Sujata Massey Typhoon Lover

Typhoon Lover

Sujata Massey

Harper Collins, Oct 2005, $23.95

ISBN: 0060765127

The Japanese Desk of the State Department official Michael Hendricks, hires Japanese-American antiques dealer Rei Shimura to find and authenticate a Mesopotamian age pitcher that vanished from Baghdad's National Museum. The Feds believe that Japanese collector Takeo Kayama possesses the valuable vessel and is running an international antiques smuggling ring. Once she hears his name, Rei realizes why they want her skills to investigate, as Takeo is her former boyfriend.

Rei travels to Japan, but starts her inquiries with her Aunt Norie, a teacher at Takeo's flower arranging school. She learns that Takeo is getting married soon to Erni, which shakes her a bit, as she just turned dirty thirty and wonders what she could have done different, though the government tossed her out of the country. When a typhoon hits Japan, Rei uses it as a cover to investigate Takeo's summerhouse, though she also finds time to sleep with her former lover, even as the case takes a bizarre spin towards Erni.

The investigation takes a back seat to the intriguing comparisons between the older traditional and younger colorful Japanese generations. For instance, readers will enjoy westernized Rei with her conventional Aunt. The inquiry is deftly handled, albeit secondary to the deep look into customs, but the apparent spin into Rei Shimura, the CIA agent seems odd, at least for now. Fans of this great mystery series will anxiously await the next installment to see if the renegade antiques dealer actually makes the switch to I Spy.

Harriet Klausner