It’s fitting that one of the Ukiyo-ye paintings of Edo graces the cover of this fabulous collection of short cozy mysteries set in 19th century Japan. Inspector Hanshichi is retired but he remembers the city of yesteryear, populated with a lively assortment of characters. The stories themselves are not complex mysteries but it’s the narrator, like Arthur Conan Doyle, that is the draw here. Peppered with descriptions of festivals and practically every small establishment in old Tokyo (called Edo), this 1910 masterpiece entertains more than a century later. You can almost taste the piping hot soba noodles and warm sake.
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