Teaser: In Zen Attitude, Rei is back in Tokyo with a new client for her antiques business. An aristocrat, Mrs. Mihori, has given Rei the task of finding a wondrous Tansu (Japanese-style chest) for her home. She finds the tansu, but to her dismay, it is flawed and the seller has disappeared. Even worse, people involved with the tansu are turning up brutally murdered.
Meanwhile, Rei has been enjoying life while staying with her new devoted lover, Hugh, in his fabulous apartment until his unscrupulous, dingy, and band front man little brother Angus comes to stay there as well. With all the new found stress, Rei finds a strange friendship in Mrs. Mihori's world champion martial artist daughter, but even it isn't what it seems and Rei finds herself in her most dangerous situation yet. With her relationship with Hugh on the rocks, who can help her this time?
Short Thought: The plot thickens. Rei is back and better than before. (And in more trouble...)
Expanded Thoughts: This novel was great. The mystery was deep and complex with twists and turns that gave me whiplash. (And I loved it!)
We get to see deeper into characters, and see Rei and Hugh try to maintain a long term relationship.
I love the relationship between Hugh and Rei, because it highlights Rei's main issue--her struggle with her Eastern and Western heritages. Rei has been desperately trying to throw away her American side and become an accepted member of Japanese society for these two novels. Hugh is as Western as Western gets. (A Scottish man who doesn't know Japanese, lives large, and consumes copious amounts of meat.) We see how Hugh's comfort in himself begins to frustrate confused Rei. It's something that I'm very curious to see where it goes.
Additional Notes: This novel contains scenes of a mild sexual nature.
Additional Notes: This is the 2nd novel of the Rei Shimura Mysteries by Sujata Massey.
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