Mystery/Thriller Reviews

The Bride's Kimono by Sujata Massey

HarperCollins, September, 2001
Hardcover, 310 pages
ISBN: 0060199334
Ordering information:
Amazon.com


The Bride's Kimono
by Sujata Massey 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 Simmons

St. Martin's Press, July, 2001
Hardcover, 263 pages
ISBN: 0312274971
Ordering information:
Amazon.com


Hardcase
by Dan Simmons 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.


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