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Rei Shimura #9
Girl in a Box
Chronically underemployed Japanese-American sleuth Rei Shimura has taken a freelance gig with a Washington, D.C., alphabet agency that just might have ties to the CIA. Her mission, should she choose to accept it, is to go undercover as a clerk in a big Tokyo department store. It's a risky assignment, but it also gives Rei a store discount that allows her to freely indulge her shopaholic tendencies. Meanwhile, she's listening in on private conversations, crashing a conference, and fending off the unwanted advances of a couple of the store's executives who seem fascinated by her navel ring. When her cover is blown, Rei is in big trouble. Suddenly she's neck-deep in something very nasty, and it will take all her resourcefulness and unorthodox methods to survive a determined killer.
304 pages, Paperback
First published January 1, 2006
66 people are currently reading
519 people want to read
About the author
Sujata Massey
35 books2,624 followersSujata Massey is the author of historical and mystery fiction set in Asia. She is best known for the Perveen Mistry series published in the United States by Soho Press and in India by Penguin Random House India. In June, 2021, THE BOMBAY PRINCE, third book in the series, releases in the US/Canada and Australia/New Zealand; it will be published by Penguin India later the same month.
THE WIDOWS OF MALABAR HILL, the first Perveen novel, was named a Best Mystery/Thriller of 2018 and also an Amazon Best Mystery/Thriller of 2018. Additionally, the book won the Bruce Alexander Best Historical Mystery Award, the Agatha Award for Best Historical Mystery and the Mary Higgins Clark Award, all in 2019.
The second Perveen novel, THE SATAPUR MOONSTONE, won the Bruce Alexander Best Historical Mystery Award in 2020.
Sujata's other works include THE SLEEPING DICTIONARY (2013) and eleven Rei Shimura mysteries published from 1997-2014. For more about Sujata's books and a full events schedule, subscribe to her newsletter, http://sujatamassey.com/newsletter
Sujata lives in Baltimore, Maryland, with her family and two dogs. In addition to writing, she loves to travel, read, cook, garden and walk.
THE WIDOWS OF MALABAR HILL, the first Perveen novel, was named a Best Mystery/Thriller of 2018 and also an Amazon Best Mystery/Thriller of 2018. Additionally, the book won the Bruce Alexander Best Historical Mystery Award, the Agatha Award for Best Historical Mystery and the Mary Higgins Clark Award, all in 2019.
The second Perveen novel, THE SATAPUR MOONSTONE, won the Bruce Alexander Best Historical Mystery Award in 2020.
Sujata's other works include THE SLEEPING DICTIONARY (2013) and eleven Rei Shimura mysteries published from 1997-2014. For more about Sujata's books and a full events schedule, subscribe to her newsletter, http://sujatamassey.com/newsletter
Sujata lives in Baltimore, Maryland, with her family and two dogs. In addition to writing, she loves to travel, read, cook, garden and walk.
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Displaying 1 - 30 of 77 reviews
February 2, 2018
DNF in less than 10 minutes.
I haven't read any of the books in this series, but I was scouting for books set in Japan and this came up as a kindle deal. The idea of going undercover in a Japanese department store seemed interesting.
But I took an immediate intense dislike to the main character. While out on a run, she notices a man looking through binoculars in her general direction. Then he starts to run toward her. She runs away- okay, she's working for some sort of secret agency, so I can go with that.
Then she runs into an outlet mall to look for help. She runs past a shoe store because she's wearing a different brand of shoes and she thinks they'll judge her. Then she runs by Isotoner and Geoffrey Been stores because she figures the older customers in those stores won't be able to help her fight off her opponent. Then she runs into a restaurant and asks the staff there if they can call the police. But they're Latino, so they run out the back door, and she wishes that she hadn't used the trigger word "police" with them. REALLY????????
It turns out that the guy just wants to offer her a job, anyway. But this ridiculous and offensive start was all I needed to know about the book. Goodbye to you, Girl in a Box.
I haven't read any of the books in this series, but I was scouting for books set in Japan and this came up as a kindle deal. The idea of going undercover in a Japanese department store seemed interesting.
But I took an immediate intense dislike to the main character. While out on a run, she notices a man looking through binoculars in her general direction. Then he starts to run toward her. She runs away- okay, she's working for some sort of secret agency, so I can go with that.
