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This is an ambitious novel. It is a murder mystery. In fact, it is a double murder mystery, one set in the present day, the other in the past. Therefore, it is also something of a historical novel. It is a police procedural. It is a ghost story with a psychic investigator. Since it is set in Tokyo, it is slightly exotic for Western readers. It is a gay romance. It is highly erotic. Above all, it is a cautionary tale, a moral exemplum. What is most surprising, it works as a unified novel. The Ronin Killer, using authentic samurai swords of an unknown origin, is skewering couples while they make love. Shortly thereafter a suicide is found, one whose fingerprints match those found on the sword and on whose forehead the legend 'Naomasa' is written. The victims have been heterosexual, gay, and lesbian. What then do they have in common to cause the killer to single them out? Frustrated at every turn, the Tokyo Metropolitan Police hire a Boston-based American psychic investigator to help them. John Holmes ("no relation to the fictitious English detective") discovered his powers as the result of post-traumatic stress resulting from the Persian Gulf War. Having glimpsed the handsome Inspector Toshiro Genjin, the detective assigned to the case, on an international news broadcast, John is more than happy to offer his assistance. As the reader discerns from the prologue to the mystery, the present-day murders somehow are tied into the murder of two samurai lovers in 1848. There are thus two cases to solve: a dual murder in the past, a series of killings in the present. Though the murderer is not ultimately identified until near the end of the case, John and Toshi realize early on that the one common thread for all the deaths is that something is keeping the lovers from openly pledging their troth. The murderer has as his objective to unite the lovers forever: "The killer had made certain that they could be together in death." Toshi and his fiancee Keiko are experiencing the same problem as the victims had. They are engaged only because their families desire the wedding. Keiko is in love with a man of lower class than her family approves; Toshi is gay and is rapidly falling in love with John. When the two men realize that Keiko has become the killer’s next target, John demands of Toshi: "You realize that in this particular case there’s only one way to bring the killer to us, don’t you?" With the aid of Toshi’s uncle, a scholar versed in samurai lore, they bait their trap. Without belaboring the point, the novel becomes a powerful warning to couples to follow their heart and not allow the dictates of society, of family, to rule. In the author’s view, the greatest crime, worse than murder, is to deny love. As the reader speeds to the end of the short work, the question whether Toshi will listen to the warning becomes more important than the question of what will happen when they summon up the evil spirit. The novel’s shortcoming is its characters. They are interesting, but somehow wooden. We are told what John and Toshi think and feel, but we do not experience those thoughts and feelings firsthand. Thus, we never obtain an intimate connection with either man. Nor do we see enough of the characters from the past truly to connect with any one of them. Still the mystery/romance is a pleasant enough read to recommend it for a few hours pastime.
Reviewed by Drewey Wayne Gunn, March 2007
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