Dorothy and Thomas Hoobler, authors of the Judge Ooka and..

[Steve Hubbell]

Seikei Mystery Series - which started with "The Ghost in the Tokaido Inn" and was followed by "The Demon in the Teahouse", "In Darkness, Death", and "The Sword That Cut the Burning Grass" - have finally set up a personal web-page where the following announcement was posted on Saturday Jun 17, 2006 :

Fans of our Samurai Detective series will be glad to know that another book (#5) has been completed.

It will be titled A SAMURAI NEVER FEARS DEATH, and has a projected publication date of Spring, 2007.

In this book, Seikei returns to the city of his birth, Osaka, where Judge Ooka has been assigned to investigate a gang of smugglers. The judge has a special task for Seikei: find a restaurant that serves fugu, the Japanese fish that has a distinctive flavor, but unfortunately can cause a painful and swift death if not prepared properly.

Seikei goes to a familiar haunt: his family’s tea business, to find that his younger brother and elder sister are now in charge. They take Seikei to see a puppet theater play, where each of the nearly life-size puppets are operated by three puppeteers, all dressed from head to toe in black. Seikei is soon up to his neck in trouble, as a murder takes place and the number one suspect is--Seikei himself.

http://www.hooblerauthors.com/index.php

[Fanfan]

Only one book has been translated in french :



I found on their website a very interesting title :
The Sword That Cut the Burning Grass

[Stan Sakai]

I've been wanting to do a story on the bunraku, the Japanese puppet theater, for quite awhile. Each puppet has a master puppeteer who controls the head expressions, and two apprentices that take care of the hands and feet. There is also a narrator who tells the story. In the Usagi story, the narrator is blind so has to recite the stories from memory.

[Robert Wetherelt]

Sounds like a COOL idea Sakai-sensei!