“Crown City,” part of Naomi Hirahara’s Japantown Mystery series, will be released by Penguin Random House on Feb. 24.
Pasadena, 1903: 18-year-old Ryunosuke “Ryui” Wada staggers off the boat from Yokohama, ready to reinvent himself after the untimely deaths of his parents. Though battling loneliness and culture shock, Ryui does his best to settle into his work as an art dealer’s apprentice while adjusting to his new home.
From his enigmatic photographer roommate, Jack, to the beautiful seamstress living downstairs, Ryui finds himself surrounded by colorful characters and unbelievable opportunities and is soon utterly swept up in all “Crown City” has to offer.
But tensions are seething under Pasadena’s bustling prosperity. Ryui is the victim of an anti-Japanese attack, and a painting is stolen from the studio of Toshio Aoki, Pasadena’s most successful Japanese artist, who then hires Ryui and Jack to investigate.
It’s not long before their sleuthing leads them into real danger. Ryui is a naive young man in a foreign country — has he bitten off more than he can chew?
In this fish-out-of-water mystery, studded with cameos by real historical figures, Hirahara, winner of the Edgar Award and Mary Higgins Clark Award, brings to life a little-known slice of California history.
Other books in the Japantown Mystery series are “Evergreen” and “Clark and Division.”
The book launch on Feb. 18 at Castle Green in Pasadena is sold out.
Hirahara will be the Little Tokyo Breakfast Club’s guest speaker on Thursday, Feb. 19, from 8:30 to 10 a.m. at the Toshizo Watanabe Culinary Cultural Center/James Irvine Japanese Garden, Japanese American Cultural & Community Center, 244 S. San Pedro St., Little Tokyo. Admission: $10. Info/tickets: https://jaccc.org/events/little-tokyo-breakfast-club-february-2026/
Other book-signings include:
Sunday, Feb. 22, 1 p.m. at Barnes & Noble, Del Amo Fashion Center, 21400 Hawthorne Blvd., Torrance
Tuesday, Feb. 24, 7 p.m. at Buena Vista Library, 300 N. Buena Vista St., Burbank
Saturday, March 21, 2 p.m. at Japanese American National Museum’s Democracy Center, 100 N. Central Ave. in Little Tokyo
Saturday, March 8, 2 p.m. at Fountain Valley Library, 17635 Los Alamos, Fountain Valley
Info: www.naomihirahara.com/free-reads-virtual-events/
Praise for “Crown City”
“The language is evocative and immersive, lending weight to Ryui’s observations, and real people and events add historical credence and narrative depth to the mystery. ‘Crown City’ is a measured coming-of-age novel in which a man ponders what must be preserved for the sake of one’s cultural identity.” — Foreword Reviews
“Poignant, marvellously well imagined, and deeply moving, this latest from Hirahara is sure to engage fans of historical fiction.” — First Clue Reviews
“A fascinating glimpse of turn-of-the century California, with a mystery kicker.” — Kirkus Reviews
“An immersive treat.” — Publishers Weekly
“‘Crown City’ is a welcome addition to the series of Japantown mysteries that Hirahara is building, and I hope she continues to bring her research and insights to other neglected and richly fascinating aspects of Japanese American history.” — International Examiner
“As in her earlier Edgar Award-winning work, Hirahara narrates with both insight to and acceptance of the confusion of America for people who have deeply longed to bring the nation their treasured strengths and talents.” — Historical Novels Review