CROWN CITY

A young Japanese immigrant slowly finds his footing in a dangerous America.

The third entry in Hirahara’s series of Japantown mysteries is another deeply researched historical with a noir sensibility and a mystery that arises organically from the plot. The 1943 letter from Ryunosuke Wada to his daughter, Louise, which opens the story, links it to the two previous volumes—Clark and Division (2021) and Evergreen (2023)—which are set during and after World War II. The tale then flashes back to the teenage Ryui’s 1903 arrival in Pasadena, where he becomes fast friends with his new roommate, Torajiro Baba, aka Jack. Other tenants of Riley House include Gigi, a seamstress Ryui finds attractive, and the menacing Boyle brothers. There’s much passing discussion of Jack’s former roommate Eijiro Morita, aka Eddie, who’s gone missing. The hard physical labor that is Ryui’s day-to-day occupation is leavened by his exploration of Pasadena, the Crown City of the title and a melting pot of international immigrants. Hirahara’s episodic plot introduces dozens of minor characters and includes Jack’s exploits as a newly minted private detective and an array of diversions from an archery demonstration to a game of lawn bowling. The murder of one of the characters, which enlivens the last section of the story, provides more of a metaphor for immigrant challenges than a mystery. A pleasant surprise in Hirahara’s vivid depiction of a significant era in American history is that many of the characters in the large cast are based on real people.

A fascinating glimpse of turn-of-the century California, with a mystery kicker.