The Chrysanthemum Chain — James Melville

The second case for Superintendent Otani of the Hyogo Prefecture of Honshu, the main island of Japan, where the death of a respected foreign academic presents a problem not just for the police but also for Andrew Walker the young British Vice-Consul in the Prefecture's capital Kobe, who has to master the formal intricacies and rituals of Japanese mourning as well as police procedure. With his vast knowledge and experience of Japan, James Melville again weaves an intriguing murder mystery into a subtle and affectionate depiction of Japanese life, often as seen through Japanese eyes observing western visitors observing them Published in Japan as The English Teacher Murder Case.