Trial on Mount Koya by Susan SpannMy rating: 5 of 5 stars
Hiro Hattori and Father Mateo find themselves in a Buddhist monastery at the summit of sacred Mount Koya. They've left Ana, the housekeeper, lower down the slope at a nunnery since it is forbidden for women to enter the monks' home. Gato , the cat, is with them, though they had to promise to keep her in their guest room at all times. As is always the case, Hiro is on a mission. This one entails making contact with a monk who is actually an undercover spy and giving him his newest assignment. The contact and directions are made easily almost upon arrival and so, it would seem, mission accomplished, our friends could move on.
Oh, but this is the 6th Shinobi Mystery and by now, faithful readers know this is not to be. On the very night of arrival, their contact is murdered and a blizzard begins making the roads to the monastery snowy, icy, impassible. Needless to say this is likely to keep the murderer from easily making his or her way away in the darkness of night. As murders begin to occur on an almost daily basis, it is obvious the killer is still among them and that it may be that no one except the culprit will live to tell the tall once the storm passes.
Who is killing the monks off, posing them as incarnations of the Buddha and why? A good, engrossing tale, filled with interesting characters and lots of Japanese religious and cultural history as well as a juxtaposing of Buddhism and Christianity. Loved it.
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