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For the first time we see Bannion with western clients. His buddy Hedges, who operates under the cover of a newspaper man but never files a story, gets him a meeting with an Australian stripper named Ginger Peachy. It seems that a very important letter was stolen from Ginger on the street and in broad daylight under very mysterious circumstances. She stopped to smell the flowers from a street vendor and lost 15 minutes and the letter.
Later Bannion is approached by Inspector Ezawa of the Criminal Investigation Section of Tokyo Metropolitan Police. He is, of course, aware of Bannion's job for Ginger but it seems like another western woman, a Mrs. Herge Harishiemer, has also had an important item stolen under the same circumstances. Her husband has government connections that keep Ezawa from pressing the wife on the issue.
Which leads to the second new development. Ezawa comes right out and asks Bannion to look into the matter. Ezawa says:
Bannion, with the trail you leave behind you in your bungling efforts to be a private detective, we are well aware of your activities. You have no license and none will be given you. However, speaking unofficially, I am willing to allow sleeping animals lie, for I will admin at times I find you helpful.
So, as long as Bannion remains useful, he probably won't be deported.
The third change for Bannion is that his rates have gone up. When he decided to become a PI he charged Philip Marlowe's daily rate of $25 plus expenses. Now he's up to $50 plus expenses.
There has to be a Japanese sex interest, right? Wanting to get out of the rain, Bannion heads to a little bar where he first saw karate in action. Also in the bar is a gang of teenage girls. Their leader, Obake, aka Ghost, is unusual in that her face is completely covered by her hair. Naturally she gets Bannion's attention and he is determined to see her face. She is able to resist Bannion's charms but becomes his accomplice in the investigations.
Complicating matters is that Bannion finds out that someone has a grudge against him and means to see him die painfully.
The story isn't bad, not one of my favorites, but not bad. As with all the Bannion books so far, everything is connected and the source of the grudge against Bannion is neatly done though it does fall into the arch villain overly elaborate plan trope. There is a little bit of kink at the end I thought a bit much but it certainly upped the drama. We also get a bit more backstory on how Bannion became fascinated with karate and a little more about Bannion's time in the army. Oh, and if you had any doubts, Bannion does get to exercise his karate skills in mortal combat. The fight scenes are well done with Bannion explaining his moves even while fighting for his life.
Reviews of the first four books in the series:
Keywords: hardboiled detective, crime fiction, Japan, private investigator, action thriller, karate
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