The Ghost in the Tokaido Inn

You've got to love Sonlight curriculum. My elder child is currently studying world history circa the 17th and 18th Centuries. We've been immersed in European attempts to colonize the New World, reading stories about Spaniards, English and French folks all seeking their fortunes. Then this week--BAM!--we get a mystery story set in 18th Century Japan. There was nary a foreigner in sight. Anyway, that in itself doesn't make this a good book. This is a good book, of course. I'd advise everybody who has a free afternoon to check it out. It's the tale of Seikei, the fourteen year old son of a tea merchant. He is traveling with his father on his way to Edo, the capital of Japan. His father is looking to open a shop there and make the big show more bucks. Seikei really doesn't want to be a tea merchant, like dear old Dad, but society is such that the station of life into which you are born is the station where you stay. One night during the trip, he and his father are staying at the same inn as a powerful daimyo when the latter has a priceless ruby stolen from him. The local judge--Judge Ooka--arrives on the scene and it soon comes out that Seikei had seen the thief. Of course, it was in the middle of the night, and Seikei claims that it was a horned demon, but that's no reason to doubt his testimony, right? Well, surprisingly enough, Judge Ooka accepts Seikei's story and enlists him to help track down the thief. What follows is an enjoyable tale. As far as the mystery goes, it was only fair, but the Hoobler's handling of setting and character more than makes up for it. I'm strongly tempted to seek out the sequel.
--J. show less

There is little I can say about this book beyond “wow.” I can easily see how The Ghost in Tokaido Inn became an Edgar Allan Poe Award finalist. Judge Ooka, one of the major characters, did once exist and is called the Sherlock Holmes of Japan. Though this story is a work of fiction, it is thanks to the quality of the telling that we can imagine living in the age of the Samurai, running through the old streets and following in the footsteps of his assistant as he tracks down the thief of a special jewel.

The plot unfolds naturally and gradually at first, allowing us to explore the mystery within the mystery: How did Judge Ooka solve the crime after hearing only one eyewitness account of the night’s events? As the characters develop, show more the reader finds that they are caught up in a dramatic finale that springs to the eye as easily as it draws in the mind.

An excellent beginning to the Judge Ooka series that will make you want to read more, even once the crime is solved. show less

This is the first book in the Samurai Mystery series which contains seven books. This book was pretty good, the writing style is a bit juvenile but it includes a lot of interesting Japanese traditions and history and has a great lead character.

Seikei is the fourteen year old son of a merchant and dreams of being a samurai. While his father and him are staying at an inn Seikei is awoken by a ghost who is stealing a priceless Ruby from one of the Samurai staying at the inn. When Seikei mentions the ghost to Judge Ooka, the samurai magistrate sent to investigate the case, Judge Ooka asks Seikei to assist him in solving the mystery.

The best part about this book is all of the information included on Japanese history and culture. At the end show more of the book the authors talk about which parts are real history and which parts are story. Another good part is the boy Seikei, he is such a hopeful character and always determined to follow his dreams.

The writing is more juvenile than other Middle Grade books that I usually read. Pretty simple use of language and words; so younger kids should be able to read it. I personally thought the dialogue was a bit too simplistic at times.

The authors weave a good mystery though and the characters are interesting and believable. The plot is somewhat complex and is interesting to follow; although I found it to be a bit predictable.

Overall I liked the book. I enjoyed the mystery and reading about Japanese culture and history, I thought Seikei was a very likable and endearing character. I wasn't a big fan of the writing style; I thought it was a bit simplistic even for the age group the book is aimed at. I will read the next book in the series and see how I like that one and then determine whether or not I will read the remaining five. show less

It's a fairly well written book, and although you do get the solution as to who the culprit was, the main question was: why they did what they did. It was certainly interesting and it focused a lot more on Seikei and how he managed to help Judge Ooka capture the thief and find out the real reasons why the crime was done the way it was done. I think it was well written due to the fact that it paid close attention to detail and it was filled with good amounts of description to give the reader the feel for the time period and how it was like back then. It provided the reader with several tidbits of background information, so the reader won't be lost in all the historical aspects of the book. However it's well done so that you do end up show more getting a mini history lesson without being overwhelmed with information.

Although a mystery, it also did focus on the development and growing maturity in Seikei. Dreaming of becoming a samurai, he gets taught by several characters on how to behave and even fight like one. His behavior develops from a dreamy boy to someone slightly more mature and takes this samurai business more seriously. Although geared towards younger children, there are certain parts of the book where it seems more appropriate for young adults instead. That's just my opinion about it though.

The plot was well done. It mixes the element of paranormal and with mystery and has it's similarities with Sherlock Holmes where there's always a logical explanation to everything. Judge Ooka steps up on this aspect and is shown to be a character with a quiet form of intelligence and stays in the background while Seikei does the actual work himself. In many ways they compliment each other perfectly and make a great mystery solving team.

Overall, I'm definitely picking up the next book after this one. This series has a great potential and has done a good job with this book. Pick this up for a good quick mystery read, with a small history lesson of Japan under Shogun rule. show less

Lots of action and Japanese history. Definitions of Japanese words were often clunky. Interesting characters and a good intro to feudal society and kabuki.

Wonderful tale for young adults from 18th century Japan about revenge and honor. Seikei, the 14 year old son of a tea merchant, gets caught up in an investigation of the theft of a valuable ruby at the inn where he and his father were lodging. He ends up following a chief suspect in the case, a kabuki actor named Tomomi. What follows are several adventures all leading up to the solution of the case, and more importantly, to the motive for the crime. In addition to an intriguing plot, the setting of the story is carefully crafted, and while reading this short book, I felt like I had stepped into 18th century Japan. I look forward to reading the next in the series.

Even though it is a good story and well written, I got bogged down with the vocabulary and strange names.