Strawberry Yellow

A new strawberry varietal has someone seeing red in this intricate whodunit featuring the curmudgeonly Japanese American gardener and reluctant sleuth. Hiroshima survivor Mas Arai first arrived in Watsonville, California in the 1940s. Now a semi-retired gardener living in an LA suburb, he returns for a cousin's funeral only to get entangled in the mystery of a young woman's murder. Was his cousin murdered, too? Mas has to figure out what happened, keep himself safe in the face of considerable peril, and uncover the mystery of a new strawberry varietal so important that someone just might be willing to kill for it.

A skillfully plotted tale of family intrigue, revenge, and gardening that moves seamlessly between the past and the present, Strawberry Yellow is another outstanding chapter in an Edgar Award–winning series marked by a shrewd sense of character and a formidable narrative engine.

Mas, less an amateur detective than a cranky, accidental one, is what makes the story work. His obdurance, his skill as a listener, and even his broken English are charming in a quirky, uncomplicated way.