Strawberry Yellow (Mas Arai Series #5)

by Naomi Hirahara

Overview

Curmudgeonly Japanese American gardener and unwitting detective Mas Arai is back in this fifth in the Edgar Award–winning series. Naomi Hirahara has created a memorable protagonist unlike any other: a Hiroshima survivor, Los Angeles gardener, widower, gambler, grandfather, and solver of crimes. In Strawberry Yellow, he returns to the strawberry farms of his youth and encounters family intrigue, danger, and murder.

The series' most compelling and evocative mystery yet is set in the strawberry fields of Watsonville, California, where young Mas first arrived as a Hiroshima survivor in the 1940s. He returns for the funeral of a cousin and quickly gets entangled in the murder of a young woman. Was his cousin murdered, too? Mas has to figure out what happened, keep himself safe, and uncover the mystery of the Strawberry Yellow blight and a new strawberry varietal so important that it could be inspiring a murderer.

Product Details

ISBN-13:	9781938849022
Publisher:	TURNER PUB CO
Publication date:	02/23/2013
Series:	Mas Arai Series , #5
Pages:	240
Sales rank:	468,445
Product dimensions:	5.20(w) x 8.20(h) x 0.60(d)

About the Author

Naomi Hirahara: Naomi Hirahara is the Edgar-winning author of the Mas Arai mystery series, including Gasa Gasa Girl, Summer of the Big Bachi, Snakeskin Shamesin, and Blood Hina. She lives in California.

Editorial Reviews

At the outset of Edgar-winner Hirahara’s engaging fifth whodunit featuring retired Japanese-American gardener Mas Arai (after 2010’s Blood Hina), Arai mourns the loss of second cousin Shug Arai, one of his few relatives in the U.S., who has expired of an apparent heart attack. Shug, a strawberry breeder in Watsonville, Calif., was known as Dr. Strawberry, due to his talent for developing new varieties of the fruit. After the bloody body of Laila Smith, an environmental activist concerned about genetically modified food, is found in Shug’s greenhouse, the dead man’s widow confides to Mas her suspicions that he, too, was murdered. Both deaths may be connected to the development of a new strawberry strain. An earth-shattering discovery made by Laila shortly before she was killed adds to the intrigue. Parts of the story stretch credulity, but Hirahara again wisely makes her unusual lead—and most unlikely sleuth—the focus. (Mar.)

Publishers Weekly

"In author Hirahara’s deft hands (she’s an Edgar winner), the human characters, especially Mas, always make for a compelling read." - Mystery Scene Magazine

"Mas is the kind of character who not only entertains, but also expands the literary landscape." -Stanford Alumni Magazine

"The complex interrelationships of this multigenerational Japanese American community and the fierce competition for control of the California strawberry industry make this a thoughtful and highly entertaining read." - Library Journal (STARRED REVIEW)

"Mas' fifth case has both depth and an intricate whodunit" — Kirkus Reviews

“His obdurance, his skill as a listener, and even his broken English are charming in a quirky, uncomplicated way.” — Booklist

“Hirahara again wisely makes her unusual lead—and most unlikely sleuth—the focus.” — Publishers Weekly

"Mas, less an amateur detective than a cranky, accidental one, is what makes the story work." — Booklist

"In author Hirahara’s deft hands (she’s an Edgar winner), the human characters, especially Mas, always make for a compelling read." - Mystery Scene Magazine

"Mas is the kind of character who not only entertains, but also expands the literary landscape." -Stanford Alumni Magazine

"The complex interrelationships of this multigenerational Japanese American community and the fierce competition for control of the California strawberry industry make this a thoughtful and highly entertaining read." - Library Journal (STARRED REVIEW)

"Mas' fifth case has both depth and an intricate whodunit" — Kirkus Reviews

“His obdurance, his skill as a listener, and even his broken English are charming in a quirky, uncomplicated way.” — Booklist

“Hirahara again wisely makes her unusual lead—and most unlikely sleuth—the focus.” — Publishers Weekly

"Mas, less an amateur detective than a cranky, accidental one, is what makes the story work." — Booklist

From the Publisher

The fifth offering in Hirahara’s “Mas Arai” series (after Blood Hina) finds the curmudgeonly gardener, Hiroshima survivor, and sometime detective back in his hometown of Watsonville, CA, for the funeral of a cousin. Immediately, he is thrown into a maelstrom of suspicion, jealousy, and agricultural intrigue between the two competing strawberry growers in the area. Could his cousin have been murdered? Is his death related to the murder of a young woman romantically linked to another cousin? Are they both linked to the battle to patent a strain of strawberry resistant to the deadly “strawberry yellow” blight? Unwittingly, Mas ends up in the vortex of the controversy and nearly loses his life when he gets too close to the truth.The complex interrelationships of this multigenerational Japanese American community and the fierce competition for control of the California strawberry industry make this a thoughtful and highly entertaining read.

Verdict Strong on narrative, with irascible but likable characters, the latest entry in Edgar Award?winning Hirahara’s series should expand her readership. The “Mas Arai” series provides both a unique cultural framework and intriguing and satisfying stories with an honorable and complex man at their core.—Susan Clifford Braun, Bainbridge Island, WA
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Library Journal