A Sort of Samurai — James Melville

When the body of a German businessman is found in a disused warehouse in the aftermath of a local earthquake, Superintendent Otani and his trusted detectives - the streetwise 'Ninja' Noguchi and the flamboyant Jiro Kimura - believe it to be a routine investigation, albeit into the murky side of Western behaviour. But the clues they uncover seem to point to corruption in the highly conservative Japanese establishment and Otani's personal and professional honour are called into question. Published in Japan as The Kobe Harbour Murder Case, James Melville's third novel was described by the critics as 'subtle and exotically flavoured'.