May 29, 2023
Hirahara’s insightful follow-up to 2021’s Edgar-winning Clark and Division finds newly married Aki Nakasone returning to Los Angeles in 1946, two years after her family was forcibly relocated to the Manzanar internment camp in Illinois. Aki is working as a nurse’s aide at the Japanese Hospital in Boyle Heights when a bruised and battered old man arrives. Suspecting he has been abused, Aki confronts the man’s son—who turns out to be Babe Watanabe, her husband Art’s best friend and the best man at her wedding. She never liked Babe, but resists the idea that he could be responsible for his father’s injuries. When a shooting occurs at the sleazy hotel where the Watanabes are staying, Babe drops out of sight, and Art’s friendship with the missing man brings the police to Aki’s door. Fearing that her family may become further embroiled in a murder investigation, Aki sets out to locate Babe on her own. Drawing on rich historical detail, Hirahara provides a visceral account of the hardships facing Japanese Americans during and just after WWII, and her lucid prose elevates this above standard mystery fare. It’s a memorable outing. Agent: Susan Cohen, PearlCo Literary.