Rei Shimura, a twentysomething Japanese American antiques dealer, returns for a third outing in Sujata Massey's series set in Japan (Zen Attitude, The Salaryman's Wife). In The Flower Master, Rei's former boyfriend has left Japan, and her antiques business is only slightly more successful than her love life. Then she's dragooned by her aunt Norie into enrolling at a famous Tokyo ikebana school. Rei's not a natural at the ancient art of flower arranging, but she has a talent for sleuthing, which comes in handy when the head teacher at the Kayama School is found dead--with a pair of flower shears exactly like the ones Norie gave her lodged in her neck.

Rei's efforts to find the killer and unravel the secrets entwining her Tokyo family with the Kayamas move the action along, but the real mystery is whether the budding romance between the California girl who can't quite find her place in the tradition-bound society of modern Japan and the handsome environmental activist slated to take over as iemoto (headmaster) of the school will flower into lasting love. Intrigue and multiple murders spice the romance, along with a fascinating explication of ikebana's enduring history. Rei is a lively protagonist who brings the reader along for an entertaining and subtle lesson in Japanese culture as well as in the dangers involved in digging up buried family skeletons. --Jane Adams


From Publishers Weekly
A volatile yet harmonious mix of ancient Eastern traditions, modern American chutzpah and some inexplicable violence characterizes Massey's hardcover debut (after the mass market The Salaryman's Wife and Zen Attitude). Rei Shimura, 28 and a San Francisco transplant, is a Tokyo antiques buyer who is taking a flower-arranging course at a prestigious ikebana school run by the Kayama family. Of mixed American and Japanese parentage, Rei is constantly upbraided by her staid aunt Norie for her less-than-perfect conduct. But when an instructor at the school, Sakura, is killed, apparently with Norie's gardening shears, it takes Rei's Western impudence and grit and her entire store of charm to get to the bottom of the caseAwhich grows more complex as Rei finds out about Mr. Kayama's unsavory past and her aunt's surprising relationship with him. What's more, Mr. Kayama's son, the heir apparent to the school's directorship, is inexplicably linked to an extremist environmental group trying to shut down the school. The narrative is enhanced greatly by the richly detailed Tokyo setting, from ancient tea houses to arcane rituals involving the cherry blossom festival. With such a gratifying background and such an appealing sleuth, it scarcely matters that an overly melodramatic finale mars the novel's resolution. Agents, Ellen Geiger and Dave Barbor at Curtis Brown. (May) FYI: The Salaryman's Wife won the 1998 Agatha Award for Best First Novel.Copyright 1999 Reed Business Information, Inc.


From School Library Journal
YA-Enrolled in the Kayama School of Ikebana by her Aunt Norie, Rei Shimura, a Japanese-American antique dealer living in Japan, finds her instructor stabbed with the flower-arranging shears of her trade. Rei's natural inquisitiveness, accompanied by the worry that Norie may be the chief suspect, propels her to become active in the investigation. An arsenic-poisoning attempt, her growing infatuation with a wealthy young Japanese man, and her efforts to determine the true purpose of an anti-flower environmental-rights group lead Rei's determination to solve the crime, which has its origins well in the past and does involve her aunt. The writing is as serene and graceful as the flower arranging while the plot reflects the convolutions of Japanese manners and customs. The whodunit intrigue combined with the little tidbits of everyday Japanese life result in a rich, robust read.Pam Spencer, Young Adult Literature Specialist, Virginia Beach, VA Copyright 1999 Reed Business Information, Inc.


From Library Journal
Masseys hardcover debut, following the Salarymans Wife (an Agatha winner for Best First Novel) and Zen Attitude, brings back Rei Shimura, a Japanese American antiques dealer and accidental sleuth living in Tokyo. Persuaded by her Aunt Norie to attend the prestigious Kayama school to study the Japanese art of flower arranging (ikebana), Rei becomes enmeshed in tracing the murderer of one of the schools head teachers. She finds numerous red herrings and distractions, including threatening notes and an attempt on her life, an environmental group protesting against the schools use of imported flowers treated with pesticides, and the attractive, billionaire heir to the Kayama holdings, but the ending is sadly murky. Nevertheless, the mystery is enhanced by Masseys familiarity with the cultural milieu and the etiquette conundrums that confront modern Japanese. For discerning mystery fans.Francine Fialkoff, Library JournalCopyright 1999 Reed Business Information, Inc.


