Naomi Hirahara, the award-winning author of the Mas Arai mysteries, will sign copies of “Strawberry Yellow,” the fifth book in the series, on Sunday, March 3, from 3 to 4:30 p.m. at Kinokuniya Bookstore in Little Tokyo, second floor of Weller Court, 123 Onizuka St., Los Angeles.
Hirahara has created a memorable protagonist unlike any other: a Hiroshima survivor, Los Angeles gardener, widower, gambler, grandfather, and solver of crimes. In “Strawberry Yellow,” he returns to the strawberry farms of his youth in Watsonville and encounters family intrigue, danger, and murder.
A past president of the Southern California chapter of the Mystery Writers of America, Hirahara won the Edgar Award for best paperback original mystery for “Snakeskin Shamisen,” the third in the Mas Arai series.
Active in the Japanese American community, she is also the biographer of the late businessman and philanthropist George Aratani, and discussed his recent passing Friday in an interview on KPCC’s “Take Two.”
Other upcoming events include an appearance with Andrew Leong, translator of “Lament in the Night,” on Sunday, Feb. 24, at 4 p.m. at Book Soup, 8818 W. Sunset Blvd., Los Angeles; and the official “Strawberry Yellow” launch party on Thursday, March 7, at 7 p.m. at Vroman’s, 695 E. Colorado Blvd., Pasadena.
For more information, visit http://naomihirahara.com.