Editorial Reviews

From Kirkus Reviews , August 15, 1996
The contrived premise for Furutani's first novel is that forty something, unemployed Ken Tanaka--a dedicated member of the L.A. Mystery Club--sets himself up as a make-believe private-eye (even renting an office, printing business cards, etc.) as part of a mystery-weekend game he's planning. Naturally, a passerby mistakes him for the real thing. She's blond bombshell Rita Newly, who hires eager, dumb Ken to pick up a package (embarrassing photos, supposedly) from a blackmailing Japanese businessman named Matsuda. Ken gets the package--which contains valuable papers, not photos; Matsuda gets gruesomely murdered. So Ken, a suspect, goes sleuthing, trying to locate the Little Tokyo stripper who was Matsuda's final date while tangling with some violent mobsters (who want the package). It would take tremendous style and atmosphere, of course, to transform this familiar, short-story-ish plot into a satisfying novel. Unfortunately, while charmless narrator Ken occasionally strains for humor, the filler here (except for a few persuasive glimpses into the Japanese-American community) is consistently unengaging: earnest exchanges between Ken and girlfriend Mariko, a recovering alcoholic; Mariko's first speech at an AA meeting; and bland musings on everything from anti-Asian racism and Kurosawa movies to Buddhist carnivals and Japanese woodblocks. A wobbly debut. -- Copyright ©1996, Kirkus Associates, LP. All rights reserved.

Synopsis
A femme fatale asks mystery buff and amateur sleuth Ken Tanaka to take on a case for her--which he does on a lark--but he soon finds himself involved in a murder in Los Angeles's Little Tokyo.

The author, http://members.aol.com/dfurutani , August 18, 1996
Why I write the Ken Tanaka books
When I was a kid I'd read and watch Charlie Chan and Mr. Moto. They were entertaining in their way, but both Chan and Moto looked, talked and acted like no Asians I knew. Now, of course, I realize that there is no reason they should. Both characters were written by non-Asians whose understanding of Asian culture was, to put it kindly, limited. When I started writing mystery books, I naturally wanted to tell a great story, but I also wanted to tell it with a distinctive Asian American voice and a distinctive Asian American viewpoint. In Death in Little Tokyo you won't find Asian characters mumbling "Confucius says" or brilliant detectives who can't master English prepositions. Instead, you'll find living, breathing Asian Americans grappling with issues like alcoholism, corporate downsizing and growing up Asian in America. Of course, you'll also find a hacked-up body, a mysterious client, the seedy side of L.A., Yakuza thugs, and a fun read! It's my hope that people who love mysteries will like this book. It's also my hope that Asian Americans and people interested in Asian culture will also read this book, and perhaps see something of their own life reflected in the experiences of Ken Tanaka, my detective. - Dale Furutani - P.S. Look for the next Ken Tanaka book in 1997, also from St. Martin's Pres

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