Then she runs into an outlet mall to look for help. She runs past a shoe store because she's wearing a different brand of shoes and she thinks they'll judge her. Then she runs by Isotoner and Geoffrey Been stores because she figures the older customers in those stores won't be able to help her fight off her opponent. Then she runs into a restaurant and asks the staff there if they can call the police. But they're Latino, so they run out the back door, and she wishes that she hadn't used the trigger word "police" with them. REALLY????????
It turns out that the guy just wants to offer her a job, anyway. But this ridiculous and offensive start was all I needed to know about the book. Goodbye to you, Girl in a Box.
May 3, 2019
Rei in the CIA? A bit preposterous. I liked her better when she was a struggling antiques dealer.
September 9, 2017
From an antiques dealer to unpaid sleuth, now Rei is a spy for a branch of the CIA?!
September 20, 2019
3.5 stars!
November 23, 2024
This book I enjoyed for for the story line than the fact it was in Tokyo. I have enjoyed the entire series, but for the story itself this is the best.
Read
July 30, 2011This is perhaps my least favorite of the five or so that I have read, perhaps due to its subject matter. A spy novel that turns on department stores and their yakuza connections may have just as much violence as the cold war versions, but the stakes are less compelling. Massey seems to enjoy describing fashion, so here she in her element, and will probably appeal to young brand-conscious women, who will not only recognize Prada or Coach, but also "Nice Claup" khakis. More interesting to the non-fashion oldster would be the description of heroine Rei's trip to a ceremony where seamstresses ceremonially bury their needles and rededicate themselves to their craft. Some of Rei's old friends have returned, but some are gone: Hugh and Toshi are painful memories, but there's a new love interest on the horizon. Aunt Norie is there to help, but Rei's parents are out of the picture. I still have a few of the series to read, and I'm sorry I didn't read them in order. Nonetheless, Rei is an attractive heroine, and she always goes interesting places. I'm sorry to have heard that the series is over with the volume set in Hawaii.
December 27, 2020
“Girl in a Box”, Sujata Massey’s ninth book in the “Rei Shimura” series, finds Rei still working as spy, under the cover of a department store sales-assistant. While the two works seems very disparate, I enjoyed the descriptions on the department store background workings, even if the yakuza connections seemed a little far-fetched, they work for the mystery part of the plot. After all this is a series that, while offering real information on Japanese culture, demands some suspension of belief in order to bring the cases across. There are some dated visions on the book, but we shouldn’t forget that this book war written almost twenty-years ago (some time previous publication) and the Japan of the early 2000s was still very different from that of 2020, and even now some social barriers have not been overcome. As sleuth mysteries go, I very much enjoy the series, Rei Shimura’s is still with all her shortcomings and weaknesses a very enjoyable heroine.
Sujata Massey’s “Rei Shimura” is a mystery series featuring the eponymous character, an American Japanese woman in her late twenties (at the start of the series) who relocates to Tokyo to reembrace her Japanese roots and start an antiquities business. The books mix classical sleuth mystery, with Japanese cultural observation and biographical bits, into a nice, easy to read and fully enjoyable series. Some mysteries remind the classical clean mysteries of old, while other (especially on the later books) deal with very serious historical events, but in each case the stories remain easy-to-read mysteries with Japanese flavour. While an in-depth study into Japanese culture, should not be expected, the books offer a very credible insight into Japanese everyday life, from the point of view of American foreigner with the added bonus of having a real Japanese heritage, that allows her to blend in and navigate the country with credible ease. Every book in the series can be read as a stand-alone from the mystery point of view, as the arc-story only pertains to Rei Shimura chronological development.
Massey, a London born, who has herself a mixed Indian-German heritage and has expended (due to her own husband work) several year in Japan, excels by interweave her own biographical data with fictional bit into one of the most original and interesting series in the genre. Rei Shimura’s character development and her reflections on the country evolve organically with the experiences in the country. Sujata Massey succeeds in showing the changes in Rei’s personality and reflections to the environment. A must-read for all fans of female slaughtering and/or ‘light’ Japanese culture.
Sujata Massey’s “Rei Shimura” is a mystery series featuring the eponymous character, an American Japanese woman in her late twenties (at the start of the series) who relocates to Tokyo to reembrace her Japanese roots and start an antiquities business. The books mix classical sleuth mystery, with Japanese cultural observation and biographical bits, into a nice, easy to read and fully enjoyable series. Some mysteries remind the classical clean mysteries of old, while other (especially on the later books) deal with very serious historical events, but in each case the stories remain easy-to-read mysteries with Japanese flavour. While an in-depth study into Japanese culture, should not be expected, the books offer a very credible insight into Japanese everyday life, from the point of view of American foreigner with the added bonus of having a real Japanese heritage, that allows her to blend in and navigate the country with credible ease. Every book in the series can be read as a stand-alone from the mystery point of view, as the arc-story only pertains to Rei Shimura chronological development.
