Claws of the Cat
A Shinobi Mystery
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- $11.99
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- $11.99
Publisher Description
Debut author Susan Spann delivers a riveting mystery filled with rich period detail and a fine sense of Japanese culture. Claws of the Cat boasts a detective like no other.
May 1564: When a samurai is brutally murdered in a Kyoto teahouse, master ninja Hiro has no desire to get involved. But the beautiful entertainer accused of the crime enlists the help of Father Mateo, the Portuguese Jesuit Hiro is sworn to protect, leaving the master shinobi with just three days to find the killer in order to save the girl and the priest from execution.
The investigation plunges Hiro and Father Mateo into the dangerous waters of Kyoto's floating world, where they learn that everyone from the elusive teahouse owner to the dead man's dishonored brother has a motive to keep the samurai's death a mystery. A rare murder weapon favored by ninja assassins, a female samurai warrior, and a hidden affair leave Hiro with too many suspects and far too little time. Worse, the ninja's investigation uncovers a host of secrets that threaten not only Father Mateo and the teahouse, but the very future of Japan.
PUBLISHERS WEEKLY
Spann matches period detail with a well-developed whodunit plot in her promising debut, the first in a new series set in 16th-century Japan. Fr. Mateo vila de Santos, a Portuguese Jesuit missionary, and Matsui Hiro, the shinobi (or ninja) dedicated to protecting the priest's life, come to the aid of Sayuri, a female entertainer of 16, after she's accused of fatally stabbing retired general Akechi Hideyoshi in a teahouse. Sayuri, a recent Christian convert, was found beside the general's corpse with blood on her kimono. The victim's policeman son, Nobuhide, vows to execute Father Mateo and the girl if he and Hiro can't prove Sayuri's innocence within two days. Spann is especially good at showing how the Jesuit learns to ask questions indirectly to gain information the Japanese witnesses would not otherwise provide. Spann's not yet at the level of Japanese historical mystery authors I.J. Parker and Laura Joh Rowland, but she's well on her way.
