A review by kwil
Murder on Bamboo Lane by Naomi Hirahara

3.0

Hirahara writes in a first-person perspective, giving the narrative a straightforward, slightly clinical tone which fits Ellie’s character well. I loved the characters and the plot, but it took me weeks to finish this mystery. The pacing is sometimes slow and the awkward romance is something the story didn’t really need. But there’s way more here to like than to dislike. Ellie provides a lot of insight into the city’s locales, as well as into the difficulties of being a bicycler in a city of motorists. She’s surround by a realistic cast of diverse characters and the mystery of Jenny’s death is not one that is easily solved. I will say Ellie doesn’t always make the best decisions when she’s torn between the legal boundaries of her job and her personal need to find out what happened to Jenny, but her missteps do eventually lead her in the right direction. I didn’t finish this book in one sitting, or two, or even five. But I did keep picking it up because I wanted to finish it. Eventually. Almost like it was an old friend I bumped into every once in a while: “Hey Ellie! How’s that murder thing going?”. I really, really enjoyed getting to hang out with Ellie and I’m bummed there’s only one more book in this series—Grave On Grand Avenue—in which to do so.