A Samurai Never Fears Death

By Dorothy and Thomas Hoobler

Rating: 4 1/4 stars

Reviewed by Noelle

The fifth in the mystery series about Seikei and Judge Ooka finds the pair on their way to the city of Osaka, where Seikei grew up before being adopted by the judge. Judge Ooka lets Seikei go to visit with his brother and sister at the tea shop, who seem more surprised than happy to see him. But when Seikei accompanies them to one of the local puppet theaters, the action is interrupted when the body of one of the play narrators is found. It was murder and Seikei feels it is his duty as a samurai to try and keep the crime scene clear and question possible suspects. But the answers of the other puppeteers just confuse things. The local officials arrest one man, but Seikei is sure he is innocent. He is also sure that somehow, his brother and sister might be involved in the mess. So on his own, Seikei tries to solve the murder, until he is accused of committing a second gruesome murder in the puppet theater. Can he find the true criminal before it is too late? This is another involving and excellent mystery set in 18th century Japan. The story moves quickly and it is anyone's guess who the murderer will turn out to be! Good stuff.

The Sword That Cuts the Burning Grass

By Dorothy and Thomas Hoobler

Rating: 4 1/4 stars

Reviewed by Noelle

This is the 4th book in the Seikei and Judge Ooka mystery series, following The Ghost in the Tokaido Inn, The Demon in the Teahouse and In Darkness, Death (see reviews, July 2007). This time, the young 14 year old emperor has run away from the palace and is hiding at a monastery, determined to give up his duties as ruler of Japan. The shogun appoints Seikei to talk to the emperor and convince him to return, hoping someone of the same age will get through to him. But although Seikei gets to meet the emperor, he has no success in changing his mind. Then the emperor is kidnapped and Seikei is a suspect. With the help of a servant girl named Hato, and a mysterious old man named Reigen, Seikei goes undercover and soon finds himself unearthing a plot to overthrow the shogun and steal the legendary sword Kusanagi, which is said to make the bearer unbeatable. There is mystery and betrayal around every corner as Seikei fights to stay alive and keep his honor. Another exciting entry in this unusual series.

Sammy Keyes and the Wild Things

By Wendelin Van Draanen

Rating: 4 stars

Reviewed by Noelle

This is part of the Sammy Keyes mystery series. It is summer vacation for our almost 8th grade sleuth, and Sammy is bored. Her friends are all away, and she just happens to run into a classmate named Cricket at the sporting goods store. Cricket enthusiastically invites Sammy to come backpacking with a few friends up to Vista Ridge, where her Scout groups helps to monitor the endangered condor population. Sammy imagines nice views and the possibility of running into Casey, the boy she kind of likes, who is also going backpacking somewhere. But backpacking quickly becomes a nightmare, especially for someone who has never done any hiking before. But Sammy's blisters are the least of their problems. When the group reaches the Lookout, they find there has been a break in and some of the equipment to monitor the condors has gone missing. And pretty quickly, Sammy and her friends discover it is no simple break in--someone has gone looking for those rare condors. Maybe to capture, maybe even to kill one. But who? And why? Can Sammy, Cricket, Casey and Billy puzzle out the clues in time to rescue the condors? Sammy is getting older, so there is a tiny bit more on the romance side of the plot. However, Sammy has always been more of a tomboy, so to be interested in a boy is something more for her to be panicked about than romantic. Regardless of romance, this is still an interesting and involving mystery, with a spunky and funny heroine. Readers new to the series will want to go back and read the rest of the books. More Sammy Keyes, please!