Seven Paths to Death

Samurai Detective #6

by Dorothy Hoobler, Thomas Hoobler

When a man with a tattoo covering his back is found floating in the water at the rice ceremony, Seikei and Judge Ooka know it's a bad omen?but not how dangerous the mystery behind it is. Soon, there are seven of these men with partial tattoos on their backs. All different, all seemingly unrelated? except for the tattoos, and the fact they keep turning up dead. It becomes apparent these men are not just carrying body art, but a treasure map?to what? And why is carrying this map so mortally dangerous? Seikei must find and assemble all seven tattoos to find the answer?and the path to a most terrifying destination.

Another sensational samurai mystery by the masters of the genre: Edgar Award?winning duo Dorothy and Thomas Hoobler.

Genres: Mystery, Historical Fiction, Young Adult, Historical, Japan, Fiction, Asian Literature

192 pages, Hardcover

First published October 16, 2008

About the author

Dorothy and Thomas Hoobler, a married couple who have written numerous books together, were drawn to this story of great writers inspiring each other collaboratively. Their most recent novel, In Darkness, Death, won a 2005 Edgar Award. They live in New York City.

Series:
* Samurai Detective
* Century Kids
* Her Story
* Images Across The Ages
* American Family Album

Reviews

[Annie · Rating 4 out of 5]

Ok, yessss. We took a nosedive on the first few sequels, but the past two (books 5 & 6) have been back to par.

Lady Osuni is a GREAT villain. The historical details are (as always) 10/10. And the plot on this one is one of the best of the series. Also we finally get a few more scenes on Seikei and Judge Ooka's relationship, which I've been wanting.

[Darien · Rating 3 out of 5]

Mystery
Darien Munden

Seikei is back to solve yet another mystery in this conclusion to the "A Samurai Mystery" series. Men are turning up dead. One is found half-dead in a rice patty and he has a tattoo engraved on his back. The tattoos of the victims all seem to have similar patterns. Before you know it, Seikei discovers that the tattoos are, in fact, a treasure map and the one killing these men is trying to keep the map from being pieced together by anyone else. This story takes places place during the Tokugawa Shogunate of Japan and is steeped in Buddhist and Shinto mysticism. It may not be your cup of tea, but it does carry with it an intriguing mystery, something much greater than a simple treasure. Perhaps what makes this story so interesting is that at the same time it provides a good mystery the reader is also given a glimpse into the everyday life of Feudal Japan. I would recommend this story to anyone interested in solving the book's mystery and studying a bit of Japanese culture while their at it.

[Gwen the Librarian · Rating 3 out of 5]

Usually I find the books in this series to be more in the 4-5 star range, but this newest title wrapped up in an abrupt and way-too-easy way. That's all I will say since it's a mystery. I highly recommend the series as a whole, with The Ghost in the Tokaido Inn as the first volume.

[Rocky McCrary · Rating 3 out of 5]

Seven Paths to Death is a mystery story that's perfect for a young teenager. The story follows Seikei in the conclusion to an overarching of books called the Samurai's Journey. Men are being found dead throughout Seikei's hometown so he begins to search for an answer to why. This ultimately leads him to discover a series of tattoos on the dead man and others that when put together form a map. However, somebody doesn't want the map to be put together and will kill anybody to keep that from happening.
Overall the book has a compelling story and the Japanese culture adds a different flavor to your average mystery. However, the mystery itself is not hard to figure out, the beginning is rather slow and the ending leaves much to be desired. Besides these few low points, the high points pick up the slack. Because of the story taking place in Japan, it offers a unique selection of vocabulary and situations most stories wouldn't matter. The author does an especially good job of keeping a consistent and interesting tone that matches each scenario Seikei faces. This book is also the last in a series and I don't feel excluded from major chunks of the story because I haven't read the other books.
I personally found the book to be very good and interesting. However, I can't see myself reading the book again. It's definitely not a story that will last generations but its a good read. If you love a simple mystery, have a long car or plane ride coming up or love Japanese culture than this book is the perfect fit for you.

