Book Review: Flask of the Drunken Master by Susan Spann

First Chapter, First Paragraph is hosted weekly by Bibliophile by the Sea. Share the first paragraph of your current read. Also visit Teaser Tuesdays meme hosted by Jenn

Flask of the Drunken Master: A Shinobi Mystery #3 by Susan Spann
Published July 14, 2015; Minotaur Books
Genre: historical mystery, 16th century Japan

Opening paragraphs:

"Halt!" The armored samurai stepped forward to block the bridge. "No one crosses the Kamo River without identification. State our names and your business in Kyoto."

Hattori Hiro gestured to the Jesuit at his side. "Father Mateo Avila de Santos, a priest of the foreign god, from Portugal . I am Matsui Hiro, his interpreter and scribe." 

My comments: And so begins the third book in the Shinobi Mystery series, featuring Hiro, a samurai in disguise as an interpreter, whose job is to guard the Jesuit priest, Father Mateo, in Japan. The two have solved murders before, and continue to do so in this book. Hiro is the main crime solver, with Father Mateo as his sidekick or helper.

Samurai and Japanese codes of conduct are very much in the forefront, and Hiro must steer Father Mateo clear of any offence the Jesuit might make in speech, manner, or conduct while they interrogate people and make inquiries regarding the crime they are determined to solve. The two make an interesting pair of sleuths and their complimentary characters add to the interest of the novel. 

The author brings Japanese history, its customs and politics, to life in this series and in this book, as we enjoy detecting from an unlikely pair of sleuths. I highly recommend it for history and mystery buffs alike. 

The plot: "August 1565: When a rival artisan turns up dead outside Ginjiro’s brewery, and all the evidence implicates the brewer, master ninja Hiro Hattori and Portuguese Jesuit Father Mateo must find the killer before the magistrate executes Ginjiro and seizes the brewery, leaving his wife and daughter destitute....

But with Kyoto on alert in the wake of the shogun’s recent death, a rival shinobi on the prowl, and samurai threatening Hiro and Father Mateo at every turn, Ginjiro’s life is not the only one in danger."  (publisher)

Powells | Amazon | IndieBound | Barnes & Noble

Susan Spann is a transactional publishing attorney and the author of the Shinobi Mysteries, featuring ninja detective Hiro Hattori and his Portuguese Jesuit sidekick, Father Mateo. Her debut novel, CLAWS OF THE CAT (Minotaur Books, 2013), was named a Library Journal Mystery Debut of the Month. Susan has a degree in Asian Studies from Tufts University, where she studied Chinese and Japanese language, history, and culture. Her hobbies include cooking, traditional archery, martial arts, and horseback riding. She lives in northern California with her husband, son, two cats, and an aquarium full of seahorses.

Thanks to TLC Book Tours and the author for a review copy of this book. For other reviews of this and other books in the mystery series, for giveaways, and author posts, visit the tour schedule.

BOOK GIVEAWAY: 

A hard copy of Flask of the Drunken Master to a resident of the U.S. or Canada. To enter the contest, please email me at harvee44@yahoo.com with the email heading, FLASK CONTEST. The contest will run now through July 27. A winner will be notified by email on July 28 and will have two days to respond with a mailing address. TLC Book Tours will arrange for the mailing of the book to the winner. Good luck!

UPDATE: The winner, chosen at random, is Kay Stewart. Congratulations, and thanks to all who entered the contest. 

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Sunday Salon: Female Photographers in WWII

Welcome to the Sunday Salon where bloggers share their reading each week. Visit The Sunday Post hosted by The Caffeinated Bookreviewer. Also visit Mailbox Monday

I am excited to have two historical novels about female photographers who made their mark taking photos of the aftermath of WWII.

 The Race for Paris by Meg Waite Clayton is based on the life of real women who photographed aspects of WWII. The other is:

The Woman in the Photograph by Dana Gynther, a novel based on the real life photographer, Lee Miller, who captured startling images from WWII. It is to be released August 4, 2015 by Gallery Books.
The Woman in the Photograph is the richly drawn, tempestuous novel about a talented and fearless young woman caught up in one of the most fascinating times of the twentieth century. (publisher)

I also have an ARE of Gregory Maguire's After Alice, to be published October 27 by William Morrow. 

