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When a young boy wakes Father Matteo's household to announce he has murdered a woman, Hiro Hattori and the Portuguese priest he is sworn to defend know they must find answers. However, it is the autumn of 1565 in Kyoto, Japan, and the shogun has just died. That leaves control of the city open to whoever can claim it, and political tensions are on the rise. The fact that the murdered young woman is an actor's daughter means that even in calmer times, her death would not be worth investigating. In the current climate, trying to find justice for a commoner is foolhardy to the point of being deadly. In spite of the odds, Hiro and Father Matteo are determined to find the truth, particularly when they realize the murdered woman is Hiro's cousin.
THE NINJA'S DAUGHTER is the fourth book in Susan Spann's Shinobi Mystery series, and in this one, Hiro and Father Matteo delve deeply into the world of Kyoto's theater guilds, questioning actors and their families and learning of the intricate and complicated relationships that exist both on and off the stage—relationships that, like the more overt political world, involve power struggles, secret alliances, and human failings. Much of the power of this novel comes from the quiet unfoldings of those relationships, as Hiro and Father Matteo return again and again to question and re-question the suspects and follow a thin thread of clues. Along the way, they have run-ins with Yoriki Hosokawa who, acting for the magistrate, repeatedly forbids them to continue the investigation. Their disobedience, combined with the shifting political scene, puts not only their own lives in danger but threatens Father Matteo's entire household and way of life.
While most of the action in this novel is fairly understated (Hiro often treats himself to a bowl of noodles or spends time meditating), there is always a sense that the everyday actions cover well-thought-out methods and intelligent observation, as well as very real underlying dangers, and Spann neither shies away from nor glosses over the harsh, often off-handedly violent, reality of life in Japan in 1565. Overall, Spann evokes the time and events very effectively (the cultural and historical references are as interesting as the murder mystery) and creates strong, distinct characters worth spending time with—particularly the main characters, each of whom reveals pieces of his past and various traits which make him all the more likeable. In the end, the main plot is brought to an unsettling but believable conclusion, while the overall series story is left intriguingly open-ended.
§ Meredith Frazier, a writer with a background in English literature, lives in Dallas, Texas
Reviewed by Meredith Frazier, August 2016
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Contact: Yvonne Klein (ymk@reviewingtheevidence.com)
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