This past summer I was delighted to discover a new "ethnic detective" character named Masuo "Mas" Arai, an elderly Japanese-American gardener whose credentials include a green thumb and a nose for sniffing out criminals. The creation of Los Angeles-based journalist and author Naomi Hirahara, Arai made his literary debut in 2004 in "Summer of the BIG BACHI." A year later he was assisting the New York Police Department in "Gasa-Gasa Girl." This year he's back cruising the L.A. freeways in his battered pickup truck in "Snakeskin Shamisen," where a traditional Okinawan musical instrument left at the scene of the crime leads him to the killer.
Arai, on the surface, doesn't have many endearing qualities. He is not adept at any martial arts. He wears poorly fitting dentures, is taciturn and speaks in the accented English of an immigrant (even though he's American born). His favorite pastime is getting together with friends to play poker. And oh, yes: Arai is probably the first protagonist in a mystery fiction series to have survived an atomic bombing.
Here, author Hirahara discusses her series character and thoughts on writing.
Mas Arai is neither a cop nor a private eye. How would you describe his role in your stories?
