Reviews

The Ghost in the Tokaido Inn by Dorothy Hoobler, Thomas Hoobler

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lilyaronovitz's review against another edition

3.0

{3.5} This book was definitely and intruiging and captivating, but I feel like I couldn't fully enjoy it because I had to read it for school. It was well put together and very mysterious, the characters were likeable. I am probably interested in reading the other books in the series!

jselliot's review against another edition

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adventurous informative mysterious medium-paced

Plot- or character-driven? Plot
Strong character development? Yes
Loveable characters? Yes
Diverse cast of characters? Yes
Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes

5.0

Much like how I loved A Murder For Her Majesty, a this historical mystery set in feudal Japan sucked me right in. While not as polished as a mystery targeted at an older audience, the little tidbits tucked in about the time period served as the genre staple "learn new things" distraction tactic and it worked perfectly well for that. Definitely one of my more favored books as a kid.

Interestingly, this book even spawned a whole series following Judge Ooka and Seikei's adventures. The Demon in the Teahouse was the next book, but I sadly have had difficulty finding copies.

lsquared's review against another edition

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2.0

I just couldn't get into this one. The writing style bothered me and kept drawing me out of the story.

missmeddler's review against another edition

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adventurous informative mysterious medium-paced

Plot- or character-driven? A mix
Strong character development? Yes
Loveable characters? Yes
Diverse cast of characters? Yes
Flaws of characters a main focus? It's complicated

3.25

manwithanagenda's review against another edition

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adventurous informative mysterious medium-paced

Plot- or character-driven? Plot
Strong character development? Yes
Loveable characters? Yes
Diverse cast of characters? Yes
Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes

4.0

Huh, neat.

I picked this up at a library book sale thinking it was yet another juvenile horror to add to my collection. It turns out to be a historical juvenile mystery set in Shogun-era Japan. It even spawned a whole series following Judge Ooka and Seikei's adventures. It's a solid story, thowing a lot of historical detail and cultural references into the mix. Unfortunately, I can't speak for the accuracy as I know next to nothing of the period, but it was a fun mystery that side-steps many of the usual glowing "clues" and such that juvenile mysteries often depend upon.

Samurai Detective

Next: 'The Demon in the Teahouse'

tamarayork's review

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4.0

Read this aloud to my 7 and 9 year old kids as part of our Build Your Library homeschool curriculum. It complimented our study of Japan and the samurai tradition very nicely. As a read aloud, I found the Japanese names and terms very difficult. A pronunciation guide would have been extremely helpful. I even had to turn to Google to pronounce the main character’s name. (FYI: Seikei is pronounce “say-kay”.).
I was a bit wary of this book because of the title. I have sensitive kids who do not enjoy anything scary. But it turned out just fine. There was some suspense and action, but nothing too troubling to them. However, there is quite a lot of samurai suicide to uphold honor, just as a warning. Overall, we really enjoyed it.