Massey, a London born, who has herself a mixed Indian-German heritage and has expended (due to her own husband work) several year in Japan, excels by interweave her own biographical data with fictional bit into one of the most original and interesting series in the genre. Rei Shimura’s character development and her reflections on the country evolve organically with the experiences in the country. Sujata Massey succeeds in showing the changes in Rei’s personality and reflections to the environment. A must-read for all fans of female slaughtering and/or ‘light’ Japanese culture.
November 19, 2021
Pidin tästä kirjasta todella paljon. Toki tässä oli paljon naurettavaakin, kuten Rein agenttihommat (millä kokemuksella ja koulutuksella?), epäuskottava romanssi Michaelin kanssa (joka kuulostaa yhtä puuduttavan tylsältä tyypiltä kuin Takeo), ja inhottavat nuoret naiset jotka inhosivat Reitä välittömästi ilman minkäänlaista järkevää syytä. Itse en todellakaan ole mikään muodin asiantuntija, tunnen hädituskin paikallisen marketin oman vaatemerkin (en tunne), mutta minua ei häirinnyt jatkuva nimien pudottelu ja vaatteiden kommentointi. Päinvastoin.
Oli kiinnostavaa kuulla miten japanilainen rekrytointiprosessi toimii, ja mitä kaikkea se vaatii että Japanissa pääsee edes työhaastatteluun. Toki en tiedä miten realistinen kirjan kuvaus rekryprosessista oli, mutta sitä oli hauska lukea. Kuulosti siltä, että käytännössä ulkomaalaisena sinun on todella vaikea, ellei mahdoton, työllistyä Japanissa, jos et sitä tee esim. jonkun firman kautta.
Yakuzan sekaantuminen tarinaan on mielestäni uskottavaa, onhan se yleisesti tiedossa millainen asema Yakuzalla on Japanissa. Joten en yhtään epäile, etteikö tällaista tapahdu ihan oikeassakin elämässä. Ei varmaan ehkä niin rajusti että agentit soluttautuvat myyjiksi, mutta rahanpesun muodossa varmasti kyllä.
Tässä tuleekin se mielenkiintoinen kohta... Rein työnkuva ja työnteosta kertominen oli mielestäni todella mielenkiintoista, ja ajattelin että tuollainen työ se vasta olisikin helppoa ja mielenkiintoista. Saat pyöriä kauppakeskuksessa asiakkaan kanssa, jutella ja käyttää työaikasi katsellen vaatteita ja muita tavaroita, ilman että kädet kurkulla pakotat asiakkaan ostamaan jotain. NYT teen itse täsmälleen samaa työtä! Tosin, en tiennyt että tulen tekemään tätä, ja nyt kun sitä teen niin voin todeta ettei se todellakaan ole sellaista hommaa mitä haluaisin tehdä pitkään. Jos ollenkaan. Rei (tai itse kirjailija) sai tällaisen työn kuulostamaan paljon kiinnostavammalta kuin mitä se on!
Oli kiinnostavaa kuulla miten japanilainen rekrytointiprosessi toimii, ja mitä kaikkea se vaatii että Japanissa pääsee edes työhaastatteluun. Toki en tiedä miten realistinen kirjan kuvaus rekryprosessista oli, mutta sitä oli hauska lukea. Kuulosti siltä, että käytännössä ulkomaalaisena sinun on todella vaikea, ellei mahdoton, työllistyä Japanissa, jos et sitä tee esim. jonkun firman kautta.
Yakuzan sekaantuminen tarinaan on mielestäni uskottavaa, onhan se yleisesti tiedossa millainen asema Yakuzalla on Japanissa. Joten en yhtään epäile, etteikö tällaista tapahdu ihan oikeassakin elämässä. Ei varmaan ehkä niin rajusti että agentit soluttautuvat myyjiksi, mutta rahanpesun muodossa varmasti kyllä.
Tässä tuleekin se mielenkiintoinen kohta... Rein työnkuva ja työnteosta kertominen oli mielestäni todella mielenkiintoista, ja ajattelin että tuollainen työ se vasta olisikin helppoa ja mielenkiintoista. Saat pyöriä kauppakeskuksessa asiakkaan kanssa, jutella ja käyttää työaikasi katsellen vaatteita ja muita tavaroita, ilman että kädet kurkulla pakotat asiakkaan ostamaan jotain. NYT teen itse täsmälleen samaa työtä! Tosin, en tiennyt että tulen tekemään tätä, ja nyt kun sitä teen niin voin todeta ettei se todellakaan ole sellaista hommaa mitä haluaisin tehdä pitkään. Jos ollenkaan. Rei (tai itse kirjailija) sai tällaisen työn kuulostamaan paljon kiinnostavammalta kuin mitä se on!
