Shimura Trouble

Perhaps Sujata Massey's Rei Shimura mysteries are not everyone's cup of tea (they are sometimes referred to as "mystery -- women's fiction crossovers"), but for those of us who like her style and content (especially the multicultural education!), this is another winner. As a Californian who travels regularly to Hawaii, I thought I knew quite a bit about Hawaiian history and culture, but Massey taught me a fair amount of new stuff, especially about ethnically Japanese Hawaiians. As has been true of all of her books, the story line is fun enough to keep you reading, and learning, and wanting to know more. One reason I read Massey is that I am multilingual and studied linguistics, so I greatly enjoy her explanation of local language and slang. Read this one and your Hawaiian slang will definitely improve!

I guess this book is a farewell to faithful readers of the Rei Shimura series. If it starts slow, it delivers a wonderful complicated plot, a great set of characters, and action scenes that are among Massey's best. In fact, in a way they ARE the best, for reasons that would involve spoilers, offering a great finish to the series. Rei's man trouble, which sparkles through the whole series, has a highly satisfactory third act. I missed Rei's mom and aunt (I felt they should be here, though there are reasons they are not), but the Hawaii Shimuras are a lively group. Rei moves among Hawaiians who are intensely conscious of their racial roots, as she is, in the jumble that includes a cousin with mysterious roots, an old-money landowner, a developer, transient military and yachtsmen (transient even when born in Hawaii), a Chinese gangster, and a proud but land-poor Hawaiian. Massey gives a vivid, sensual picture of a part of Hawaii (Ewa or Leeward Oahu) with which I was not familiar. I do think that there is room left for another novel. Perhaps it would be a bit more "domestic" than before, but it is hard to imagine Rei NOT getting in trouble with her curiosity and sense of justice....

Although this wonderful tale was slow to start (and hence four stars instead of five), it is well worth the read and then some. In fact it turned out to be one of my favorites in the series! In this outing, Rei is home nursing her father, who has had a serious stroke. A surprise letter from an unknown relative in the heretofore also unknown Hawaiian branch of the Shimura clan changes everything as Rei's father, who can be as stubborn as she is, insists on going. Next thing you know, Rei, her dad, her cousin Tom and his dad (whom we've met many times before in the Japanese segments of this series) are in Hawaii--and up to their necks, not in leis, but in mystery. I am not going to indulge in spoilers here, but Rei's love life, which had taken a turn for the worse in the most recent novels, picks up. That's all I'm going to say. For those of us diehard Shimura fans, the ending is a 5-star ending. For those who do NOT follow the series, however, I'm not sure this book might not be confusing. There are many branches of the Shimura family and many different sides to our heroine, and if you do not know the ins and outs, it might be a bit difficult to unravel. However, I thoroughly adored this book and am thrilled that Sujata Massy and her heroine remain in fine form!

I picked up my first Rei Shimura mystery a few months ago and I couldn't eat it up fast enough. It was such a great read, I scooped up all the books in the series and anxiously awaited Shimura Trouble. The role of the "setting" as almost a separate character is rich and authentic. Massey captures the little understood ways of Japan and charms us with it. Rei Shimura, the heroine, is an intricate combination of traditional Japanese culture and Yankee ingenuity. I was so sad to see the last of the Rei Shimura mysteries. I can't wait to see where Massey takes us next.

My congrats to Madam Massey for writing another great Rei story. This time happening in Hawaii. What wealth of information and descriptions; as always i learn so much and feel a little wiser on all things related to Hawaii society and history. Rei has also grown in the face of adversity, she is less impulsive.... and the new characters are just are a delightful mishmash of corckiness. I do get the sad suspicion that this may be the last of Rei's adventures. I just hope there is still more to get in trouble for our heroine!! Definitly worth waiting for!!!