From Summer of the Big Bachi to Gasa-Gasa Girl, Naomi Hirahara’s acclaimed novels have featured one of mystery fiction’s most unique heroes: Mas Arai, a curmudgeonly L.A. gardener, Hiroshima survivor, and inveterate gambler. Few things get Mas more excited than gambling, so when he hears about a $500,000 win–from a novelty slot machine!–he’s torn between admiration and derision. But the stakes are quickly raised when the winner, a friend of Mas’s pal G. I. Hasuike, is found stabbed to death just days later. The last thing Mas wants to do is stick his nose in someone else’s business, but at G.I.’s prodding he reluctantly agrees to follow the trail of a battered snakeskin shamisen (a traditional Okinawan musical instrument) left at the scene of the crime…and suddenly finds himself caught up in a dark mystery that reaches from the islands of Okinawa to the streets of L.A.–a world of heartbreaking memories, deception, and murder.
Mas Arai's best friend Haruo is getting married, and he has grudgingly agreed to serve as best man.
... Snakeskin Shamisen.” —D ENISEH AMILTON, Diamond series author of the Eve SNAKESKIN SHAMISEN Winner ofthe2007 EdgarAllanPoe Award forBest Paperback Original “Hirahara's complex and compassionate portrait of a contemporary American ...
She is also the author of the new series of Los Angeles-based Ellie Rush mysteries, published by Penguin.
... Snakeskin Shamisen ( 123 ) links Mas to another beloved рор culture outlier - investigator from The Rockford Files . At the same time , Mas notes the " strange Scotch - taped , squinty eyes and long , curved fingernails " assigned to ...
The book contains valuable appendices, one of works Miki himself has composed using Japanese traditional instruments, and one of works by other composers -- including Toru Takemitsu and Henry Cowell -- using Japanese traditional instruments ...
A spellbinding mystery played out from war-torn Japan to the rich tidewaters of L.A.’s multicultural landscape, this stunning debut novel weaves a powerful tale of family, loyalty, and the price of both survival and forgiveness.
... The Howie Bowles, Secret Agent Shadow Horse Dolphin Luck Green Thumb 1999 Sammy Keyes and the Hotel Thief Alice Rose and Sam Wreckers, The Kidnappers, The Holes Blue Balliett Peg Kehret Patricia Finney Daniel Pinkwate Zilpha Keatley ...
Discover the fascinating world of Kabuki music, including a style of shamisen playing called ozatsuma. The book also informs about the Bon odori, or bon dances, held during the summer festival of Bon.
Quoted dialogue and page citations are from the published shooting script, Robot Stories and More Screenplays (San Francisco: ... Itshouldbe notedthatthe shootingscript originallycalled for “MachineLove” toprecede “TheRobot Fixer.
... Snakeskin Shamisen “ Edward Wright's Damnation Falls takes a fascinating look at the conflict between tradition and progress in eastern Tennessee . The story maintains a nice balance between character development and suspense , and ...