The Last Tea Bowl Thief

September 1, 2020
Patrick, author of the Kenji Nakamura procedurals, unites a businesswoman, a scholar, and a priest in a quest to unravel an antique tea bowl's mysterious past. After Nori's grandmother is hospitalized, Nori is forced to sell their family treasure: a rare Edo-era tea bowl crafted by the Pottery Priest, Yoshi Takamatsu. When a pawnbroker requests an astronomical commission, Nori turns to Fujimori Fine Art, a Tokyo auction house. Robin Swann is Fujimori's Edo-era pottery expert, but her true passion is the poet Saburo Shibata. When she recognizes that Nori's bowl bears the same title, Hikitoru (literally, taking back ), as Saburo's final poem, Robin realizes the bowl could prove that Saburo and Takamatsu's rumored friendship was real, a discovery that could help Robin's career. Meanwhile, a priest, Uchida, the descendant of Takamatsu's trusted confidante, needs the bowl for a ritual to put Takamatsu's soul to rest. Unfortunately, Nori, Robin, and Uchida all face an enormous obstacle: Hikitoru is stolen property. The stories behind Takamatsu's and Saburo's lives are gradually revealed as the plot unwinds, calling out the tension between spirituality and politics. A fascinating mix of history and mystery.(Reprinted with permission of Booklist, copyright 2020, American Library Association.)