Superintendent Tatsuo Otani
#4:The Ninth Netsuke by James Melville. Manila murder victim, Cleo Ventura is
found in the Sweet Harmony Room of the Fantasia hotel a notorious catering spot
for prostitutes to take their clients. Although Superintendent Otani isn’t on
the case, he still wants to check out the scene of the murder. As a disguise he
takes his wife, Hanae with him for a supposed tryst. It’s Hanae that finds the
8th Greek Muse, a netsuke. The netsuke causes uproar within the
political system due to its place a National Treasure. And someone else wants
it very badly. Hanae discovers tiny marks on the 8th netsuke, and
Otani visits the museum where he photographs the seven already among the
museum’s collection. It’s a clue to something else, something valuable enough
to kill for, maybe a treasure map. This was the first story in the series I’ve
read, and it kept my interest. A Japanese murder mystery, perhaps better
described as a cozy mystery, but with a good plot and characters. Oh, yeah, the
ninth netsuke in the title? Hanae steals this from its hiding place at the end
of the story, so we don’t actually see it until the final page.