From the author of Wicked comes a new twist on Alice's Adventures in Wonderland, published to coincide with the 150th anniversary of Lewis's Carroll's beloved classic. Gregory Maguire turns to the question of underworlds, undergrounds, underpinnings — and understandings old and new, offering an inventive spin on Carroll's enduring tale. (publisher)

I have begun to read, among other books, 

Losing Me, a novel by the English author Sue Margolis,  published July 7, 2015 by NAL.
Knocking on sixty, Barbara Stirling is too busy to find herself, while caring for her mother, husband, children, and grandchildren. But when she loses her job, everything changes. Exhausted, lonely, and unemployed, Barbara is forced to face her feelings and doubts. Then a troubled, vulnerable little boy walks into her life and changes it forever. (publisher)

Last week, I reviewed for a book tour:
The Festival of Insignificance by Milan Kundera and
Bum Rap by Paul Levine

and will post a book tour review this coming week for the historical mystery, Flask of the Drunken Master by Susan Spann. There will be a giveaway of the book. Look for it!

What's on your reading list?

No Comfort for the Lost by Nancy Herriman: Book Beginnings

The Friday 56: *Grab a book, turn to page 56 or 56% in your eReader. Find any sentence, (or few, just don't spoil it) that grabs you. Post it. Add your (url) post in Linky at Freda's Voice.
Also, visit Book Beginning at Rose City Reader.

No Comfort for the Lost (Mystery of Old San Francisco #1) by Nancy Herriman, to be released August, 4, 2015 by NAL.

Book opening:

San Francisco, March 1867. The Chinese believed that some days are inauspicious, the ill tidings written in the passage of the heavenly bodies. Celia Davies gazed down at her patient, a delicate Chinese girl whose skin displayed more bruises than unblemished flesh, and wondered if today would probe to be one of those days. 
"You heal!" The old woman who'd been watching from the doorway flapped wrinkled hands, causing the lengthy twist of her silver-tinged ebony hair to swing across her chest. "You heal.""I shall try," Celia answered. "I shall try my best."

In this historical mystery series debut, a courageous nurse and a war-scarred police detective in 1860s San Francisco champion the down-trodden and fight for justice. British-born Celia Davies left her privileged family for an impulsive marriage to a handsome Irishman. Patrick brought her to San Francisco’s bustling shores but then disappeared and is now presumed dead.  Celia partnered with her half-Chinese cousin Barbara and her opinionated housekeeper Addie to open a free medical clinic for women who have nowhere else to turn. But one of her Chinese patients is found brutally murdered…and Celia’s hotheaded brother-in-law stands accused of the crime.

Detective Nicholas Greaves is intent on discovering the killer of the girl, whose ethnicity and gender render her as powerless in death as they did in life. Nicholas’s efforts are complicated by Celia, who has a knack for walking into dangerous situations that may lead to answers…or get them both killed.  For as their inquiries take them from Chinatown’s squalid back alleys to the Barbary Coast’s violent shipping docks to the city’s gilded parlors, Celia and Nicholas begin to suspect that someone very close to them holds the key to a murderous conspiracy… (publisher)

Page 56: "I'm trying to imagine you with a younger sister, Mr. Greaves. You must be very protective of her."  

A new mystery series that I am eager to get into. Nineteenth century San Francisco is a great setting for an historical series. 

Book Tour: The Festival of Insignificance by Milan Kundera

The Festival of Insignificance by Milan Kundera, published June 23, 2015 Harper. Contemporary novel.

"From the internationally acclaimed, bestselling author of The Unbearable Lightness of Being, an unexpected and enchanting novel—the culmination of his life's work.

