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Index Interviews: Dan Simmons Jodi Picoult Self-Editing for Fiction Writers: Show and Tell Understanding Electronic Publishing: Part I A Roundtable Discussion With Lois McMaster Bujold, Dave Duncan and Michael Swanwick Book Reviews Events Calendar Return to This Issue's Index Return to Homepage Subscribe
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Mystery/Thriller Book ReviewsThe Bride's Kimono by Sujata MasseyHarperCollins, September, 2001Hardcover, 310 pages ISBN: 0060199334 Ordering information: Amazon.com | Amazon.co.uk 
Rei Shimura, a Japanese American antiques dealer living in Tokyo
is offered what sounds like a dream job: an all-expenses paid
trip to Washington, D. C. to deliver priceless antique kimonos
to a museum. She is also to deliver several lectures on the
kimonos. At the eleventh
hour, a beautiful wedding kimono is substituted for one
of the garments which is deemed too delicate to travel.
To save money on the ticket, Rei flies with a charter group
of Japanese ladies who are on a mission to shop.
When the museum refuses to take the wedding kimono because
it is uninsured, Rei is stuck with it. The kimono is stolen,
and one of the women from the trip turns up dead in a dumpster with
Rei's passport. Things get worse from there: the D.C. police seem
convinced Rei is a prostitute after she is filmed reenacting
that infamous
scene from Risky Business on a train with former Scottish
boyfriend, Hugh Glendinning, then her parents and her
current Japanese boyfriend blow into town. Rei must find the
missing kimono, save her career, and try to salvage her
rapidly-detonating love life.
In this fifth entry in the popular mystery series, Rei gets a change of location as she heads back to the United States for her latest adventure. Rei is one of those people that could head down to the corner store for some sushi and become involved in anything from murder to mayhem. The Bride's Kimono is hip, it's sexy, it's fun, and it has some fascinating details about antique kimonos; this is a wonderful series that just keeps getting better and better. Hardcase by Dan SimmonsSt. Martin's Press, July, 2001Hardcover, 263 pages ISBN: 0312274971 Ordering information: Amazon.com | Amazon.co.uk 
Ex-private investigator Joe Kurtz has just gotten out
of prison for killing the man who raped and murdered his
girlfriend. Although he's on parole, he determines to
go back to his career as a private eye. After looking up
his ex-secretary and finding some office space in the
basement of a porno bookstore, Kurtz sets out on his first
case: tracking down the missing accountant for aging mobster
Byron Farino. Don Farino's family and employees are less than
happy about Kurtz joining the business; there are also some very
nasty people on his trail who blame him for a death that occurred
while Kurtz was in prison. The further that Kurtz looks looks into the
case of the missing accountant, the higher the body count
gets. Soon Kurtz is hip-deep in violence, conspiracies, and mob politics.
Dan Simmons is best-known as the award-winning author of the Hyperion SF series. However, Simmons is a man of many talents, and his new hardboiled p.i. series ranks up there with the best talent writing today. Hardcase is, as the name implies, a gritty, hardboiled, violent story full of lean prose, subtle black humor and top-notch writing. Kurtz himself is one man wrecking crew; he's tough, he's mean, but he lives by his own code of honor, in the classic p.i. tradition. This is a fast-paced, exciting, and expertly written book that is a welcome addition to the genre. Highly recommended. Click Here to Return to the Book Reviews Index ** To visit the archives of mystery books reviewed in The IWJ, please click here. |