In Darkness, Death by Dorothy and Thomas Hoobler

Seikei, a former merchant's son, was adopted by the famous judge, Ooka, who is a samurai as well as a judge, after helping him solve a mystery on the Tokkaido road. Now, Seikei is living with the judge and trying to learn to be a real Samurai, but he has far to go in pursuit of that goal.

When the judge is summoned to the death of the Lord Inaba after a party the night before welcoming him to Edo, the judge suspects a ninja was responsible for the death. But first he must question the servants, and the guards who guarded Lord Inaba. From a lowly servant girl, Seikei and Judge Ooka discover that the ninja left only one thing behind: an origami butterfly, now stained with Lord Inaba's blood.

To trace the paper used to make the butterfly, Judge Ooka and Seikei visit the Paper-maker Ogawa and his daughter, Michiko. While both father and daughter agree that the paper used in the butterfly is made only in temples, its maker is a man named Bakkoro, who lives in the north.

Judge Ooka sends Seikei to visit Bakkoro along with Tatsuno, a ninja who he captured and who he seems to know. Seikei and Tatsuno pretend to be pilgrims making a religious pilgrimmage, but Seikei twists his ankle and they must stop in a small village to see a doctor.

The Doctor, Genkai, helps them, and asks them to carry a message to Lord Inaba, asking him to cut down the taxes on the land of the farmers around them. Two years in a row, the crops have failed due to insect attacks, and yet the Lord is still demanding the same taxes. The farmers and their families are starving and cannot pay their taxes. They tried sending a message to Lord Inaba to that effect, but he returned without nose, ears or lips. Perhaps Seikei, being a Samurai, will have more luck. Seikei writes down their names and complaints, and goes to see the new Lord Inaba. Tatsuno refuses to accompany him, and when Seikei sees the new Lord, he soon learns why.

Yuuto, the new lord, sends his Samurai out to kill the farmers whose names are on the petition, and when Seikei tells him he is on his own, the new Lord has him thrown in the dungeon to rot. But he is rescued by Tatsuno, and the two of them travel to Nara, where Judge Ooka will be meeting Seikei. Along the way, Tatsuno disappears, leaving Seikei with only a small purple-green stone that Tatsuno gave to him earlier.

Seikei returns to the Judge and gives his report. Since the judge asked him to keep a lookout for who might have wanted to kill the old Lord Inaba, Seikei confesses that he wants to kill the new one. To find answers, the judge and Seikei must travel to the Okami mountain shrine to search for the Ninja who has taken refuge on its slopes. But since Seikei has possession of the gofu, a stone that carries the power of the Kami, he must go alone to find out who hired the Ninja to kill Lord Inaba. But can Seikei, so young and mostly untrained, find and convince the Ninja to talk?

I liked this book, which is rich with details about Japan in the Feudal Era. Judge Ooka was a real person, and is considered to be something like Japan's Sherlock Holmes, finding and bringing perpetrators to justice even in the most puzzling cases. Though Seikei, his adopted son, is nothing but fiction, the novel brings plenty of detail that will delight readers, from how paper is made to various medicinal treatments in Japan.

Better than that, the mystery is solid and intriguing, although adults and smart kids or teens will figure out who hired the killer partway through the story. I stil recommend this small book as a good mystery for anyone to read. Well done.