The Lady Joker volumes by Kaoru Takamura and translated by Allison Markin Powell and Marie Iida are epic mystery novels. They tell the tale of a kidnapping in Japan and what follows once they release the hostage. Find out the what we thought of the books in our Lady Joker book guide and review article!
Lady Joker Books
Lady Joker Series Summary
The two part series follows Hinode, a beer manufacturing company in Japan, former workers, relatives of the former workers and how one letter from almost 50 years ago leads to the kidnapping of the president of Hinode.
It starts off with a suicide of a student who gets rejected by Hinode. The student’s father looks into the suicide of his son and is visited by a bunch of strangers that give hima letter from his relative that is about 50 years old. The father is visited by police and soon after kills himself.
These events lead to the creation of Lady Joker and Seizo Monoi wanting to get back at Hinode. The group plans to kidnap the president Kyosuke Shiroyama and hold the company’s products as hostage. What follows is a detailed account of the fallout and how the kidnapping effects everyone involved.
Lady Joker Volume One Summary
In 1947, Hinode Beer factory, located in Kanagawa, lays off some of its workers. One of the workers that is laid off, Seiji Okamura, writes a letter to Hinode Beer, questioning their motives and critiquing the company. This letter shows up decades later that and changes the fate of the company.
A couple of suicides in 1990 begin a chain of events that lead to the kidnapping of Hinode’s president, Kyosuke Shiroyama. He is abducted from his home and is tied up and blindfolded for three days. After three days, he is released and the kidnappers tell him that they will contact him later to pay the ransom, holding Hinode’s beer as hostage.
To read our full review of the novel, click here!
Lady Joker Volume Two Summary
The second novel focuses on the fallout after Lady Joker kidnaps Hinode’s president, Kyosuke Shiroyama and releases him. The police suspect that Hinode (beer company) will try to make a backroom deal with Lady Joker and try to prevent it.
In the second novel, the perspective shifts from the members of Lady Joker to the focus on the media and how they are involved in the coverage of the kidnapping and its aftermath. But as some reporters try to connect the kidnapping to the underworld, they realize just how dangerous their reporting is.
To read our full review of the novel, click here!
Conclusion
If you like a good mystery book, then Lady Joker by Kaoru Takamura is for you. Hoepfully, our Lady Joker book guide and review helped you and piqued your interest in the novel. Happy reading!