‘Lady First’ by Lea O’Harra

Published Independently,
24 January 2023.
ISBN: 979-837486143-3 (PB)

Lady First is set in Fujikawa, a small town in present day rural Japan. After missing her train, Mayumi Ikeuchi, an adventurous young lady, unwisely shares a taxi home with a stranger.  She is killed and her body left in a small park near the home she shared with her older sister, Misio.

Because Mayumi’s attacker had been careful to keep his face covered, the taxi driver who brought them back to Fujikawa could only give a vague impression of her killer. The description of a softly spoken, plumpish male could have applied to innumerable people and made it difficult for Chief Inspector Inoue, Inspector Kubo, Sergeant Ando, and the two other young policemen assigned to the case, to know where to start looking. Enquiries at the nightclub where Mayumi worked drew a blank.  Her boss, who had received an incriminating scratch on his face after making a pass at her late that evening, was soon eliminated from their enquiries.

When the Fujikawa detectives failed to make an arrest, Superintendent Takenaka, Inoue’s boss and nemesis, pulled rank and moved the investigation over to a team in Ishizaki where he is based.  Inoue and his detectives were completely demoralized. The middle-aged Inoue accepts Takenaka’s intervention, but Inspector Kubo and Sergeant Ando who were much younger weren’t so compliant. They continued to investigate the murder behind Inoue’s back.  Weeks later, having failed to find the killer, Tukenaka returned the investigation to Inoue and his team.

Yui Taniguchi is Inspector Kubo’s sister. When she married Atsushi Taniguchi she unfortunately joined the army of Japanese women subjected to domestic abuse. Sadly, because she lived in a system where male superiority and entitlement meant that if a woman fails to obey her husband, she brings shame to both their families, Yui kept her plight secret. Eventually, when Yui’s mother finally extracts the truth from her, a disastrous chain of events is set off.

Lady First is the third installment in the Inspector Inoue Series. For me the book’s standout feature is the assortment of meticulously portrayed characters, both native Japanese and the foreign incomers who tend to be regarded with distain by the locals, that Lea O’Harra has assembled in the text. Both a stickler for rules, and traditional in outlook, Inoue is still a very humane man.  He adores his two young children and loves his American wife Ellie who talks to her husband in Japanese and adheres to the pattern of deferential behavior exhibited by Japanese wives.

Overall, this book builds on knowledge we gained in Imperfect Strangers, the first book in the series. It expands our knowledge of everyday life, attitudes and customs in rural Japan and provides another interesting, informative and enjoyable read.
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Reviewer: Angela Crowther

Lea O’Harra has previously published four crime fiction novels: Imperfect Strangers, originally published in 2015 by Endeavour Press, republished in 2022 by Sharpe books; Progeny, originally published in 2016 by Endeavour Press, republished in 2022 by Sharpe books; Lady First, originally published in 2017 by Endeavour Press, republished in 2022 by Sharpe Books, and Dead Reckoning, published in 2022 by Sharpe Books. The first three books comprise the so-called ‘Inspector Inoue murder mystery series’ and are set in Japan. The fourth book is a standalone in small-town America. In autumn 2017 Lady First was awarded finalist status in the crime fiction section of the Beverly Hills Books Awards. It was also a finalist in the National Indie Excellence Awards in 2018. Dead Reckoning was selected as a Book Excellence Award Finalist in 2023 in the thriller category.  

http://leaoharra.com 

Angela Crowther is a retired scientist.  She has published many scientific papers but, as yet, no crime fiction.  In her spare time Angela belongs to a Handbell Ringing group, goes country dancing and enjoys listening to music, particularly the operas of Verdi and Wagner.