From Booklist
Seeing Tokyo through the eyes of amateur sleuth Rei Shimura, a young Japanese American antiques dealer, proves to be a totally captivating experience. Shimura's Japanese side allows her inside the heart of daily life in Tokyo, while her American side gives her enough distance from the world around her to respond with an openness that American readers will appreciate. She shares her discomfort with the classes she is taking at the famous Kayama School, renowned for its teaching of ikebana, the Japanese art of flower arranging. Her frustration increases when an unfriendly teacher is murdered and Rei's beloved Aunt Norie becomes a suspect; American-minded Rei is outraged at the cold shoulder given to Norie by the other women at the school. Although Massey points out Rei's troubles with fitting into Japanese culture, she also makes it clear that Rei loves Japan and her heritage. A unique plot, an exceptional protagonist, and some subtle cultural lessons are as beautifully arranged as a vase of cherry blossoms. Jenny McLarin


From Kirkus Reviews
Agatha-winner Massey's hardcover debut takes her antiques-buyer sleuth Rei Shimura to Tokyo's Kayama School of ikebana, where her aunt Norie hopes she'll learn the ancient art of flower arrangement. Rei is so untalented in ikebana that she earns a rare public reproof from her teacher, Sakura Soto, and an even rarer public defense from Norie. But she hardly has time to join Norie's plans to apologize by presenting Sakura-san with a pair of scissors before the scissors, 15 minutes after Norie brings them into the school, are found embedded in the teacher's neck. Gravely courteous Lt. Hata, of the Metropolitan Police, clearly thinks Norie is the prime suspect, but as he's murmuring noncommital pleasantries to her, Rei is already wondering about the alternatives. What about Natsumi Kayama, the spoiled heiress of the wealthy school, or her twin Takeo, who can't decide whether he wants to make romantic overtures to Rei or accuse her of stealing his family's ceramics? What about Mari Kumamori, the Korean student whose pottery Sakura-san had smashed? What about Che Fujisawa, the head of Stop Killing Flowers, who argued that Japan's demand for fresh flowers endangered thousands of Colombian workers who came into contact with dangerous pesticides? Massey not only fleshes out each of these subplots but weaves them together to illuminate conflicts of old and new in Japanese manners, morals, family, and love. (Author tour) -- Copyright ©1999, Kirkus Associates, LP. All rights reserved.


West County Times; Pinole, CA
"A fascinating foreign world....The book is a delight."


Baltimore Sun
"What Sujata Massey excels in, as evident from two previous Rei Shimura thrillers, is the arranging of plot details, interwoven with sprays of scene and freshly cut dialogue."


'Laura Lippman, author of Butcher's Hill
"Her best yet. Intricate plotting and writing as beautiful as the ikebana described herein."


West County Times
"A fascinating foreign world....The book is a delight."



"The Flower Master is Sujata Massey at her masterful best."


BOOKLIST
"A totally captivating experience....A unique plot, exceptional protagonist, and some subtle cultural lessons are as beautifully arranged as a vase of cherry blossoms."


Laura Lippman, author of Butcher's Hill
"Her best yet. Intricate plotting and writing as beautiful as the ikebana described herein."


Lisa Scottoline
"The Flower Master is Sujata Massey at her masterful best."


Book Description
Life in Japan for a transplanted California with a fledging antiques business and a nonexistent love life isn't always fun, but when the flower arranging class Rei Shimura's aunt cajoles her into taking turns into a stage for murder, Rei finds plenty of excitement she's been missing.Unfortunately too many people have a reason for committing the crime--her aunt included. While struggling to adjust to the nuances of Japanese propriety, trying to keep her business afloat, and dealing with veiled massages left under her door, Rei sifts the bones of old skeletons to keep her family name clear--and her own life safe from an enemy with a mysterious agenda. If Rei doesn't want to be crushed like fallen cherry blossoms, she's going to have to walk a perilous line and uncover the killer with a dramatic flare for deadly arrangements.


