nocto

Massey is well on her way to making a mark on my favourite author list. This second mystery sees our heroine Rei struggling to keep her new Japanese antique buying business going after she discovers that a chest she has spent oodles of cash on for a client is a fake. The plot is very competent with twists that have you saying "I should have see that" without making you feel cheated.

I got a better sense of Japan from this book than from the first, I don't know whether that's because settings like temples seem inherently more Japanese or because the author did a better job of the setting this time. I expect that it's a bit of both. I liked the characters in this book, most of them had depth and motivations to ac as they did. Rei's rich boyfriend is visited by his globetrotting younger brother and I thought this pair were very realistic.

Some of Rei's actions are a bit cliched from a "putting the main character in peril" point of view but as an amateur detective she does admirably at not rubbing me up the wrong way, I never want her to leave the investigation to the professionals.

Purchased on 22nd November 2001.

A copy of this book is available on BookMooch.