[Miguel · Rating 4 out of 5]

I didn't realize that this was a series while reading the book until I saw the title but I kept reading anyway. I really did like the book, the main characters found a dead body and it had a tattoo on the back and it was a map and then they had to look for the other seven dead men that pieces of the map tattoed on there backs, I like it because there was an adventure looking for the seven dead man tattoo map cause it was a treasure map and there were fighting in this one which was pretty excited but I recommend reading the other books of this series to know about more of the main characters.

[S · Rating 4 out of 5]

The ending is a little anticlimactic but otherwise a pretty good plot- maybe the best one after the first.
Authors finally did a good job allowing Seikei to be confused without being an idiot.
He’s still annoying - I don’t know where he gets his overconfidence from because he doesn’t usually deliver.

Also an editing issue: at least in my copy of the book there’s a full page or two in the beginning where they use Kita and Rofu interchangeably even though they’re really talking the whole time about Rofu. It was very confusing and I feel like someone should’ve caught that one

[Johnny Bennett · Rating 5 out of 5]

Another excellent story in the Samurai Detective series. Definitely a fun read. The best since Demon in the Teahouse. Believability continues to get stretched a little in this children's series, but the writing and pacing help to overlook that the main character should be dead several times over.

[Mari Asensio · Rating 5 out of 5]

Great book, a bit slower than the rest but really well written.

[Megan · Rating 5 out of 5]

Such a fitting end to the book. Despite knowing who was behind it all halfway through, it was fun seeing Seikei put the pieces together on how it all worked and how the culprit fit into it all.

[Emmy · Rating 3 out of 5]

A quick read. Not the best mystery I’ve read.

[Alex · Rating 4 out of 5]

That ending, though. Phew.

[Mason Gemoules · Rating 3 out of 5]

This book probably would’ve been better if I read the previous books in the series. I like the plot, but I’m not the biggest fantasy fan. Overall, this book was okay and I would recommend it to people who like Japanese culture and fantasy books.

[Evie · Rating 3 out of 5]

This was definitely a creative and brutal mystery, but the ending! What happened with the ending?


Lady Osuni and her son get eaten by a giant crab!? WHY. Of all the things that could have happened, why that? It's like the Hooblers just didn't know how to wrap things up, and literally threw these characters to the darkness. Oh, last-minute mention of her hatred for crabs and then poetic justice. Then, with Seikei being given this opportunity to gain power… how would that have even worked? It wasn't even a choice; it was a logical conclusion that Lady Osuni would never have been able to make her son into the shogun, so he couldn't have gained power from the weapons, either. And they never even found anything; just… left off in the cave. Did Kitsune die? Was he really separated from his Kami? Was the judge outside? What happened. Backtracking a bit, this whole enterprise was madness. How could Judge Ooka look at this situation and truly think she could overthrow the shogun? Again, even Seikei saw that it could come to no true victory. You'd need thousands of muskets to get anything done.

I'm just… really unsatisfied with it.

Also, why, at this point in the series, is Seikei making such basic mistakes? STILL? He is so painfully honest in moments when he clearly needs to be tactful, and barrels forward when he should be still. It's like he's learned nothing from his previous encounters. And how many times can he be kidnapped? It's getting really, really old.



So, yeah, I'm disappointed in the way this book ended. I can see why the series sort of tapered off, because while the ideas and historical details were wonderful, the story just… didn't feel as complete as the previous installments. I am hoping for more in the future, though! Just hoping for stories that have that same glitter as the first two, and especially The Sword That Cut the Burning Grass.

[Karissa · Rating 4 out of 5]

This is the final book in the Samurai Mysteries series. It is pretty much similar to previous books in the series in style and plot pace. So if you were a fan of previous books you'll like this one. I really enjoy all the interesting historical facts about Japan and love that the authors tell you what is real history and what is made up at the end of the book.

In this book Seikei is drawn into a mystery involving a man found near death with part of a map tattooed on his back. Ends up this map is tattooed on seven different men's backs. Seikei and Judge Ooka need to find out where the map leads if they are going to unravel a plot to overthrow the shogun.

As I said this is pretty much on par with previous books. There is not as much adventure in this book, it is more of a mystery. Seikei spends a lot more time with Judge Ooka than by himself. In this book we learn a lot about the history of the yakuza and the Japanese art of tattooing. The writing style is somewhat simplistic, which matches the previous books in this series.