About the Author
Sujata Massey was born in England to parents from India and Germany.She studied writing at Johns Hopkins University and worked as a reporter for the Baltimore Evening Sun before moving to Japan, whre she taught English and began writing mystery fiction.The Rei Shimura series starts with The Salaryman's Wife, which won the Agatha Award for best first novel of 1997, and continues with Zen Attitude, and Edgar and Anthony nominee, and The Flower Master.At present Sujata Massey lives with her family in Baltimore and travels to Japan to research future Rei Shimura novels.


Excerpted from The Flower Master by Sujata Massey. Copyright © 2000. Reprinted by permission. All rights reserved
Chapter OneNobody runs in Japan. A nation of naturally fast walkers has no reason to pick up its pace--except for emergencies like a closing train door. During four years in Tokyo, I've found the only runners besides myself to be senior citizens chasing a better cholesterol count or teenagers trying to make the high-school team.I was jogging at a pathetically slow pace, the better to weave between office workers without toppling them. The city is crowded, and there are unwritten rules about knocking people down. At the Roppongi Crossing intersection, I had to wait two minutes for the light to change so that I could cross over and go three blocks farther to the Kayama Kaikan, the landmark building that was headquarters for one of Japan's leading schools of flower arranging.Being late was my fault. I had lingered over my morning coffee, watered all my plants, and found a half dozen other reasons to dither so that, in the end, I had to jog from the train station to the school. As my aunt Norie frequently points out, my job as a freelance antiques buyer gives me control over my time. Not making it to the Kaikan on time was my own passive-aggressive response to her demands.Being half Japanese and half American, I sometimes struggle to fit in with my father's Yokohama relatives. I can understand most of the jokes in movies, drink tea correctly, and even prepare my own pickled daikon radishes. Still, I was clueless about ikebana, the uniquely Japanese art of flower arrangement. The last time I overstuffed an urn with plum branches, my aunt stared at it without speaking. Shortly after that, she informed me that I was enrolled as a part-time student at the Kayama School.I'd only been to the Kayama Kaikan twice, but that was enough for me to learn that in ikebana, less is more, and I'd rather spend less time arranging flowers in an overheated classroom and more time outdoors. That Tuesday morning in late March was bright, with temperatures in the sixties--almost time for the blooming of sakura, the cherry trees that are Japan's premier symbol. A weatherman on the morning news forecast that Tokyo's cherry trees would be in flower within five days, remaining at peak condition for no more than two weeks. Viewers were encouraged to plan their cherry blossom viewing parties accordingly."But watch closely, because clouds over the moon may mean storms over blossoms!" the reporter added with a corny smile. He was making a double entendre--referring to the likelihood of rain as well as offering up an old proverb that meant misfortune is lurking even at times of great happiness.Prediction is a risky game. During the time that I've lived in Japan, I've marveled at the number of people who insist that the future is determined by patterns held in the past. I'm not good at predicting things; that sunny spring morning, I had no idea what I was running toward. The next fortnight's cherry blossoms would bring a storm of death and revelation that none of us--my clever aunt, the proverb-quoting newsman, and especially not I--would have expected.* * *The Kayama Kaikan was erected twenty years ago, as Japan soared toward the bubble years of vast economic expansion. The mirrored asymmetrical tower spoke of innovation, wealth, and power, the traits that had made the Kayama family successful in teaching ikebana from the start. Aunt Norie had told me that the land-owning family began the school in the 1860s, when the second son in the family abandoned training as a Buddhist monk but decided to teach others the flower-arranging skills that he had learned in a temple setting. The students of the first iemoto, or headmaster, were the socially ambitious wives of Japan's growing merchant class--similar to today's students, almost all the wives of salarymen. The Kayama School, and many other ikebana schools like it, prospered into the twentieth century, but following World War II there were few Japanese women with the money and leisure to continue flower-arranging studies. Not ready to shut down, the iemoto invited an American general's wife to see his work, and after she enrolled, many other officers' wives followed. The Kayama ikebana philosophy became more avant-garde and international, spurred on by the new student body and the current headmaster, who traveled the world. By the late 1960s--a full century after the school had opened its doors--the small cement building where my aunt had trained had grown into a low-rise, which was demolished in turn to give space to the shiny new tower.Walking through the school's giant glass doors, I faced the school's signature artwork, an installation of jagged sandstone boulders. It would have been interesting to climb through the rock garden to examine the flower arrangements peeking from various crannies, but I didn't have the time. I stepped into the large elevator with mirrored walls and a polished granite floor and sailed up to the fourth-floor classroom.Outside the classroom doors, tall containers sat filled with a lavish assortment of flowers and branches. At my previous class I'd learned that each student was allowed to choose a bunch of line materials--branches that would give a dominant shape to the arrangement--and another bunch of smaller, decorative flowers to use as an accent. Today I took the last bunch of cherry branches and some white asters and slipped into the classroom, where a dozen women were working at the two long tables. Aunt Norie was snipping loganberry branches with her best friend, Eriko Iwata, at a table close to the teacher's lectern. Norie and Eriko were like two peas in a pod: both slender housewives in their early fifties who looked about thirty-five.

