Susan Spann is a mystery author who writes in the period just before the Tokugawa (Edo) period in Japan. I write in the period just after. She has a series of tightly crafted mysteries that I enjoy very much. I was lucky enough to score an ARC of her latest. It'll be release mid-July. Here's my review.
Trial on Mount Koya
By Susan Spann
The Shinobi Mysteries, #6 *****
Shinobi Hattori Hiro and the Portuguese Catholic priest he is assigned to protect flee Iga to get Father Mateo to safety but must take a secret detour to Shingon Buddhism’s center at the temple complex on top of Mount Koya. This unlikely pair, accompanied by Father Mateo’s housekeeper, Ana, and Hiro’s cat, Gato, become embroiled in another complex, beautifully crafted, mystery.
I write in the Meiji era, some 250 years later, so I also research Japanese history and culture in great detail. One of my great pleasures in reading Susan Spann’s books is the quality of her research. I can’t fault it in any way. I love the clever way she has managed to get her characters out of a particularly unpleasant bit of history coming soon after this book ends while also providing a clear path to many future mysteries in this interesting and highly entertaining series.
Spann has described this book as an homage to Agatha Christie’s And Then There Were None. Certainly, the isolated location and the blizzard isolating the participants still further are reminiscent of Christie’s work, but this book takes individual twists and turns, so don’t look too deeply for parallels. Just sit back and enjoy the show.
The use of Shingon doctrines is ingenious. Shingon itself is colorful and ritualistic. Since Japanese Buddhism in general contains many similarities, regardless of sect or doctrinal derivations, those who are members of other sects will feel right at home and those who are not Buddhist will be intrigued as well as enlightened about some of the foundations all Japanese Buddhist sects share. The comparisons of Buddhism with Father Mateo’s Catholicism ring absolutely true: it’s my experience that the Japanese generally do not understand Christianity and probably never will.
My only possible gripe, and I think it is open to argument about whether it is justified, is that I would like to see more exploration of character and more detail. That may be just my own continuing fascination with this nation and its culture and people. For mystery devotees, there is nothing missing at all.
I don’t want to give out spoilers. This is a first-class mystery and although mystery buffs will enjoy reading it – and the series – over and over, for your first read, sit back, relax, and allow yourself to sink into this interesting world, get to know these characters, and simply enjoy. Susan Spann has a fan in me. I am eager for more. My highest possible rating!
