Another Review at MyShelf.Com

Publisher: Perennial Dark Alley / HarperCollins
Release Date: September 21, 2004
ISBN: 0060516240
Awards:  
Format Reviewed: Paperback
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Genre:   Mystery, noir
Reviewed: 2004
Reviewer: Robin Thomas
Reviewer Notes:  some explicit content – sex
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Kinki Lullaby
Billy Chaka series  
By Isaac Adamson

    “Kinki Lullaby” by Isaac Adamson is the fourth installment in the Billy Chaka series. The book provides more than just a good mystery; it also gives the reader an opportunity to experience a very different culture and an unusual art form. The story is set in Osaka Japan, and “Kinki” is a word used to refer to the Kansai area of Japan which includes Kyoto, Osaka, Kobe and their surrounding areas.

     Billy Chaka is a writer for the Cleveland magazine Youth in Asia. He has traveled to Osaka to receive an award from the Kinki Foundation for an article written almost eight years ago about Tetsuo Oyamada, a young Bunraku puppetry prodigy. The National Bunraku Theater is an artistic treasure that brings classical Japanese drama to life with puppets. Billy meets Mr. Oyamada and finds out that Tetsuo, his son, has been thrown out of the Bunraku and that he is being asked to get him reinstated.

      Meanwhile, an American man who is staying in the room next to Billy’s is murdered. As Billy attempts to understand what really happened to Tetsuo, he also gets involved in the murder investigation, and the two cases overlap. Billy learns a great deal about the darker and more violent forms of puppetry, the Japanese mafia, and the Osaka night life while investigating the two cases.

     The amount of detail about puppetry, the Japanese culture and nightlife in the book is initially off-putting but as the story unfolds it becomes clear that it is necessary to understand the subtleties surrounding the two cases. The fast pace of the story and the odd, quirky characters are enthralling. I recommend this book to readers who enjoy the noir mystery genre and I personally plan to read the other books in the series.