The Ninja’s Daughter: A Hiro Hattori Novel by Susan Spann
My rating: 4 of 5 stars
I must be honest. Were I passing a table full of books, I’m not sure this would be my first choice. 1500s Japan? A samurai/shinobi and Jesuit priest duo? I’m not sure that my “thing.”
I would be wrong. Maybe I don’t know what my “thing” is any longer.
Spann’s book is a wonderful trip back in time to another culture. It is the perfect combination of learning and just “being” in history. Some historical fiction authors rely on tedious explication. Not Spann. She simply drops you in the middle of the era, which is perfect.
The mystery and reveal remind me of an Agatha Christie novel (and I adore Christie). I had almost no ideas about “whodunit” and the reveal was a total surprise. Yet as I paged back through the book, all the clues were there. Perfect.
It is a rare book indeed where I am totally taken off guard with the mystery and I enjoy it. I had not read the first three books in this series, but I had no problem immediately bonding with Hiro and Father Matteo. Rest assured I will be looking up the first three as soon as I can.