Kill Me In Shinjuku

Burns Bannion #4: “Kill Me In Shinjuku” by Earl Norman (Norman Thompson).  Bannion’s old newspaper (AKA CIA) buddy, Hedges sends him to help an Australian stripper playing the Shinjuku clubs. From Ginger Peaches, he hears a strange story about a street peddler and missing time (along with an important love letter). From the girl’s apartment, he’s sapped over the head and dropped from the top of a fence, and in a daze, hears a voice inform him that he will soon die. Next he visits his karate instructor and runs into Inspector Ezawa, who tells him a similar story about the wife of a diplomat meeting a strange street seller. There’s one cute chapter where Bannion enters a supposedly haunted abandoned Army firing range, then crawls through a small tunnel below ground in a death trap. The case actually stems from a previous story, and his killing of a gang lord in that adventure. This one has a nice twist at the end, however. Very good.