The Samurai Detective Series

All his life, Seikei has wished to be a samurai. But in 18th-century Japan, everyone was destined to remain at the level of one's birth--and Seikei's father was a merchant, the lowest class. While traveling on the Tokaido Road, Seikei and his father stop at an inn. There, Seikei meets a girl who tells him a ghost story that is so spooky that he cannot sleep. In the middle of the night, the door to his room opens and he sees a ghost holding a shiny red stone. In the morning, a powerful daimyo lord complains that a precious ruby has been stolen from him--and he accuses the girl Seikei had met. Soon, a judge named Ooka arrives. In the Japan of that time, judges were called on to solve crimes and obtain confessions. Seikei, to save the girl, tells what he has seen. Judge Ooka takes him along and they soon discover that the thief was not a ghost, but an actor in a traveling theater troupe. Judge Ooka sends Seikei to "follow the path" that will lead him to the criminal. He eventually joins the troupe himself, and is astonished to see the thief leave the jewel at the shrine of the goddess Amaterasu. Puzzled, Seikei continues on with the actors to the Shogun's capital of Edo, where they are scheduled to give a performance for the same daimyo whose ruby was stolen. In the story's thrilling climax, Seikei discovers what a true samurai will do to preserve his honor--and he himself attains his greatest desire.

Fourteen-year-old Seikei accompanies his foster father, Judge Ooka, to help put out a fire in the city of Edo, military capital of 18th-century Japan. They find evidence that someone has set the fire deliberately, and their quest to find out who that person is leads them to Yoshihara--the shadowy city within a city that only comes alive when the sun goes down. Here Japan's famous geishas live and work, entertaining the rich and powerful. The mystery deepens when the Judge discovers that someone has been murdering geishas, and the rumor has spread that the killer is a demon who cannot be stopped. The Judge assigns Seikei to work in one of the teahouses and get to the heart of the mystery--a task that will test Seikei's courage and resourcefulness to the limit.

When fourteen-year-old samurai apprentice Seikei is sent on a mission by the shogun, he believes it is a simple one: convince the fourteen-year-old emperor to resume his ceremonial duties. But when the emperor is kidnapped in an elaborate plot to overthrow the shogun, Seikei's task becomes much more complicated--and dangerous. With the help of a servant girl who believes Seikei is the emperor, and a mysterious old man who joins the quest, Seikei finds that he must rescue the emperor before the sacred sword, said to give immense power to anyone who carries it, falls into the wrong hands. Should Seikei fail, bloodshed will stain the land. In this, the fourth book in the Samurai Detective Series, Dorothy and Thomas Hoobler have constructed a thriller that will have the pages turning far into the night.

Seikei, the adopted son of Japan's greatest crime-solver, returns to his home town for a visit to his birth family. He finds that his younger brother is now running the family tea business, but that mysterious midnight deliveries make Seikei suspicious. Most disturbing is the city's famous puppet theater, where not one, but two, murders take place while Seikei is on the scene. As he investigates, Seikei discovers that the real-life models for some of the puppets are friends of his sister's--and all of them are criminals. It will take all of Seikei's crime-solving skills to get to the bottom of the mystery and discover the master puppeteer who is pulling everyone's strings.

In this seventh book in the "Samurai Detective" series, adopted samurai Seikei goes to the shogun's palace to see a demonstration of European medicine. Instead, he witnesses a murder when one of the foreigners dies of poisoning. Another foreigner wants to take away the young nephew of the dead man, but the boy is reluctant. He does not speak Japanese, so to keep him out of harm's way, Seikei's foster father tells Seikei to take the boy to the foreigners' base at Nagasaki. What seems like s simple task soon turns into a dangerous one, for many people seem to want the boy for their own peculiar purposes. Seikei has to use all his ingenuity and daring to carry out his mission and find the murderer as well.

Samurai Lord Inaba has been murdered in his sleep, even though his castle was heavily guarded. The only clue is a bloodstained butterfly left on the floor. Once again, the shogun must turn to the famous sleuth, Judge Ooka, and his teenage adopted son, Seikei. The tail leads to rebellious peasants and a mysterious mountain where only the chosen may go. All Seikei has to protect himself is a ninja who may or may not be loyal, and a mysterious stone whose powers Seikei does not fully understand. He is finally pitted against a killer who will stop at nothing to keep Seikei from discovering his true identity. In this Edgar-award-winning book, the husband-and-wife writing team of Dorothy and Thomas Hoobler have put together their most thrilling chapter yet in the Samurai Detective Series.