Casting light on the most serious of problems and at the same time saying not one serious sentence; being fascinated by the reality of the contemporary world and at the same time completely avoiding realism—that’s The Festival of Insignificance." (publisher)

Having read only The Unbearable Lightness of Being put me at a disadvantage for reading this book, the "culmination of his life's work." I admit I was somewhat lost as to the author's message and intention and realize that the book, though very brief, would have more significance for those who have read more of his work and followed this well known author. 

Nevertheless, there are fascinating parts to The Festival of Insignificance.The women he refers to are unsympathetic to say the least. I was tempted to think him a misogynist in this book, but I would have to judge his words by the body of his work. 

Unfortunately, I think I would need to read more of Kundera to comment adequately on The Festival of Insignificance. I would welcome comments from Kundera fans and readers and refer readers to other reviews at TLC Book Tours.

About the Author

The Franco-Czech novelist Milan Kundera was born in Brno and has lived in France, his second homeland, since 1975. He is the author of the novels The Joke, Farewell Waltz, Life Is Elsewhere, The Book of Laughter and Forgetting, The Unbearable Lightness of Being, andImmortality, and the short-story collection Laughable Loves—all originally written in Czech. His most recent novels Slowness, Identity, and Ignorance, as well as his nonfiction works The Art of the Novel, Testaments Betrayed, The Curtain, and Encounter, were originally written in French.

Purchase links: Amazon | IndieBound | Barnes & Noble

For more reviews of the book, visit the tour schedule at TLC Book Tours.
I received a free proof of this book from TLC Book Tours for the tour.

A Little Night Murder by Nancy Martin: Waiting on Wednesday

Waiting on Wednesday is a weekly event, hosted by Breaking the Spine, that spotlights upcoming releases that we're eagerly anticipating. 

A Little Night Murder: A Blackbird Sisters Mystery #10 by Nancy Martin, to be published August 4, 2015 by NAL

This is the first time I've seen this series which now has ten books! I love the cover - those stairs, the elegant gown, and the title!

Book description: Nora Blackbird turns the spotlight on a killer in the latest in the series.

While a pregnant Nora relaxes in her best friend’s Bucks County pool, a Broadway show is in rehearsal next door at the home of the legendary late composer “Toodles” Tuttle. His diva widow, Boom Boom, has racked up a chorus line of enemies, so the old broad’s death is a hotly anticipated event. But it’s her beloved daughter, Jenny, who drops dead just as the lights are set to go on for the lucrative new Toodles musical.

Nora must first deal with her sisters’ love lives and a visit from her mobster boyfriend’s mother. Only then can she bring the curtain down on a daring killer....(publisher)

What new release are you waiting for? 

Book Review/Tour: BUM RAP by Paul Levine

First Chapter, First Paragraph is hosted weekly by Bibliophile by the Sea. Share the first paragraph of your current read. Also visit Teaser Tuesdays meme hosted by Jenn.

Bum Rap: A Thriller by Paul Levine, Published by Thomas & Mercer (July 1, 2015)

First chapter, first paragraph:
The gunshot hit Nicolai Gorev squarely between the eyes. His head snapped back, then whipped forward, and he toppled face-first onto his desk. 

There were two other people in the office of Club Anastasia.

My comments:
Paul Levine describes the book best in his Author's Note at the end of the book.
 "Bum Rap brings together Lassiter, the lineback-turned lawyer, and mismatched law partners Steve Solomon and Victoria Lord."

I thought it was clever of the author to bring together in Bum Rap the main characters of his two separate thriller series. The book becomes just as much a love triangle possibility as a legal thriller, when Victoria enlists Lassiter's help to clear her partner in life and law, Solomon, of a murder that would bring him many years in jail if he is convicted. As the sparks fly between Victoria and Lassiter, the two fight to find legal ways to "bend the system" to bring about a kind of ultimate justice and free Solomon.

Legal thriller readers will love this book. Though not lawyerly-inclined, I was equally intrigued by the arguments and strategies Lord and Lassiter use to try to bring about a desired outcome. But first they have to find out what really happened the day the Russian mafia type was killed, supposedly by Solomon. Solomon is saying something different, however, but is it the truth?

