Review: Shimura Trouble

Shimura Trouble by Sujata Massey.
Severn House Publishers, 2008

This long-awaited, reportedly last book in the Rei Shimura series, is now out from an English publisher, Severn House. My library had it on order since April and it finally arrived this month. Unlike the previous series entries, set in Japan, California, or Washington DC, this one takes place in Hawaii (Oahu) and introduces another (rather outre) branch of the Shimura family, who are having land title problems that they wish Rei's father and uncle to help them with. The setting and people are vividly drawn, w/ lots of local color. This should be must-reading for anyone going to LCC on the Big Island. I'm already missing this series, one of my favorites. The first 2 books were a great accompaniment to my first trip to Japan, and I've grown fond of Rei, an interesting mix of edginess and propriety.

This review was written by Meredith Phillips and distributed on the DorothyL list. It is reprinted here by permission of the author. Thank you, Meredith.


Meredith Phillips
Perseverance Press/John Daniel & Co.

Visit her website at:

http://www.danielpublishing.com/perseverance