MAMI SUZUKI: PRIVATE EYE is a debut series of linked short stories by NZ born, Japan resident author, Simon Rowe. Mami Suzuki is a hotel clerk, and a part-time private investigator, running her slowly building sideline around the day job, and her mother and young daughter at home. Based in the port city of Kobe, all is not as orderly and calm as first impressions may seem, and when things are not going well, and discretion is required, it's rapidly becoming known that Mami Suzuki can provide the sort of discretion, and low profile, that her client's are looking for.
Whilst the cases she's called upon to solve seem to be quintessentially Japanese in nature - the theft of pearls from a very large pearl trading company; the missing knives of a master sushi chef; the tea ceremony teacher's brother dying and an island of cats and a pregnant Shinto shrine maiden, the methodology for solving these cases will be instantly recognisable to fans of detective fiction. Suzuki is from the observation, interaction and gentle art of persuasion end of the PI spectrum. Hers is not a world of stick poking, or causing reactions, she's careful, and very exact in her interactions with people. Not so at home however, where she relies on her mother to assist with childcare and friend and muse, Teizo for his counsel and assistance in some of her cases.
Whilst the stories do centre mostly around Suzuki herself, there is plenty of supporting cast character development provided. Suzuki's mother is a dab hand with the fast witty retort, and Teizo is invested with a solidness that sometimes go with wisdom and age, although his gentleness and teasing of Suzuki are just part of the hint of romantic longing the reader will get from this pairing.
Along with a great sense of place, there's some nice glimpses into Japanese food, culture and social norms - including the challenges of single parenthood. The stories are well structured, with a subtlety of approach that fits with the world they are describing. The cases themselves are all unrelated, apart from the characters of course, seemingly designed to provide the glimpses mentioned, without tipping over into a tourist / information pamphlet.
All in all, a very interesting debut, with intriguing atmosphere and a well developed cast of characters that points to heaps of potential for future outings.
Mami Suzuki: Private Eye
Beneath the sheen of its orderly streets and obedient populace, all is not well in the port city of Kobe. Business is as brisk as the Haru-ichiban spring breeze for Mami Suzuki, hotel clerk by day, private investigator by night.
Who's stealing from Japan's biggest pearl trader? Where's the master sushi chef and why are his knives missing? How did the tea ceremony teacher's brother really die? And what does an island of cats have to do with a pregnant Shinto shrine maiden?
From the Kobe wharfs to the rugged Japan Sea coast, the subtropics of Okinawa, and a remote island community in the Seto Inland Sea, each new adventure ends with a universal truth - that there are two sides to every story of misfortune.