In Darkness, Death by Dorothy and Thomas Hoobler is the sequel to The Ghost in the Tokaido Inn, and The Demon in the Teahouse.
For new readers, to give you an overview of the main character and the setting…
This takes place in around the 1800s in Japan.
The main character, Seikei, was born into the son of a wealthy tea merchant. But, if you know your history, at that time merchants were pretty low in the social classes, even if they were rich, they were looked down upon. Seikei wasn’t quite happy with being the son of a tea merchant because he knew that when he grew older, he had to carry out the family line. What he really wanted to be was a samurai. Samurai were greatly respected and their lives were more adventurous. Seikei had that chance to become a samurai in The Ghost in the Tokaido Inn, when his new father, the honorable Judge Ooka took him in and taught him the way of the samurai.
That is all about Seikei and the time period for all of you new readers. Now, moving on to In Darkness, Death…
Seikei and Judge Ookaare off on yet another adventure, but this one, is more important than all the others so far. The Samurai Lord Inaba is discovered murdered in his sleep while under the protection of the shogun. Since Lord Inaba had died, the blame is on the shogun. If he does not find the killer, he loses his honor, and in that world… honor is EVERYTHING! So he “hires” Judge Ooka and Seikei to catch the killer so the shogun may “restore his honor”. The crime is quite difficult to figure out for Judge Ooka and Seikei because the only clue is a bloodstained origami butterfly that is left at the crime scene. They finally figure out who they’re dealing with, a ninja, a ninja that will stop at nothing to keep his identity a secret. Will they ever FIGURE out who the ninja really is? Will the shogun restore his honor? You HAVE TO READ this book to find out. In Darkness, Deathis a book truley about murder… honor… and justice.
My Comments:
I really Really REALLY L-O-V-E-D this book!! The reason why is because while I’m reading the book, I can actually picture in my head what’s going on. For me, it’s really hard because only some books have that effect on me. If I could rate it up to 1-10, I would pick 1million! =) This book would be great for boys and girls… and mostly for people that really want to learn about the history of Japan, samurai, the social classes, etc.
Blogged By,
Cynthia P.
I also read In Darkness, Death by Thomas and Dorothy Hoobler.
This book is the sequel to The Ghost in the Takaido Inn and The Demon in the Teahouse. 14 year-old Seikei is adopted by Judge Ooka, a detective and samarai. Seikei proved himself worthy of being a samarai by saving a precious jewel in The Ghost in Takaido Inn also by Thomas and Dorothy Hoobler. Seikei and Judge Ooka travel on a murderer mystery. Lord Inaba, one of the most popular samarais is discovered dead in Edo, Japan. Lord Inaba was murdered by a ninja. A ninja is the most powerful killer in all of history, they can turn invisible, throw stars, and make tricks of mystery. Seikei and Judge Ooka follow the ninja’s path up to a mountain where the evil spirits roam. Seikei is forced to go on the mountain alone and he sees a cave to the heart of the mountain. He enters and it is pitch black. He feels stars being thrown and they hit the wall right beside him…..Will the murder mystery ever be solved???
My Opinions on the Book:
I absolutely loved this book more than the other two! It gives some knowledge in Japanese history and lives as farmers in the 1800’s.
Cynthia is right, Murder… Honor…. Justice… is what its all about!