"In Pandian's highly entertaining, fast-paced fifth outing for spunky historian Jaya Jones, Jaya flies from her native San Francisco to Kyoto, Japan...As usual, Pandian dishes up authentic history and cultural tidbits along with a first-class mystery. She also adds just the right light touch of romance." - Publishers Weekly
A fabled illusion performed by a stage magician who claims to possess real supernatural powers. A treasure from the colonial era in India when international supremacies vied for power. A phantom trading ship lost over 200 years ago. And a ninja whose murderous intentions in present-day Japan connect the deeds of a long-dead trader who was much more than he seemed...
When Jaya travels from San Francisco to Japan with her stage magician best friend Sanjay--a.k.a. The Hindi Houdini--for his Japanese debut, she jumps at the chance to pursue her own research that could solve a tantalizing centuries-old mystery.
With the colorful autumn leaves of historic Kyoto falling around her, Jaya soon loses sight of what's real and what's a deception. A mysterious ninja attempts to sabotage Sanjay's trick, along with Japan's most controversial magician, Akira. Ancient folklore blurs the lines between illusion and reality when a magician's assistant appears to be a kitsune, a mythical fox spirit. As tricks escalate to murder, Jaya and her friends must unravel secrets hidden in the ancient capital of Japan, before one of their own becomes the next victim.
"A beautifully complex, fast-paced mystery--a well-crafted blend of modern magic and ancient secrets, full of compelling characters and set in one of Japan's most beautiful--and mysterious--locations." - Susan Spann, Author of the Hiro Hattori Mysteries
Related subjects include: cozy mysteries, women sleuths, whodunit mysteries (whodunnit), action adventure, murder mystery series, book club recommendations, amateur sleuth books, international mysteries.
Books in the Jaya Jones Treasure Hunt Mystery Series:
FOOL'S GOLD (novella in OTHER PEOPLE'S BAGGAGE)
ARTIFACT (#1)
PIRATE VISHNU (#2)
QUICKSAND (#3)
MICHELANGELO'S GHOST (#4)
THE NINJA'S ILLUSION (#5)
Part of the Henery Press Mystery Series Collection, if you like one, you'll probably like them all.
Author Bio:
USA Today bestselling author Gigi Pandian is the child of cultural anthropologists from New Mexico and the southern tip of India. She spent her childhood being dragged around the world, and now lives in the San Francisco Bay Area. Gigi writes the Jaya Jones Treasure Hunt mysteries, the Accidental Alchemist mysteries, and locked-room mystery short stories. Gigi's fiction has been awarded the Malice Domestic Grant and Lefty Awards, and been nominated for Macavity and Agatha Awards. Find her online at www.gigipandian.com.