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Lady First
Murder is back, and it’s nastier than ever…
Fujikawa in southern Japan is finally getting over the shock murder of a resident university head and, three years later, the strangling of a local child – when terror strikes the quiet, provincial town once more.
Young Mayumi Ikeuchi is killed on her way home from her job at The Paradise nightclub in a Fujikawa park, and there isn’t a shortage of suspects. These include Mr Tani – Mayumi’s boss – who likes to leer over the girls who work for him, and Atsushi Taniguchi, a man who seems quite normal to the outside world but is free with his fists around his wife, Yui. There is also Nose-san, a loner who lives with his aged, incontinent mother, with witnesses hearing the sounds of brutal, physical arguments coming from his house.
Lise Foster and Yui Taniguchi forge an unlikely friendship after the death of Mayumi; Lise is a teacher at the local school, living close to the murder site in Ogawa Woods, and is it her imagination or is there someone sinister lurking outside her home in the shadows?
For Chief Inspector Inoue and Inspector Kubo – Yui’s brother – and their colleagues, it is a race against time to find the perpetrator before he strikes again.
'Crime fiction, especially the more traditional type based on deductive reason, is sometimes seen as out of touch with reality...Lea O'Harra shows...the traditional form is not necessarily regressive or conservative' - Paul Johnston, author of the Alex Mavros series
Lea O’Harra is the pen name of Wendy Jones Nakanishi. American by birth, Wendy spent seven years in the UK getting an MA and a Ph.D. in 18th-century English literature. She has been resident in Japan since the spring of 1984, employed full-time since her arrival as a tenured member of staff at a private university on the island of Shikoku. She has published widely in her academic field and in recent years has been writing creative non-fiction, describing her life as an American academic living in rural Japan, the wife of a Japanese farmer and the mother of three sons. Lady First is the third book in the Inspector Inoue murder mystery series.
Fujikawa in southern Japan is finally getting over the shock murder of a resident university head and, three years later, the strangling of a local child – when terror strikes the quiet, provincial town once more.
Young Mayumi Ikeuchi is killed on her way home from her job at The Paradise nightclub in a Fujikawa park, and there isn’t a shortage of suspects. These include Mr Tani – Mayumi’s boss – who likes to leer over the girls who work for him, and Atsushi Taniguchi, a man who seems quite normal to the outside world but is free with his fists around his wife, Yui. There is also Nose-san, a loner who lives with his aged, incontinent mother, with witnesses hearing the sounds of brutal, physical arguments coming from his house.
Lise Foster and Yui Taniguchi forge an unlikely friendship after the death of Mayumi; Lise is a teacher at the local school, living close to the murder site in Ogawa Woods, and is it her imagination or is there someone sinister lurking outside her home in the shadows?
For Chief Inspector Inoue and Inspector Kubo – Yui’s brother – and their colleagues, it is a race against time to find the perpetrator before he strikes again.
'Crime fiction, especially the more traditional type based on deductive reason, is sometimes seen as out of touch with reality...Lea O'Harra shows...the traditional form is not necessarily regressive or conservative' - Paul Johnston, author of the Alex Mavros series
Lea O’Harra is the pen name of Wendy Jones Nakanishi. American by birth, Wendy spent seven years in the UK getting an MA and a Ph.D. in 18th-century English literature. She has been resident in Japan since the spring of 1984, employed full-time since her arrival as a tenured member of staff at a private university on the island of Shikoku. She has published widely in her academic field and in recent years has been writing creative non-fiction, describing her life as an American academic living in rural Japan, the wife of a Japanese farmer and the mother of three sons. Lady First is the third book in the Inspector Inoue murder mystery series.
266 pages, Kindle Edition
Published August 16, 2017
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421 people want to read
About the author
Lea O'Harra
9 books45 followersLea O'Harra is the pen name adopted by Wendy Jones Nakanishi for the publication of her so-called Inspector Inoue mystery series including 'Imperfect Strangers' (2015), 'Progeny' (2016), and 'Lady First' (2017), all published by Endeavour Press (UK) and set in rural present-day Japan. Sharpe Boooks (UK) has recently reissued the series, along with a fourth thriller titled 'Dead Reckoning,' a standalone set in the American Midwest which was published in September 2022. Black Rose Writing (Texas) will publish her fifth crime fiction novel titled 'Sayonara, My Sweet' in May 2025. According to the author, an American by birth who has lived in Japan for forty years, her books are as much dissections of the dark underbelly of Japanese society as murder mysteries.
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Displaying 1 - 6 of 6 reviews
October 29, 2020
A clever modern Japanese who dun it but within the shadow of old Japan
A very entertaining read! The story has the complexity of possible culprits like an earlier book but doesn't go beyond reality in trying to create suspense and intrigue. I like the author's inclusion of the modern Japanese way of life including the changing mores but still the respect of traditional values and perspectives are recognized.
A very entertaining read! The story has the complexity of possible culprits like an earlier book but doesn't go beyond reality in trying to create suspense and intrigue. I like the author's inclusion of the modern Japanese way of life including the changing mores but still the respect of traditional values and perspectives are recognized.
March 25, 2025
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
For Lizzie Sirett (Mystery People Group)
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.
--------
Reviewer: Angela Crowther
For Lizzie Sirett (Mystery People Group)
August 8, 2022
Between the alive rendering of place (Japan) and the tone-true telling of people's stories (Japanese & gaijin), this triple-murder mystery had me turning the pages.
Both major characters—police detective inspectors—and all the women are made of society-conforming façades glued to profound emotional connections (most often family). It all stirred me deeply.
A bar hostesses misses the midnight train home—and a taxi ride turns lethal. But who plunged the knife? A cat gets offed—why? A "respectable"man (who beats his wife) is victim of a near-fatal attack—and all this in a park losing its cherry trees because of a venomous old woman.
O'Harra hits all the right notes of life in Japan and the book is both tension-filled and satisfying. I was glad to see the outcome for all the characters I'd so enjoyed meeting and delighted to be taken back inside the Japan I love. Now to go get the other books in this series!
My fav sentence: But we still need to find out who killed my sister-in-law's cat.
Highly recommended!
Both major characters—police detective inspectors—and all the women are made of society-conforming façades glued to profound emotional connections (most often family). It all stirred me deeply.
A bar hostesses misses the midnight train home—and a taxi ride turns lethal. But who plunged the knife? A cat gets offed—why? A "respectable"man (who beats his wife) is victim of a near-fatal attack—and all this in a park losing its cherry trees because of a venomous old woman.
O'Harra hits all the right notes of life in Japan and the book is both tension-filled and satisfying. I was glad to see the outcome for all the characters I'd so enjoyed meeting and delighted to be taken back inside the Japan I love. Now to go get the other books in this series!
My fav sentence: But we still need to find out who killed my sister-in-law's cat.
Highly recommended!
February 20, 2023
Fluidly written, this is a vivid account of contemporary life of ex-pats and locals in rural Japan. I became oblivious to those around me as I became absorbed in this story. The descriptions of domestic violence are painful to read, and the accounts of crime are gut-wrenching. I would like to see this story adapted for a film series.
April 8, 2019
A Very Surprising Ending
These books paint a true story of modern Japan with an interesting take on their police service. The insights into personal lives and cultural habits makes the storyline a very warm read.
These books paint a true story of modern Japan with an interesting take on their police service. The insights into personal lives and cultural habits makes the storyline a very warm read.
Want to read
April 9, 2018Lady First was an excellent read, an East meets West murder mystery, that kept me totally enthralled until the very end. If you are looking for a book you can't put down Lady First is the book for you
Displaying 1 - 6 of 6 reviews