The Flower Arranger - J J Elllis

Description

An astonishing and evocative debut from a new voice in crime fiction.

And now he knew what was wrong with the arrangement. It was the Ma… the negative space… There was only one thing beautiful enough to fill it and — finally — she was with him. Ready, if not willing, to play her role.

Holly Blain wants to cover real news. The entertainment beat — pop stars and teen trends — was not why she moved to Tokyo. When she meets Inspector Tetsu Tanaka, head of Tokyo’s Metropolitan Police’s Gaikoku-jin unit, it might just be her big break.

Tanaka isn’t so sure. Always one to do things by the book, he’s hesitant about bringing this headstrong reporter into his carefully controlled investigation.

But young women keep disappearing and Tanaka is given no choice. He and Blain must trust each other if they are to stop a tormented killer from bringing his twisted plan to its shocking conclusion.

Filled with twists and turns, this unforgettable thriller is JJ Ellis’ first novel.

Review

If I had tried to read this book before I visited Japan I'm sure I would have had to look up references, places and Japanese words. The characters names would have been unfamiliar to me. Armed with the benefit of having visited most of the places in the book and having learnt the basics of greetings etc and a possessing a smattering of appreciation of Japanese culture, I was able to fully concentrate on the book itself and appreciate it more. 

A slow start to the book, but once it got going I was hooked and had to finish it as fast as I could. The killer and his motive would only really work in Japan and that is the great hook of the novel. 

An interesting angle was the English reporter Holly who is working solely in show business reporting and the  J-pop world wants to branch out into crime reporting. She has a few things holding her back, she is female in what is still a mainly a male dominated society and a foreigner. None of this however deters her. I loved her strong character, even if at times I was on the edge of my seat willing her to maybe not be so headstrong.

This book is written by an English author and the difference I found in this book from others set in Japan and translated from Japanese, is the phrasing. Some of the words I don't think the Japanese people would use, they are rather the equivalent in English. So for me occasionally this dialogue rang less than true. However, the locations described in the book and the journeys undertaken were so accurate it took me right back to my time in Japan. It was the closest thing to being back there in person.

It appears that there will be more books featuring the Inspector and Holly and I will be eager to read those too.

I am giving the book 5 out of 5 stars. My thanks to netgalley for the ARC to review.