Only in Tokyo

My friend Jonelle Patrick has spent the last few years living part-time in Japan, part-time in her home town of San Francisco. She speaks and reads Japanese and has been sending fascinating reports about things she's learned and people she's met. And she has a blog, Only in Japan. You know about the Living National Treasures - sword makers, potters, papermakers, painters - but did you know about the Goth Lolitas?

Now her first Only in Tokyo mystery novel, Nightshade, has been published. It's a police procedural, a novel about the clash between the modern and the traditional, and an anthropological look at some of the odder subcultures of Japan, all rolled into one. It is great fun, and I learned a few things, too. Did you know that in Japan, an email address can be tied to a phone, not to an email provider?? The characters are strongly drawn, interesting, and varied; highly recommended!

Now, Nightshade is published by a new imprint of Penguin, and currently it's available only as an e-book. No whining that you don't have an e-reader! If you can send email, you can read electronic books (me, I finished Nightshade on a plane over Colorado, on my Macintosh laptop, after the smartphone ran out of juice). Here are your options:

• If you already have a Kindle, Nook, or other e-reader, you know the drill. Go spend the $4.99.
• If you have a PC, Mac, smartphone, or table, get the Kindle app for your platform here. Then spend the $4.99.
• If you have a Google/Gmail account, Google Books on any platform is here. Then indulge yourself! Spend the $4.99.

The next book in the series, Fallen Angel, will be out next year. Try not to tear your hair out waiting for it.