This entire review has been hidden because of spoilers.
February 24, 2020
Another book in the Rei Shimura series. Reading these books all out of sequence, so I often wonder what happened to "so and so". While reading I was thinking what do these books remind me of, and then it came to me, the Cherry Ames Nurse series, I read as a child. Cherry Ames was everywhere, she could do anything, Cherry Ames was senior nurse, she was Army Nurse, She was Country Nurse, she was every place and could do anything. Modern Day Cherry Ames, is Rei.
Rei Shimura takes many jobs, Rei Shimura is a teacher of English, then she is an unique dealer, then she is in museums, then she is designing restaurants, is an expert of Kimonos, Rei is a flower designer, and a detective, and in this book, Rei is...Secret Agent Girl.
Still not got the book where she and her long time finance/lover Huge have split up, but Rei still carries a torch for him in this book. She is recruited in Washington D.C. to return to Japan and work in a huge department store. She has to learn how to be more Japanese.
She is introduced to Space A flights, the military and DOD and learns all the lingo military wives and families know by heart.
Of course Aunty is in this one, her dads sister, and as always they are there for Rei. Someone again, is after Rei, she knows too much. She has learned to bug phones, and computers, and as always gets herself in a pickle, but she does survive, and onto the next book.
Rei Shimura takes many jobs, Rei Shimura is a teacher of English, then she is an unique dealer, then she is in museums, then she is designing restaurants, is an expert of Kimonos, Rei is a flower designer, and a detective, and in this book, Rei is...Secret Agent Girl.
Still not got the book where she and her long time finance/lover Huge have split up, but Rei still carries a torch for him in this book. She is recruited in Washington D.C. to return to Japan and work in a huge department store. She has to learn how to be more Japanese.
She is introduced to Space A flights, the military and DOD and learns all the lingo military wives and families know by heart.
Of course Aunty is in this one, her dads sister, and as always they are there for Rei. Someone again, is after Rei, she knows too much. She has learned to bug phones, and computers, and as always gets herself in a pickle, but she does survive, and onto the next book.
March 5, 2018
An entertaining read.
One of the aspects of these mysteries that I really appreciated is that Rei was never an agent of the state--not a cop, a detective, a private eye, or any sort of agent. Instead, she was a young woman trying to build her business doing what she loved and navigating the struggle of paying bills and living life. When she happens across a murder, she has to use her wits--and rely on her relationships--to keep herself safe and find out what's really going on.
I miss that aspect. While it's entertaining to follow Rei on an elaborately described adventure through a Japanese department store trying to put bugs in various places, the tone feels a little more like a typical crime novel in which the agent of the law has to solve whodunit.
One of the aspects of these mysteries that I really appreciated is that Rei was never an agent of the state--not a cop, a detective, a private eye, or any sort of agent. Instead, she was a young woman trying to build her business doing what she loved and navigating the struggle of paying bills and living life. When she happens across a murder, she has to use her wits--and rely on her relationships--to keep herself safe and find out what's really going on.
I miss that aspect. While it's entertaining to follow Rei on an elaborately described adventure through a Japanese department store trying to put bugs in various places, the tone feels a little more like a typical crime novel in which the agent of the law has to solve whodunit.
May 22, 2019
Of particular interest to me because of references to expat resources in Tokyo that I’m familiar with – the New Sanno hotel, Yokota Airbase, western Tokyo stations like Hiroo and other gunjin (military visitor) landmarks.
I found Rei as a undercover agent a bit far-fetched but entertaining nevertheless. The incredible gender disparity and misogynistic treatment of working women is superficially covered but could’ve been more a part of the central plot. Japan is going through a tremendous transition in enfolding women into meaningful occupational roles like physicians and other professionals but that integration is coming too slowly to seriously help the ailing economy, unlike America where many of our physicians and healthcare professionals are now women.
Not sure how much someone would enjoy this book if they’ve never been to Tokyo before.
