Gasa-Gasa Girl

Overview

From the time she was a child, Mas Arai's daughter, Mari, was completely gasa-gasa-never sitting still, always on the go, getting into everything. And Mas, busy tending lawns, gambling, and struggling to put his Hiroshima past behind him, never had much time for the family he was trying to support. For years now, his resentful daughter has lived a continent away in New York City, and had a life he knew little about. But an anxious phone call from Mari asking for his help plunges the usually obstinate Mas into a series of startling situations from maneuvering in an unfamiliar city to making nice with his tall, blond son-in-law, Lloyd, to taking care of a sickly child...to finding a dead body in the rubble of a former koi pond. The victim was Kazzy Ouchi, a half-Japanese millionaire who also happened to be Mari and Lloyd's boss. Stumbling onto the scene, Mas sees more amiss than the detectives do, but his instinct is to keep his mouth shut.

Editorial Reviews

If not as flawless as Nirahara's debut, Summer of the Big Bachi (2004), the second outing for Japanese-American Mas Harai-Hiroshima survivor, Californian, gardener and sleuth-offers many of the same felicities. Mas's estranged daughter, Mari, whom he has described since babyhood as gasa-gasa (constantly moving), invites him to New York City, where everyone seems to be gasa-gasa. Son-in-law Lloyd, also a gardener, has requested Mas's help in restoring a traditional Japanese garden attached to a mansion in Brooklyn's Park Slope. The father of the owner, tycoon Kazzy Ouchi, was the original owner's gardener, and Ouchi's daughter now oversees the development of the mansion into a museum about the Japanese in New York. Vandalism, theft and neighborhood opposition already threaten the project, but it hits a really big snag when Mas discovers Ouchi's corpse in the dry koi pond. Mas and old friend Tug Yamada begin an investigation that leads to a much sought after Japanese diary recording the sordid history of the mansion's early tenants. The endearing, quietly dignified Mas, supported by a cast of spirited New Yorkers, as well as the distinctive Japanese-flavored prose, make this a memorable read. Agent, Sonia Pabley. (Mar. 29) Copyright 2005 Reed Business Information. -- PUBLISHERS WEEKLY.

Author Information

Bio of Naomi Hirahara

NAOMI HIRAHARA is a freelance writer and journalist who served for several years as an editor of The Rafu Shimpo, the largest Japanese American daily newspaper. She is the author of two previous Mas Arai mysteries, Gasa-Gasa Girl and Summer of the Big Bachi, named one of "The Ten Best Mysteries and Thrillers of 2004" by the Chicago Tribune and a Publishers Weekly "Best Books of 2004" pick.

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Additional Info

Imprint

Delta

Filesize

990.72 KB

Number of Pages

304

eBook ISBN

9780440335320