Tokyo, May 1932Japan is still plagued by economic depression, scandals, and assassinations. A prominent politician mysteriously commits suicide while dining with Chizuru Okamura, the daughter of a yakuza crime family. Leading the investigation, Police Inspector Aizawa tasks his geisha spy, Reiko Watanabe, to go undercover into the world of the dreaded Okamura Gang.Reiko soon finds herself at the … finds herself at the center of a power struggle between Chizuru and her brother, Lieutenant Katsuro Okamura, for control of the gang. Using bribery and deceit, Chizuru is poised to take over the government, while Katsuro seeks to launch a coup d’état and install a military dictatorship. As they try and thwart both schemes, Reiko and Inspector Aizawa must untangle a web of conspiracies involving the Army Secret Service, opium dens, corruption, Charlie Chaplin, and assassination, while all Japan hangs in the balance.
Merging historical fact with fiction, Smoke Over Tokyo is the second installment of the Reiko Watanabe/Inspector Aizawa series. As they enter the dark underworld of 1932 Tokyo, filled with danger and intrigue, Reiko Watanabe and Inspector Aizawa soon find themselves fighting for their lives and the future of their city.
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Inspector Kenjai Aizawa and his protegee Reiko Watanabe are in the center of mystery, intrigue, assassinations and a military dictatorship. Inspector Aizawa gets permission from his “captain” to get Reiko to help him in this center of intrigue that is starting to boil over. Remember Reiko is a woman in the early 1900’s in Japan. She knows that Inspector Aizawa is behind her in every way so she agrees to be apart of this very dangerous mission.
Reiko becomes a Geisha and starts a job for Chizuru Okumara and meets her brother Lieutenant Katsuro. Chizuru wants to become the leader of her Father’s gang, which should go to her brother.
Opiim, which is a disgrace in Japan, is starting to appear in Japan, an attempted assassination of Charlie Chaplin are only a few of the intrigues which are in this story.
The author, Matthew Legare, has written a story any person who likes a good mystery story will surely enjoy.
Japan Dark and Dangerous
“Smoke over Tokyo” is Matthew Legare’s second installment in his Tokyo Noir Series. The story takes place in 1932 a year after the events depicted in the first book “Shadows of Tokyo”. Japan is still devasted by economic depression and political unrest.
Kenji Aizawa is asked to lead the investigation into the assassination of a prominent politician, who died while dining with Chizuru Okamura, the daughter of the head of the Okakura Yakuza Gang. Aizawa calls Reiko Watanabe (his geisha informant) to help with the undercover investigation into the Gang, and Watanabe soon finds herself at the eye of the storm in a power struggle between Chizuru Okamura and her brother Katsuro for the control of the Gang. While both seek to control the government, their agendas differ, Chizuru intends to use subterfuge and bribery to get the politicians on her side, while Katsuro favours a more direct approach: a coup d’état to establish a military dictatorship.
Aizawa and Watanabe must once more rely in their trust of each other to manoeuvre the danger and get the culprit to justice without losing face and their lives while trying.
Matthew Legare’s portrait of 1930s Japan is historically accurate and show a great character to detail. Legare’s Japan is dark, dangerous and complex, as corresponding to a truly noir-thriller, no clichés of “geisha romantic” in this series, even Charlie Chaplin isn’t funny here.
Looking forward to the third book and the further development of the main characters.
I like historical fiction, and I like Japanese History, the 1920’s and 30’s were VERY interesting times in Japan, and the Watanabe- Aizawa series does a great job of telling a fine story in the midst of a lot of good historical detail. Legare has managed to get inside the culture of early 20th century Japan and spin fine stories. I look forward to seeing the rest of the series develop. I am currently reading the newest offering from Legare, Shanghai Twilight, set in the 1930’s in Shanghai, again with a lot of historical detail, providing a fine read.
A fabulous historical thriller…
Smoke Over Tokyo is the second book in the Reiko Watanabe / Inspector Aizawa series. This amazing sequel to Shadows of Tokyo takes place in May, 1932. This fabulous historical thriller mixes fact with fiction. The characters, both good and bad, are well defined and the descriptive narratives of Japan take you back to 1932 with Reiko and the Inspector. The story is fast-paced, action-packed, and captured my interest from the first page.
I cannot wait for the next book in this exciting series.
Tradition clashes with fallout from worldwide Depression as crime family attempts a coup – 4.5 stars
Inspector Aizawa and Reiko Wantanabe as employees of the Metropolitan Police deal with the turmoil following a recent military victory in China, Opium use and corruption in the government. Face was everything in Japan. People would commit suicide rather than lose face.
Jobs were hard to find. The rich had enough wealth to buy American-made cars and enjoy Hollywood movies. Charlie Chaplin was revered as a star; he had agreed to come to Tokyo to promote a film.
A syndicate run by the Yakusa crime family was trying to recover after a recent clash with the Metropolitan Police which closed their illegal gambling operation. The family Boss, now old and feeble would be replaced when he died. His oldest son did not want to take over the family but the daughter, Chizuru, wanted the job. It was unheard of for a woman to have anything by a subservient position. Chizuru was referred to as the “Snake Queen” and called a viper behind her back.
The customs of the time are an important part of the story. The underworld of prostitution and the introduction of opium was considered a major threat to public security.
There were fights, mostly with fists but occasionally with short swords. Guns were highly regulated but still made an appearance in this historical adventure. Several of the Japanese terms were unfamiliar to me; most were explained in context.