The Floating Girl [Paperback]

Sujata Massey (Author)

Product Details

• Paperback
• Publisher: HarperCollins Publishers (2000)
• ASIN: B000OELVA0
• Average Customer Review: 3.8 out of 5 stars  See all reviews (28 customer reviews)
• Amazon Best Sellers Rank: #6,018,172 in Books (See Top 100 in Books)

More About the Author

Sujata Banerjee Massey was born in England to parents from India and Germany. She grew up mostly in the United States (California, Pennsylvania and Minnesota) and earned her BA from the Johns Hopkins University's Writing Seminars program. She then worked as a reporter at the Baltimore Evening Sun before marrying and moving to Japan. The area where she lived, an hour south of Tokyo, forms most of the settings of her Rei Shimura mysteries. The series featuring a young Asian-American woman sleuth has collected many mystery award nominations, including the Edgar and Anthony, and won the Agatha and Macavity awards. The ten Rei Shimura mysteries are published in 18 countries.
Sujata also has short stories published in several mystery anthologies, most recent of which are POLITICS NOIR and ONCE UPON A CRIME.

Sujata lives with her family in Minneapolis and is currently writing a new standalone novel with the working title THE SLEEPING DICTIONARY. It's a historical thriller that tells the story of India's struggle for independence through a young Bengali woman's point of view. It's the book she's been waiting to write all her life, as it combines her family background and her fascination with colonial life.

Customer Reviews

Most Helpful Customer Reviews

30 of 32 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars Massey knows how to write an original and exciting mystery, April 25, 2000

By 

Harriet Klausner - See all my reviews
(#1 Hall OF FAME REVIEWER)    (TOP 1000 REVIEWER)    (REAL NAME)   

This review is from: The Floating Girl (Hardcover)

Japanese-American Rei Shimura leaves her San Francisco home where her family lives to immigrate to Japan. She hopes to find work as a museum curator. Though she speaks the language fluently and has family in the country, Rei learns that it is almost impossible for foreigners to attain a decent job. Determined to remain in her the country of her ancestors, Rei opens up an antique business. She scouts flea markets and estate sales for merchandise to sell to foreigners interested in Japanese antiquities. Rei supplements her income by writing articles for the Gaijin Times, an English language magazine targeting the foreign population residing in Japan.

When the editor leaves the magazine, the owner decides to change the format so that the Gaijin Times would look like the popular manga art form seen in comic books and animation. Rei is persuaded to write an article about the daujimshi, amateur works of popular comic book icons such as Mars Girl. However, her straightforward human-interest story takes a homicidal twist, one that Rei is determined to solve. She dearly wants as an exclusive for her magazine.

THE FLOATING GIRL is a special novel that immerses the audience into Japanese culture. It is fascinating to see all the subtle ways a foreigner is discriminated against by citizens who treat the immigrants as pesky guests who have outstayed their welcome. The heroine's determination to live in Japan despite the xenophobic sentiment is laudable. The entertaining mystery has many red herrings and unexpected turns, but the heart of Sujata Massey's compelling story resides in the characters who make living in Tokyo that an exciting but realistic adventure.

Harriet Klausner

27 of 29 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars Massey scores again!, April 26, 2000

By A Customer

This review is from: The Floating Girl (Hardcover)

Fans of Sujata Massey's Rei Shimura mysteries will surely be eager to read the latest entry in the series, so I'm happy to report that "The Floating Girl" doesn't disappoint. This time, Rei is taking a break from her usual antiques business to write an article about the world of manga (Japanese comics) for a Tokyo-based English language magazine. Along the way, she meets a lot of colorful characters...many of them in costume (these people take their comics VERY seriously!). This is a hip, fun series and Rei is a delightful heroine. Can't wait for the next one!

20 of 22 people found the following review helpful:

4.0 out of 5 stars Floating Girl, July 7, 2000

By 

jimmy jung - See all my reviews

This review is from: The Floating Girl (Hardcover)

As with all of Sujata Massey's Rei Shimura books, we are immersed, not only in a mystery, but also in the mysterious culture of Japan. Here, in the fourth book, the particular focus is the world of Japanese animation, where rape is standard fodder for a comic book and even the Japanese are unsettled by extreme fans dressed up as characters. We also spend a surprising amount of time with foreign (non-Japanese) male strippers and even a few gangsters; all of which is to say that "The Floating Girl" seems just a wee bit extra exotic compared with the first three books. Even the sex, which Massey has always kept a few notches above the norm for "cozies" seems just a little spicier here. Following Rei Shimura's adventures has always been an exciting exploration of both traditional Japan, as well as its hip modern side, and this book continues in that mode. Fan's of Rei Shimura will welcome this addition, but I'm inclined to believe that the series is best appreciated starting from the beginning at "The Salaryman's Wife", an approach that allows for a gradual exposure to Japan and Rei.