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“Treason in Tokyo”, Matthew Legare’s third installment in his “Reiko Watanabe/ Inspector Aizawa” series, is an amazing lecture, an outstanding book in an already great series.

As Inspector Kenji Aizawa casually stumbles upon a murder site on the Sakurada Gate on New Year’s Day, he couldn’t begin to phantom the complot luring behind the assassination and how he would become entangled into the conspiration. When the investigation unearths links to a former actress, Aizawa would again call up on Watanabe - who already has some connections in the movie industry - to help with the investigation. Aizawa & Watanabe are all that stands between utter tragedy and the continuation of the Japanese Empire, the plot thickens and develops, until its climatic end, and would put a heavy strain into their working relationship.

Legare transports us to Showa 8 (1933) and the political atmosphere of the times, inserting the reader right into the action, letting the plot take the lead, without overbearing with facts. The story has a perfect flow, inserting real facts into the story with such an easiness that can only be described as masterful; wonderful if you are familiar with Japan's history, perfect still if you are not, as the historical facts are so well embedded into the story that they become part of the action, and are easily understandable for any one. The book manages effortlessly to include vast amounts of information (the result of endless hours of deep research) into a highly entertaining, fast-pace, action-laden plot that keeps the reader turning the pages with delight just to keep on the heels of Aizawa and Watanabe as they fight to avert the catastrophic consequences of the complot.

Aizawa and Watanabe are the perfect embodiment of the times, struggling between honor and duty in a highly and undoubtedly Japanese manner. Great characters, realistic and captivating, far from the insipid clichés so often used to embody Japanese literary characters in the West. Matthew Legare’s knowledge of historical Japan is without par, but his real genius consists in arranging facts and fiction into an exceptionally enticing story, highly entertaining from cover to cover.
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Katheyer | Sep 23, 2020 |
Matthew Legare’s „Conspiracy in Tokyo“ is a great introduction to his “Reiko Watanabe/Inspector Aizawa Series”. The book is set in 1931 at the time of the historically known as the “March Incident” and introduces Inspector Kenji Aizawa while working undercover trying to infiltrate the group lead by Masaru Ryusaki to prevent an imminent terrorist attack. During his undercover stint Aizawa meets Ryusaki, who will further on become Watanabe’s boyfriend of sorts, the one and only Reiko Watanabe, which will play a pivotal role in all incoming books in the series.

Matthew Legare has a profound knowledge of the historical Japan of the 1930s, and he also have the exceptional talent to interweave facts and fiction in a wholly satisfactory and enjoyable tale that does first and foremost what it supposed to do: provide entertainment to the reader.

The book is highly informative while being enjoyable at all times, avoiding the silly clichés so often found in stories set in Japan. A most gratifying lecture not only for any fans of noir thrillers, historical plots and/or Japan, but for anyone looking for a clever plot and accurate facts in their readings.
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Katheyer | Jul 12, 2020 |
In 1932 Shanghai, Tom Lai is running out of time

Matthew Legare’s third book, „Shanghai Twilight”, is first and foremost a classic noir-thriller - with the added bonus of being historically accurate - and offers an interesting counterpoint of view to his “Reiko Watabe/Inspector Aizawa” Series set in Tokyo regarding the Chinese-Japanese relations in the 1930s.

The plot follows Tom Lai, a Chinese-American from San Francisco, who after some personal awakenings, decides not only to find his roots in Shanghai, but also to play an active role into the Chinese Civil war by supporting Chiang Kai-shek and the Chinese Nationalist Party in their fight for independence.

There are two main characters in the book, Shanghai and Tom Lai. The portrait of Shanghai in 1932 struggling between Nationalism, the threat of a imminent Japanese invasion and the desire to ingratiate itself with the Western powers is astonishing vivid.

Easy going Tom Lai finds himself in the middle of the political struggle, accused of spying for the Japanese and fighting for his life, while time is rapidly running out. With barely 48 hours to find the real culprit and escape gruesome death, Lai literally evolves before our eyes into a complex character, from whom we hope to read a lot more in the future. The secondary characters are carefully crafted, with both good and bad traits. The writing is fluid and fast-paced, with the perfect balance between action and character development.

Legare possesses the unusual ability to interweave fiction and history to a highly enjoyable story that satisfices both, history adepts and fans of fast-paced action. The book is well written, fast-paced, and a must read for both thriller fans and those looking for a different take on 1930s Shanghai.
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Katheyer | Apr 7, 2020 |
Japan Dark and Dangerous

“Smoke over Tokyo” is Matthew Legare’s second installment in his Tokyo Noir Series. The story takes place in 1932 a year after the events depicted in the first book “Shadows of Tokyo”. Japan is still devasted by economic depression and political unrest.

Kenji Aizawa is asked to lead the investigation into the assassination of a prominent politician, who died while dining with Chizuru Okamura, the daughter of the head of the Okakura Yakuza Gang. Aizawa calls Reiko Watanabe (his geisha informant) to help with the undercover investigation into the Gang, and Watanabe soon finds herself at the eye of the storm in a power struggle between Chizuru Okamura and her brother Katsuro for the control of the Gang. While both seek to control the government, their agendas differ, Chizuru intends to use subterfuge and bribery to get the politicians on her side, while Katsuro favours a more direct approach: a coup d’état to establish a military dictatorship.

Aizawa and Watanabe must once more rely in their trust of each other to manoeuvre the danger and get the culprit to justice without losing face and their lives while trying.

Matthew Legare’s portrait of 1930s Japan is historically accurate and show a great character to detail. Legare’s Japan is dark, dangerous and complex, as corresponding to a truly noir-thriller, no clichés of “geisha romantic” in this series, even Charlie Chaplin isn’t funny here.

Looking forward to the third book and the further development of the main characters.
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Katheyer | Apr 7, 2020 |

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Werke
7
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60
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#277,520
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½ 3.6
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5
ISBNs
3
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