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didn't measure up for me, number 4 in the series more than makes up for that.Kill Me in Yoshiwara follows the usual pattern (so far) for the Bannion books with the exception that Burns doesn't meet his client in a bar. You won't be disappointed to lean that: a seemingly simple case quickly becomes more complicated and wider in scope; Bannion will have to bring his karate skills into play to stay alive; and a beautiful woman is involved.
The story starts with Burns bouncing along a road in rural Japan on a rented motor scooter. He is traveling to Katsu village to meet his client, Mrs. Aoba, who contacted him via postal box 113. Her daughter has gone missing. He spots the ruins of a castle and decides to take a detour and investigate. Just Bannions's luck, he finds the nude body of a still warm dead woman on an upper floor, her luxurious garments spread out around her. She has died from an expert karate chop. He catches a glimpse of furtive movement but the person is nowhere to be found.
Not surprising, the dead woman is the missing daughter, Kazuko, and Bannion's assignment now become to find the killer. While his client thinks he has an honest face, the other daughter, Hiroko, isn't convinced; Kazuko was killed by a karate blow and Bannion is a karate man. Bannion learns that, years earlier, Kazuko had been sold into prostitution to a gang is Yoshiwra by her mother to finance a new husband. Bannion is a suspect due to footprints found at the scene but is allowed to return to Tokyo with the requirement that he check in with Inspector Ezawa who we met previously in earlier books. Armed only with the name of the gang that owned Kazuko's contract, Burns begins his investigation.
So what appealed to me about this book:
I like the way that the author describes Japan through the eyes of an American who appreciates the country. In just the first several chapters, we read about a Japanese castle, a rich description of the garments of the dead woman, the rural village, a hotel room, and the handling of the dead woman's body. These details are presented the way an outsider would register, consider them.
Norman works in a brief history of prostitution in Japan without making it an info dump. Bannion pumps Inspector Ezawa for information about the Yoshiwara district. Apparently it wasn't unusual for a daughter to be sold into prostitution and Yoshiwara was a major red light district back when prostitution was legal. Though prostitution in now illegal, Yoshiwara's reputation as a center for sin continues. Inspector Ezawa's opinions on legal vs illegal prostitution are interesting. I looked this up on wikipedia and the author fairly summarized the subject
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Kill Me in Yoshiwara gives us a strong female character. Hiroko is determined to find who murdered her sister and kill them herself. Hiroko is a good character and I hope she has a place in the next book in the series. Up to now, main female characters disappear between books.
As in the previous books, Inspector Ezawa seems set on getting Bannion deported but still gives him space to bang on things and see what comes out of the woodwork. Hie's a useful idiot to the authorities, as it were. Not much gets past Ezawa.
Some of the author's most skillful descriptions are the karate fights. He works in the moves and techniques Bannion is executing and that are being used against him. Bannion of course survives but it is never a sure thing and Norman continues to make karate a main feature of the stories without making is boringly repetitive.
In don't want to give away the entire plot but I found it plausible and satisfying. Here's a hint: Chinese agitators and a hidden cache of gold coins and all the plot elements starting in chapter one tie together by the end.
Keywords: hardboiled detectives, Japan, prostitution in fiction, karate, private detectives, thrillers, action adventure
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