Objective rating: 4.5/5

Book description:
NFL linebacker-turned-lawyer Jake Lassiter... gets a call from Victoria Lord, the better half of hot local legal team Solomon & Lord. Her partner in life and law has been arrested for murder. What’s worse: the only person who can clear him has fled the city. Now it’s up to Jake and Victoria to track down the witness—a stunning “Bar girl”—before she’s roped in by the feds…or eliminated by the Russian mob. (publisher)

PAUL LEVINE worked as a newspaper reporter, a law professor and a trial lawyer before becoming a full-time novelist. His books have been translated into 23 languages; Levine has won the John D. MacDonald fiction award and has been nominated for an Edgar Allan Poe Award, the Macavity, the International Thriller Writers Award, the Shamus Award, and the James Thurber Humor Prize. Connect with Paul Website | Facebook | Twitter

Thanks to TLC Book Tours and the author for a review copy of this book.

For more reviews of Bum Rap, and giveaways, visit the tour schedule.

Sunday Salon: The Social Elite in Books

Welcome to the Sunday Salon where bloggers share their reading each week. Visit The Sunday Post hosted by The Caffeinated Bookreviewer. Also visit Mailbox Monday.

I went into the bookstore only to browse, started to read this book, then bought it. Seems I've been doing this recently, to the detriment of my pocketbook.

China Rich Girlfriend: A Novel by Kevin Kwan, published June 16, 2015 by Doubleday.
I read the previous novel, Crazy Rich Asians, and enjoyed reading about the antics and manners of the crazy filthy rich in Asia. The author lives in New York, but was raised in Singapore, so it seems he knows of what he writes. Now he tackles the crazy newly rich from mainland China and their interactions with the ones from Southeast Asia.  I am having fun reading it, being relatively poor myself :)

The mailman brought a few interesting books:

A Gilded Grave: A Newport Gilded Age Mystery by Shelley Freydont, to be released August 4, 2015; Berkley
First in a new series... a setting that was America's answer to Downton Abbey? 

In 1895, the height of the Gilded Age, the social elite spend their summers in Newport, Rhode Island. Within the walls of their fabulous “cottages,” competition for superiority is ruthless … and so are the players.  
During her first Newport season, Deanna Randolph attends a ball given in honor of Lord David Manchester, a Barbadian sugar magnate, and his sister, Madeline. But on the nearby cliffs, a young maid lies dead—and suspicion falls on Joseph Ballard, a member of one of the town’s most prestigious families. Deanna and Joe must navigate a world of parties, tennis matches, and séances to find the real murderer. (publisher)

Malice at the Palace: A Royal Spyness Mystery by Rhys Bowen, to be released August 4, 2015; Berkley Lady Georgiana Rannoch won’t deny that being thirty-fifth in line for the British throne has its advantages. Unfortunately, money isn’t one of them.  

While my beau Darcy is off on a mysterious mission, I am once again caught between my high birth and empty purse. I am therefore relieved to receive a new assignment from the Queen. The King’s youngest son, George, is to wed Princess Marina of Greece, and I shall be her companion at the supposedly haunted Kensington Palace.

George is known for his many affairs with women as well as men—including the great songwriter Noel Coward. But when I search the Palace for a supposed ghost only to encounter an actual dead person: a society beauty said to have been one of Prince George’s mistresses.
 
The Queen wants the whole matter hushed. But as the investigation unfolds—and Darcy, as always, turns up in the most unlikely of places—the investigation brings us precariously close to the prince himself. (publisher)

The Race for Paris by Meg Waite Clayton, to be released August 11, 2015; Harper
A dynamic World War II novel about two American journalists and an Englishman, who together race the Allies to Occupied Paris for the scoop of their lives. Based on daring, real-life female reporters on the front lines of history like Margaret Bourke-White, Lee Miller, and Martha Gellhorn—and with cameos by other famous faces of the time.

These books are all fabulous! I can't wait to review them!

What do you have in your mailbox this week?