FROM THE PUBLISHER

Rei Shimura, a 20-something part-California girl, part-Japanese antiques dealer, can't quite find her place in Tokyo society. Lately Rei's love life has fallen off the radar screen, and despite all her efforts, her new business isn't doing much better. At her aunt's insistence, Rei enrolls in a course in ikebana, the famous Japanese art of flower arranging. Little does she realize what a cutthroat class it will be; she's hardly completed a lesson before her instructor is murdered. Rei is ready to track down the killer, but suddenly the case hits close to home. She and her aunt are battered by waves of police questioning, press attention, and mysterious warnings. Skeletons are rattling in her family's closet, and Rei must open the door to a dangerous secret.

FROM THE CRITICS

New York Times Book Review

[The action never upstages] the local customs, which Rei observes closely and interprets with...quick wit...

NY Times Book Review

[The action never upstages] the local customs, which Rei observes closely and interprets with...quick wit...

Library Journal

Masseys hardcover debut, following the Salarymans Wife (an Agatha winner for Best First Novel) and Zen Attitude, brings back Rei Shimura, a Japanese American antiques dealer and accidental sleuth living in Tokyo. Persuaded by her Aunt Norie to attend the prestigious Kayama school to study the Japanese art of flower arranging (ikebana), Rei becomes enmeshed in tracing the murderer of one of the schools head teachers. She finds numerous red herrings and distractions, including threatening notes and an attempt on her life, an environmental group protesting against the schools use of imported flowers treated with pesticides, and the attractive, billionaire heir to the Kayama holdings, but the ending is sadly murky. Nevertheless, the mystery is enhanced by Masseys familiarity with the cultural milieu and the etiquette conundrums that confront modern Japanese. For discerning mystery fans.Francine Fialkoff, Library Journal

School Library Journal

YA-Enrolled in the Kayama School of Ikebana by her Aunt Norie, Rei Shimura, a Japanese-American antique dealer living in Japan, finds her instructor stabbed with the flower-arranging shears of her trade. Rei's natural inquisitiveness, accompanied by the worry that Norie may be the chief suspect, propels her to become active in the investigation. An arsenic-poisoning attempt, her growing infatuation with a wealthy young Japanese man, and her efforts to determine the true purpose of an anti-flower environmental-rights group lead Rei's determination to solve the crime, which has its origins well in the past and does involve her aunt. The writing is as serene and graceful as the flower arranging while the plot reflects the convolutions of Japanese manners and customs. The whodunit intrigue combined with the little tidbits of everyday Japanese life result in a rich, robust read.-Pam Spencer, Young Adult Literature Specialist, Virginia Beach, VA Copyright 1999 Cahners Business Information.

NY Times Book Review

[The action never upstages] the local customs, which Rei observes closely and interprets with...quick wit...Read all 6 "From The Critics" >

WHAT PEOPLE ARE SAYING

Sujata Massey at her masterful best.
 — Lisa Scottoline