Hard on the heels of Death of a Daimyo (p. 880) comes this somewhat more satisfying investigation for the men of Kobe's Hyogo Prefectural Police Force: Superintendent Otani; rakish Inspector Kimura; and lumbering, taciturn, street-smart Inspector Noguchi. Kimura, undercover as a waiter at the home of flashy British trader Patrick Carradine (suspected of drug-smuggling), is a witness to murder--when Mrs. Dorothy Baldwin, one of a group of amateur madrigal singers, keels over and dies from a poisoned drink or canape. So Kimura is soon interviewing suspects in Kobe's UK community--while Supt. Otani broods over some disturbing news: quiet old Noguchi, it appears, is secretly the father of a half-Korean son, a onetime student-activist who may still be involved in underground doings. And, when it appears that Mrs. Baldwin was not the intended victim, the case moves to a swift, unsurprising conclusion. . . including a grim connection to Noguchi's son. Just passable as mystery--but the multi-cultural milieu is colored in with fine, sure strokes.