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Description
Half-American, half-Japanese, Rei Shimura is finally beginning to feel like Tokyo is home. Now a writer on art and antiques at the Gaijin Times, a comic-style magazine aimed at affluent young readers, Rei's latest assignment is a piece on the history of comic book art. During a weekend of research and relaxation at her boyfriend Takeo's beachside house, Rei stumbles upon the perfect subject: an exquisite modern comic that reveals the disturbing social milieu of pre-World War II Japan. Rei show more art story, evolves into something much darker. One of the comic's young creators is found dead -- a murder that soon takes the tenacious Rei deep into the heart of Japan's youth underground. Immersed in the investigation, she finds herself floating through strip clubs, animation shops, and coffeehouses to get the true story -- and save her own skin. show lessTags
Recommendations
Member Reviews
I generally enjoy these mysteries set in Japan and featuring Rei Shimura, and did enjoy this one, but not as much as I recall liking the others. It felt as though it was rushed through, without quite enough time questioning the logic of events and editing.
Fourth in the Rei Shimura mystery series set in Tokyo. This one gets into the whole culture of Japanese manga (comics) when Rei undertakes a freelance assignment from a magazine geared toward foreigners in Japan about the history of manga. When one of the members of a ‘manga circle’ producing knock-off comics about popular Mars Girl is murdered, Rei once again becomes involved in a mystery since she interviewed the murdered man and has been looking for the missing artist of the group as well. I have enjoyed all of the books in this series immensely and this was no exception. Another of my savored ‘comfort reads.’
Rei is great again in solving the mysteries. Not much about the japanese antiques in this one. released. 355 pages.
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Lists
Asian American Literature
46 works; 6 members
Books Read in 2009
464 works; 11 members
Read in 2009
44 works; 1 member
Author Information
26+ Works 6,642 Members
Sujata Massey was born in Sussex, England in 1964 and graduated from Johns Hopkins University in 1986. She moved to Japan after marrying a Naval officer stationed there, taking a job as an English teacher. Massey is the author of "The Salaryman's Wife," winner of the 1998 Agatha Award for Best First Novel, and "Zen Attitude," mysteries set in show more contemporary Japan. (Bowker Author Biography) show less
Some Editions
Awards and Honors
Awards
Notable Lists
Series
Belongs to Publisher Series
Piper (4168)
Common Knowledge
- Canonical title
- The Floating Girl
- Original title
- The Floating Girl
- Original publication date
- 2000-04-26
- People/Characters
- Rei Shimura; Takeo Kayama; Rika Shimura; Kunio Takahashi; Nicky Larsen; Marcellus
- Important places
- Japan; Tokyo, Honshū, Japan
- First words
- "Is the pain killing you? Shall I stop?"
- Last words
- (Click to show. Warning: May contain spoilers.)Takeo began to shimmy out of his shorts, and I could guess the rest.
Classifications
Statistics
- Members
- 411
- Popularity
- 74,980
- Reviews
- 3
- Rating
- (3.55)
- Languages
- English, Finnish, German
- Media
- Paper, Ebook
- ISBNs
- 9
- ASINs
- 2
