, 2018
Transgender women are being murdered in L.A. in shocking numbers. One of the victims is Meredith Nichol, who transitioned from life as Julian, the younger sibling of private investigator Kosuke Iwata's late wife, Cleo. Despite her enmity for Iwata for his role in the deaths of Cleo and their infant daughter, Cleo's mother hires him to find Meredith's murderer. Iwata's search initially finds Meredith's closest contacts either dead or missing before he's pointed toward Cuidad Cabral in Mexico, where severely ill Detective Astrid Valentin gives him a lead and a warning: leave town, the sooner the better. But, on his way to getting the answers he seeks, Iwata risks death repeatedly before uncovering a dreadful enterprise. Flashbacks threaded throughout describe Itawa's marriage and the early adulthood of his mother, who gave him up for years of his childhood, affecting his sense of identity in both Japan and America. Iwata is a fallible but dedicated protagonist, and this vividly atmospheric sequel to Obreg�n's debut, Blue Light Yokohama (2017), takes on contemporary issues as it builds suspense. A fine cross-cultural thriller.(Reprinted with permission of Booklist, copyright 2018, American Library Association.)