A suitable novel to read while Manchester has been covered in snow and freezing cold. The blurb calls it a whodunnit, but it seemed more a novel about different communities, prejudice, the scars of war, pride, families and relationships. The tensions comes from wondering if the main character, the journalist, will do the right thing or not; is his heart so broken and his mind so warped or is there still a glimmer of the young man he was before the war in there.
For me, this novel went too far around the subject, said too many words to tell the tale and generally often failed to get to the point. However, it was good enough to keep me reading and some of the historical detail was interesting. ( )

Excellent writing and story. Loved it. ( )

a classic -- must read!!! ( )

A truly wonderful story. I absolutely loved it! ( )

I gave it 2-1/2 out of 4 stars in my rating system. It was well written. It was an easy read. However, the author did a poor job of convincing me that a person of Japanese heritage couldn't beat the rap. Racism was an undercurrent, but at no time did I view the characters in the book as overwhelmingly racist. Therefore, I was quite surpirsed at the end when the jurors were ready to convict based on ethnicity.