Review: The Demon in the Teahouse by Dorothy & Thomas Hoobler
The Demon in the Teahouse
by Dorothy & Thomas Hoobler
Book Two in the ‘Samurai Detective’ series ( Review for Book One here.)
When he was younger, Seikei’s father always warned him to stay away from the “floating world,” the exotic pleasure district of Yoshiwara. But when a string of murders comes to the attention of Judge Ooka, Seikei is sent to investigate. He takes a job as a servant boy at a prominent teahouse, and begins watching the beautiful geisha Umae. Umae is popular and has many suitors, but those connected with her meet unfortunate fates. Death and fire follow in her wake, and Judge Ooka is counting on Seikei to figure out who is targeting Umae, and why.
I don’t know if this series was written with the intention of educating young readers about life in Japan, but it certainly does a good job of it. The Hooblers do an excellent job of bringing the floating world to life in a way that is both tasteful and age appropriate. Umae briefly alludes to men who desire her as a ‘plaything’ and would ‘buy her’, but that’s as explicit as it ever gets. Meanwhile, readers get a good idea how life in the pleasure quarter was for the regular people, the owners and servants of teahouses who made the glamour and pageantry of the geisha possible.
I thought this was a strong sequel to The Ghost in the Tokaido Inn. The plot moves very smoothly and the mystery unfolds naturally. Seikei is a likable hero, very curious and obedient to his adopted father, Judge Ooka. He does most of the detective work and solves most of the mystery himself; Ooka only really appears at the end to summarize and explain events for any readers who might have missed a detail and not put the pieces together yet.
4 out of 5 stars
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