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Ghost of the Bamboo Road by Susan Spann
November 12, 2019, copy from Seventh Street Books
Setting: a mountain village in 16th Century Japan |
"This doesn't look like a travel road." Father Mateo squinted at the narrow, uneven trail running up the rocky slope ahead. Patches of icy snow still clung to the base of the towering cedars along the left side of the path. On the right, a stand of broad-leaved bamboo grass grew high enough to block the view....Page 56:
"Is something wrong?" Father Mateo whispered.Hiro, a Japanese ninja, and the Jesuit priest, Father Mateo, whom he has been sworn to protect while he is in Japan, are traveling to a remote mountain village in the dead of winter. Their mission is to warn a female ninja that she might be compromised; her identity as a spy could be discovered and her life in danger.
"The tracks seem to end."
"They can't just end." the Jesuit looked down the mountain.
However, what the two find is a village under siege from what they believe to be a vengeful ghost that could be taking the life of the villagers. Hiro and Father Mateo decide to solve this puzzle while searching for the female ninja they came to warn.
Atmospheric in its detailed description of place and setting, this seventh novel in the Hiro Hattori Shinobi Mystery is a delightful read that puts you squarely into a time and place that feels both exotic and exciting to this Western reader.
Though I've been to Japan, I've seen only its cities, and the book makes me curious about the mountains, hills, and forests that are such a perfect setting for a ghost story and mystery.
I have become fond of both Hiro and Father Mateo from the previous books, and am looking forward to the author's next in the series!
Memes: The Friday 56. Grab a book, turn to page 56, or 56% of your eReader. Find any sentence that grabs you. Post it, and add your URL post at Freda's Voice. Also visit Book Beginning at Rose City Reader
