The Salaryman's Wife

The Rei Shimura series was new to me. I spent a lot of time in Japan and, after reading a wide variety of books, was in the mood to read fiction with Japan as the focus. I bumped into Ms. Massey's series in a search and have been pleasantly surprised. Sujata Massey is not Japanese, but writes like "an old hand," describing so many scenes and feelings that are so recognizable to me. I'm now into my third Rei Shimura book, finding it as enjoyable as the first two, and plan on buying the entire series, book by book.Since I've moved on, I don't recall the specifics of The Salaryman's Wife, other than the fact I really enjoyed it. Unlike in college, where one maintains notes for upcoming exams, I don't. I will certainly recommend this series, however.Sayonara

Rei Shimura is introduced in this first novel in a series of mysteries by Sujata Massey. It is barely touched upon that Rei is caught between being 'Gaijin' by Japanese Nationals and 'Japanese' by Gaijin. Having actually lived in that cultural purgatory while living in Japan for two years, i can tell you it is far more intense than made out in the books, but the books are mysteries not a dissertation on cultural identity. In the Salaryman's Wife, there are some twists in the story concerning the victim that in any good mystery, one needs to unravel and some 'red herrings' are found as well. The romance between Hugh Glendinning and Rei is prickly and I wonder if Ms. Massey was reading Pride & Prejudice at the time of writing. The character Rei is special in the way that there are very few Asian female characters who are leads in a series...unfortunately, at times, the character Rei is exasperating. The synopsis of the story can be found in other reviews or on the book page itself so I will not go through it here. The series was interesting enough to continue reading until unfortunately, Ms. Massey either lost interest or found something else more interesting than the adventures of Rei Shimura. The Pearl Diver pretty much finished off the series for me. She should have stopped after Samurai's Daughter. Nonetheless I would recommend reading The Salaryman's Wife and Zen Attitude. Flower Master and Floating Girl are readable if not realistic concerning her 'love interest'...and I would highly recommend The Bride's Kimono, followed by the weaker Samurai's Daughter.

Rei and her Scot are entertaining characters, but the reading experience is marred by the kind of errors that occur when you allow your computer’s spell checker to substitute what it thinks you want to say. Get a human, folks. Otherwise, I’m looking forward to the rest of the series.

This books weaves a complex series of ‘who done its’ into one plot and the bad guy is unknown until the very nd. While some parts are likely whimsy the story explores many east-west clashes that are particular to Japan in an acceptable and respectful manner. Well written. Characters well developed and complicated. It’s hard to know who is on what side as pragmatism rules the discovery process, even for ‘Miss Prim’. Very entertaining and informative. Highly recommended. Author’s multicultural perspective is refreshing and informative. Cannot wait to see how she convincingly invites readers into her world and asks them to ‘try on’ well articulated views of the world.

Never read these books out of order. If you can help it. I was told to read the fourth book and did so. Now starting with the first book I knew a few things that took some of the trill out of it. The mystery is MURDER! And that's the best kind of mystery. Few books are trilling when they are about embezzling. Really, how many books about embezzling are on the best seller's list?I like The Salaryman's Wife because of the settings - starts in a traditional Japanese Inn and goes all over the place from there. Japanese history, culture and daily life mix with twists and turns as Rei Shimura tries to find out who is the killer? I had to take away a point because I felt the romance kept getting in the way of the plot. And, truly, the character of Hugh seemed to rub me the wrong way. Which is sometimes a good thing - the more a character sometimes upsets me the more realistic he or she was written. But in this case he felt too perfect, too fake, and too important to the plot. Maybe the female readers would enjoy his character more?Read BEFORE the other books and I doubt you will have the same issues I did. Enjoy!

This is a great read with all the things I love in a mystery: it puts you into another world, takes you on an exciting mental roller coaster and keeps you guessing until the end. It is narrated an eminently likable and believable character in the person of the glamorous yet down-to-earth Japanese-American Rei Shimura. Sujata Massey writes masterfully and keeps the tension going right until the end.What separates this book, for me, from a lot of other wonderful mysteries, is the fact that it is set in 1990s Japan. I landed for the first time in Japan in 1996 and have been a "backpacking teacher" ever since. Most Gen X-Pats like me, who fled indifferent economies for the excitement of Asia in their 20s, will enjoy being taken on a ride through memory lane. Most of my 1990s Asian experiences were in South Korea, but this book is still SO MUCH fun to read. Remember drinking hot coffee out of a can on a cold morning? Remember when you got your first beeper? Remember heart-breakingly kind locals taking you to a temple for a beautiful meal? Does anyone female remember realizing that the only shoes that would fit you were men's trainers? Remember when the whole world DIDN'T speak English and DIDN'T sit hunched over a digital device all day? Rei Shimura is obviously going to enter the digital world as she moves through an 11 book series, but for any Gen-X-Pats out there who want a solid mystery with some detours down an already-forgotten world, do yourself a favour and spend some time with this book.

Sinceramente, trovo il personaggio principale poco credibile così come le situazioni. Lettura faticosa e poco avvincente. Non mi ha presa.

Rei Shimura steals the show from a twisted plot!

L'edizione kindle, piena di errori (righe ripetute, salti di pagine che poi riappaiono successivamente), rende impossibile proseguire nella lettura del libro. Io ho utilizzato l'app kinde su iphone (cosa che faccio abitualmente), non so se su tablet le cose siano migliori.Peccato, è la prima volta che mi capita un prodotto così scadente.

日系アメリカ人が主人公、舞台が日本、Agatha Awardをとった作品、と聞き読んでみた。読み切るのに苦労した。物語の盛り上がりに決定的に欠けるのである。ある温泉町で人が殺され、主人公である日系の女性が様々な事件を経て、真犯人の正体が分かる、というプロット。プロットとしてはありふれている。そうであるなら、読者としてはどきどき感を期待するのだが、作者の筆力がそのレベルに達していないのだ。一番困ることは、登場人物が魅力的に描かれていないことだ。日本文化を説明しているディーテールは確かに面白い。コンビニのおでんの描写、やウィンダムという車名に関する会話、などは他本ではあまり見ない。本文のリズムも作者独特のものがある。しかし、その表現上のきめ細かさとは別に、どうしても読んでしまうほどの面白いプロットを構想してほしかった。残念ながら、このレベルの推理小説は珍しくないと言えよう。