I found Rei as a undercover agent a bit far-fetched but entertaining nevertheless. The incredible gender disparity and misogynistic treatment of working women is superficially covered but could’ve been more a part of the central plot. Japan is going through a tremendous transition in enfolding women into meaningful occupational roles like physicians and other professionals but that integration is coming too slowly to seriously help the ailing economy, unlike America where many of our physicians and healthcare professionals are now women.
Not sure how much someone would enjoy this book if they’ve never been to Tokyo before.
August 6, 2019
This is my 3rd Rei Shimura book (not read in order for some reason). As a spy book this book or the Rei Shimura series so far is nothing to write home about. No edge of the seat excitement, no spycraft, dead drops, etc.
However, as a drama book on the life of Rei Shimura who does spying on the side, her love life, life in Japan, Japanese culture, this book excels and that's what I love about it. No doubt Sunjata Massey is an excellent writer, able to keep her readers glued to their books or tablets. I definitely love this book and this series.
Summary: Doesn't make the most sense. The US government is interested in the unaccounted for increased profits of a Japanese department store and sends Rei over to investigate.
However, as a drama book on the life of Rei Shimura who does spying on the side, her love life, life in Japan, Japanese culture, this book excels and that's what I love about it. No doubt Sunjata Massey is an excellent writer, able to keep her readers glued to their books or tablets. I definitely love this book and this series.
Summary: Doesn't make the most sense. The US government is interested in the unaccounted for increased profits of a Japanese department store and sends Rei over to investigate.
January 28, 2018
Had high hopes for this one in the beginning. Interesting setup, and I enjoyed the pieces of history and peek inside the workings of a Japanese department store. However, major letdown. Wrapped up in about a few pages awfully neatly. Also didn't buy the CIA element and thought the 'romance' element seemed forced and out of character for the protagonist. Don't think I will read another in this series.
November 4, 2019
Rei is in the spy business and goes to Japan to untangle a web of business partnerships, family and retail. Massey is so funny to put her protag in a most favored shopping position. Some unexpected twists and turns, but really not heavy just a good fast light read with nice foreign and romantic accents.
February 11, 2020
This is a DNF situation for me. I’m putting it on my Read list because I have tried so many times to go back to it and don’t foresee me trying again in the future. This book seems so different from all the rest in the series - and I’ve read all the rest! - that I’m surprised. My apologies to the author. Her other books truly delighted me and inspired some of my own writing.
January 8, 2022
Rei Shimura as a slightly ditzy, club-hopping, sexually-liberated antiques dealer is fun. Rei Shimura as an undercover CIA agent is simply a bore. The problems in Girl In a Box have been covered by other reviewers so I won't repeat them. I will probably skip the final two books (so far) in the series, unless my curiosity gets the better of me.
October 31, 2023
So, I think that Massey has done better work with a subsequent series, and I think that, in this series, we see some growth as an author. I was a bit relieved when this book ended with what felt like a good breaking point. The protagonist has settled into something a little less ridiculous, and perhaps we can wish her well and send her off.
July 14, 2024
So-so. The fun part is the detailed descriptions of life in Japan. And the slow pace till the last 50 pages or so. Then it gets very hurried and not terribly convincing. I picked this book up as I wanted to explore the series. I don’t think I will read more of the series. The Parveen Mistry books are better and there is a new one coming out in the fall.
December 14, 2019
The best instalment in the entire series, at least so far. Rei has been annoying (to me) throughout, but this novel was the exception. She wasn't a whiner in this book, but a doer. Loved the change of pace. ☺️👍
July 27, 2017
This is really more for people who understand fashion and appreciate the romantic aspects of the story.
December 31, 2018
Really good for a quick read mystery
September 2, 2019
a good mystery and a new direction for rei
September 4, 2019
Seemed rushed.
December 26, 2019
Not a great book !!
May 3, 2020
Fascinating background on how different department stores operate in Japan compared to the US. Good mystery and characters in a favorite series of mine.
March 7, 2021
I've enjoyed this series, but often find the main character a little annoying. But she seems to have matured in this book and the plot was great, so it's my favorite in the series so far.
May 21, 2021
I enjoy each one of these books a little more than the last. I’m sad I’m approaching the end of the series.
July 30, 2022
Best one yet.
However, there are a number of typos in the last few pages.
However, there are a number of typos in the last few pages.
September 7, 2022
I would not call this a bad book, but it was far from being the best spy novel I've read so far. The seemingly intriguing plot just did not have enough action for me.
December 8, 2022
Rei’s back in Japan, working undercover as a spy. An interesting look at the way the yakuza gangsters are woven into the fabric of the retail business there.
Displaying 1 - 30 of 77 reviews