Overall it was a great mystery with some very interesting historical facts about Japan thrown in. The ending wraps the story up nicely, but there really isn't anything pointing at this book being the last book in the series. I keep wondering if they will write more books, but on their website it states that this is the last one. I would recommend this book for younger readers (elementary school to middle school) who like mystery and action.

[freaking crazy ninja man83 · Rating 5 out of 5]

Seven Paths of Death is written by Dorothy and Thomas Hoobler.The story is about a samurai detective, named seikei, who’s trying to find the killer if a man they found in a small village.They soon find out that it is very bigger than just an ordinary murder.
The story was a great story because it had a blend of genres.One was adventure while the other was mystery.The reason it’s an adventure story is because that seikie has to go on a journey to find the people with information that he needs.The reason it’s a mystery is because seikei tries to solve a case.overall it’s a great book.

[Patrick Sotomayor · Rating 4 out of 5]

Seven Paths to Death is a great story. I chose this book because of the cover. This book is about a man that has died and has an interesting tatoo on his back. The tatoo is a map. And there are seven other men that all have parts of the map tatooed on their backs. Judge Ooka and Sekei must find all of the men, link the maps, and find whatever treasure the maps lead to. But it could lead to treasure and it could also lead to their death. I would definitely recommend this book to someone who enjoys adventure and also some suspense and even a touch of horror.

[Victor · Rating 4 out of 5]

I actually like this one much better from the rest of the series, because it not only shows great historical facts but this story actually was pretty good this time. In this one, I liked how they made a long journey for seikei to overcome and have to try to find these men and as well try to get close into finding the weapons that lie beyond. It was to bad they didn't get the muskets. I also like how it sometimes it relates back to old books they made as well, it's a nuisance and a reminder of great moments at times.

[John · Rating 2 out of 5]

This is the 6th of the Hooblers' Judge Ooka tales. I read and liked two of the earlier mysteries....but this one, which reads like something whipped off to fulfill a contractual obligation, features a plot that hinges on several massive coincidences and ends with a truly lame climax.

Stick with Lensey Namioka's samurai tales, if you can find 'em.

[Melita · Rating 4 out of 5]

Wrapped up very quickly, the "bad guys" confessed very early on and then a majority of the book is spent catching the ringleaders. Still, through reading each of the books in this series I feel like I had the opportunity to learn a bit more about Japanese culture than we're usually exposed to in the West.

[Sarah · Rating 4 out of 5]

Not that these books haven't had some spectacular violence hidden in them before (beheading, for instance), but this was particularly rough. Flaying. Multiple dudes were flayed in this middle grades samurai mystery.

Still, totally delightful. I'm sad it's over.

[Edna · Rating 4 out of 5]

Really good mystery that had me "sitting on the edge of my seat" with anticipation while danger lurked around every corner for a samurai searches for a total of 7 men, each of whom has a part of map tattooed to his back.

[Jasmine Rockwell · Rating 2 out of 5]

I have read the first book in this loose series and now the latest. I think I should have read some in the middle. The authors get points for the tattoo elements but I felt the book could have been a little longer with a better ending, which seemed very hokey to me.

[Bcoghill Coghill · Rating 4 out of 5]

I very much enjoy these period Japanese mysteries. They really challenge your whodunit intellect.

[Susan · Rating 3 out of 5]

Poor Seikei. He's always getting abducted and tied up. And this time he was saved by a scary giant crab.

[Rachel Kopel · Rating 4 out of 5]

I continue to enjoy this series about the young samurai detective, always learning new things about the period. They are one of my few exceptions to NOT reading murder mysteries.

[Patricia · Rating 5 out of 5]

Excellent. Young Adult fiction set in historical Japan.

[Jeff · Rating 4 out of 5]

It took me about two days to read this book. Totally excellent, like all the other books in this series.

[Ms.Gaye · Rating 4 out of 5]

Another great mystery by the Hooblers involving ninjas and samurais!

[Craig · Rating 2 out of 5]

Good YA/kids series, but not the best title in it. The weak ending is responsible for most of that.

[Rad · Rating 4 out of 5]

I think this is a pretty perfect ending to the series.

That being said, HOOBLERS AND HOOBLER PUBLISHERS, I REALLY WISH THERE WERE MORE SAMURAI DETECTIVE BOOKS.