JAMES MELVILLE
James Melville was born in London in 1931 and educated in North London. He read philosophy at Birkbeck College before being conscripted into the RAF, then took up school-teaching and adult education. Most of his subsequent career has been spent overseas in cultural diplomacy and educational development, and it was in this capacity that he came to know, love, and write about Japan and the Japanese. His Superintendent Otani crime novels combines superb story-telling with a fascinating insight into modern Japanese life. He has also written an historical novel set in Japan, The Imperial Way.
The Chrysanthemum Chain (1980)
The problem is not to find the murderer - but the man who paid him. The dead English teacher had had a very special card index which told far too much about some top politicians. And a general election is imminent. Once again Superintendent Otani finds himself on a highly sensitive case. His combination of diplomacy and detection makes delightful reading.
A Sort Of Samurai (1981)
Superintendent Tetsuo Otani is surveying the wreckage caused by a major earthquake - and on his little grandson's first Boy's Day! - when he hears the mournful sounds of a dog howling in a closed building. Further investigation leads him to the offices of Hochmuth-Wasserman and to the dead body of the export company's chief executive, Richard Liebermann.
Otani suspects murder, and soon he's got dapper Inspector Kimura on the job. In charge of all cases involving gaijin, or foreigners, and famous as a ladies' man, Kimura is naturally drawn to Ilse Fischer, Liebermann's shapely blond secretary.
But why is Fraulein fischer so interested in bunraku, the mesmerizing Japanese puppets? And how does Otani's old friend Baron Bunsho Maeda fit into the picture?
It takes Otani's solid concentration, Kimura's slightly unprofessional antics - and another death - to solve this charming mystery set in modern Japan.
The Ninth Netsuke (1982)
It was just as well that Superintendant Otani's wife, Hanae, accompanied him to the sleazy sex hotel in downtown Kobe where a Filipino hostess had recently been strangled, for she was the one who found the unusual netsuke. So many people seem desperate to get hold of this harmless-looking figurine, that it is clearly crucial evidence - but of what? Otani is drawn into swirling political undercurrents and back into past history, as he uncovers the explosive legacy of a Japanese Goering convicted of war crimes.
Sayonara, Sweet Amaryllis (1983)
And at least a dozen hapless Japanese citizens die each year from eating the tainted flesh of the blowfish, or fugu. Though its meat is succulent, its internal organs are filled with poison.
Nine times out of ten it's a tragic accident. But in Mrs.George Baldwin's case, it's murder. When she swoons in the midst of a madrigal at an exclusive cocktail party, everyone thinks she's drunk. But it's really the fugu poison that's taken effect.
On hand is Kimura, Superintendent Otani's right-hand man. He has seen Mrs.Baldwin die, but the list of suspects is overwhelming. It could be any of the fifty-odd guests at the reception - including the nine other members of the Madrigal Circle and its jet-setting hosts, Mr. and Mrs. Carradine.
For Otani the question is why such an inconsequential woman would be murdered. And, as he steeps himself deeper and deeper into the case, he discovers a scandal with very serious implications.
Death Of A Daimyo (1984)
East meets West when Superintendent Otani is invited to St.Cuthbert's College, Cambridge, to celebrate the opening of a new Institute for Japanese Studies. But no sooner has the dry sherry been handed round on silver trays than a rich Japanese tycoon is found murdered. Could his death have any connection with the upheaval among criminal circles back in Kobe, where the daimyo (gangland boss) has recently died? To find out, a young policewoman disguised as an exotically tattooed mahjong madam infiltrates the criminal community, with dangerous results.
Go Gently, Gaijin (1986)
Gaijin means foreigner, and two dead ones make a puzzle for Superintendent Otani and his men. First, a member of Kobe's Arab community is killed in a grisly hit-and-run incident as he emerges from a mosque. Then another Arab is found dead, an apparent suicide, in a bathtub in the luxurious Arima Grand View Hotel.
The deaths seem to be connected, but Otani and his colleagues - the dapper Kimura and the rumpled Noguchi - can't seem to find out how - or why.
The answers perhaps lie in the university, where Arab-Jewish tensions are flaring, in the glittery quarters of the Takarahaza All-Girl Opera Company - or in the extracurricular activities of Kimura's provocative new American girlfriend.
Kimono For A Corpse (1987)
Intrigue makes an unscheduled runway appearance at an international fashion show when a world-famous designer reports threats of blackmail. Otani and his top aide Kimura of the Kobe police think it could be a put-up job.
Just when they're convinced it's a fake, a wealthy businessman is "accidentally" killed by a falling chandelier that might have crushed anyone in the crowded room. And a second undoubtedly deliberate murder sends wise, old-fashioned Otani and his men on a thoroughly modern tour around the world of haute couture, determined to unravel a deceptively colorful bolt of lies, greed, blackmail, and murder.
The Reluctant Ronin (1988)
When a beautiful foreign executive is found murdered carrying a photograph of Otani's daughter, son-in-law and grandchild in her purse, no one is more surprised than the illustrious inspector himself. What could this gaijin want with his family? And who would want her dead?
Ever the professional, Otani excuses himself from the investigation but still manages to direct operations with a few well-placed questions to his strait-laced staff. Naturally, they can't help wondering if Otani has personal information he's not sharing. But when his son-in-law suddenly disappears, the whole team hits high gear to find him, following an unholy trail through the underworld and the spirit world where passion comes at a high price.
A Haiku For Hanae (1989)
On a return visit to the island of Awaji, Inspector Otani can't help but recall the curiois people he met twenty years before when he was investigating the murder of an American missionary. The overly friendly stranger had been killed right in front of the Shinto shrine, but no one - including the incompetent local police chief and the disinterested Buddhist priest - had any idea why.
Otani had started in at once to learn who knew the man and who would want him dead. It didn't take long for the resourceful inspector to develope an impressive list of suspects and surprising clues. With a sly nudge from the spirit world, he began to piece together a murderous scenario that took its cue from an ancient Japanese fable and the modern interplay of passion and greed gone wild.
The Bogus Buddha (1990)
It was plain luck that Otani and his wife were taking their morning coffee at the same restaurant that hosted a luncheon party to celebrate gangster Keizo Hosoda's release from prison. Always the policeman, Otani took the trouble to copy the names from the place cards - which came in handy when Hosoda disappeared, for Otani had an up-to-date list of his henchmen to investigate.
If only he had that kind of lead on his other troublesome case. Threats of murder were disturbing the scholarly calm of an international summer school on Japanese culture where Otani's sister teaches. It was impossible to think that the two cases could be linked - until an eminent archaeologist died suddenly. It began to dawn on Otani that cutthroat greed might inspire even the most distinguished men to crime, and that murder truly knows no boundaries.
The Imperial Way (1986)
The Shimada family of Tokyo has two sons and two daughters. One son is destined for an army career - but a career which will culminate in the fanatical, failed anti-government coup of 1936. The other son will survive to become an immensely important businessman in Japan's economic miracle. In 1986, when an American woman writer arrives to write his biography, she begins to research the Shimada family's past. Intrigued by her subject's impregnable reserve she delves deep into his well-defended early life, and as the story of the past unfolds, a sense of impending horror develops out of his motives for covering up his role in the family's history. Here is a gripping, evocative novel which captures the true flavour of Japanese life, both before and after the cataclysm of World War II.