Father Mateo is one of the first Christians allowed into Japan. Hiro has been appointed by the Shogun to watch over him and protect him. When one of his converts is accused of murder he is compelled to look for the murderer. There is a henice presentation of the politics and world of that era. ( )

What I learned:
From the glossary: SHINOBI Literally “shadowed person.” Shinobi is the Japanese pronunciation of the characters that many Westerners pronounce “ninja.” (“Ninja” is based on a Chinese pronunciation.) ( )

A fun mystery set in 16th century japan. The book revolves around one Portuguese monk and his "bodyguard", a secret shinobi who end up solving a murder. ( )

Hiro, a shinobi (ninja) has been assigned the task of protecting a Jesuit Priest as a punishment. This story takes place in Kyoto Japan in the 1500s. His task has just become much more difficult as the priest has put his life on the line to save a young woman he believes is innocent of murder.

It was an enjoyable read, but not transformative. When I read "Dreaming Spies" by Laurie R. King, I was transported to Japan of early 1900s. I experienced it with Russell and Holmes. With this book, I stayed in my chair the whole time reading about a few people in Kyoto of 1500s. It really didn't feel like the 1500s at all. The author spent too much time telling me about things, rather than showing me. For instance, when she first introduced the musical instrument the Geisha was playing, she described it in detail, which took me away from the scene. Well, most of us are familiar with it from "Memoirs of a Geisha" and other sources. We don't need that inch by inch description. What we need is to have it move the story along, or move us into the characters lives. The characters were lacking in depth. Not unreachable, but not compelling. Hiro and the priest could have a great interplay, but for the most part, it seemed that the author couldn't decide what that was going to be. Was the priest going to be comic relief? Was he going to actually be a partner to Hiro? Or will he just be a nuisance?

It was decidedly a first novel, I liked it enough, but didn't love it. I won't spend the amount of money I did on this first one to pursue the series, but if they cross my path for what I consider a reasonable price, I might try others to see if she develops as a writer. ( )

Interesting first in series. Introduces a Portuguese priest, his samurai protector and the floating world of teahouse entertainment.