The Flower Master [Paperback]

Sujata Massey (Author)

Product Details

• Paperback
• Publisher: HarperCollins Publishers (1999)
• ASIN: B000OEIYOG
• Average Customer Review: 4.2 out of 5 stars  See all reviews (22 customer reviews)
• Amazon Best Sellers Rank: #7,350,851 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

6 of 6 people found the following review helpful:

3.0 out of 5 stars A good read but I much prefered her earlier books., July 17, 2000

By 

Hank Schwartz "banjo & SciFi" - See all my reviews
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This review is from: The Flower Master (Mass Market Paperback)

I very much like Sujata Massey's style, and I am quite taken with her main character Rea Shimura. I also like the views that Massey gives us of Japanese life through the eyes of a Westerner.

I felt that this, her third novel, was another pleasureable romp, following Rea as she gets unwillingly involved in and solves yet another mystery.

I found, however, that this tale did not fire my interest as her others had. I enjoyed meeting her friends again and watching a new man enter that circle. I liked the insights into Ikebana culture.

I only gave it three stars, however, because I felt that the the lengthy build-up led to a surprising but not particularly exciting resolution. As I finally closed the book my feeling was - Okay, hmmm. Nowhere near a Wow!

I have no doubt that other readers who, like me, anticipate the latest Massey story will want to read this one. I am just hoping that the next is more gripping, intriquing, moving....

6 of 6 people found the following review helpful:

4.0 out of 5 stars It's always a pleasure to see another book from Ms. Massey., June 19, 1999

By A Customer

This review is from: The Flower Master (Hardcover)

Beyond the mysteries in Sujata Massey's books, which are always intriguing, it's wonderful to learn more about Japan through Rei's eyes. It's particularly amusing for me to get Rei's perspective--Rei, who's a Japanese-American woman living in Japan--on Westerners who come to work/visit Japan and can't even be bothered to learn to say the simplest of Japanese words. Loved the "gardener" and hope to see more. Readers for whom The Flower Master is their introduction to Ms. Massey should not miss The Salaryman's Wife and Zen Attitude.

6 of 6 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars A great read. Japan comes alive in Massey's hands, March 28, 1999

By A Customer

This review is from: The Flower Master (Hardcover)

Half Japanese and half American, Rei Shimina grew up in California, but now calls Japan home. Though she struggles to adapt to the culture of her father's relatives, she has carved out a profession as a successful antiques' buyer. Without asking, her Aunt Norrie enrolls Rei in the prestigious Kayama School to study ikebana (flower arranging). To show respect to her aunt, Rei attends the classes.

At school, Rei quickly learns that the powerful Sakira Sato loathes Norrie. Not too long after classes start, Norrie finds a dead Sakira, an apparent victim of a pair of ikebana scissors. The police suspect Norrie. She found the body, shared a known grudge with the victim, and owned the murderer weapon. Rei begins to investigate who actually killed Sakira.

Masterful storyteller Sujata Massey paints a vivid portrait of modern Japan that brings to life the people and the clashing cultures. The story line flows rapidly along a journey in which anything can and does occur. Rei is an extremely likable protagonist whose trek for self awareness has traveled much afar from where she was in her previous tale. THE FLOWER MASTER is a master of a tale that fans of Japanes mysteries will relish until the next book in the series appears.

Harriet Klausner