Village of the Vampire Cat

Zenta and Matsuzo Mystery #4

by Lensey Namioka

Zenta and Matsuzo, a duo of masterless samurai, try to discover the true identity of the supposedly supernatural murderer plaguing an ancient Japanese village.

Genres: Historical Fiction, Young Adult, Mystery, Asia, Historical, Fiction, Japan

224 pages, Paperback

First published January 1, 1981

About the author

Namioka was born in Beijing, the daughter of linguist Yuenren Chao and physician Buwei Yang Chao. The family moved often in China. In 1937, the Chaos were living in Nanjing, and fled westward in the face of the Japanese Invasion. They eventually made their way to Hawaii, then Cambridge, Massachusetts. Namioka attended grade school in Cambridge and excelled at mathematics.

Namioka attended University of California, Berkeley, where her father was a professor of Asian Studies. Here she met and married Isaac Namioka, a fellow graduate student in mathematics. The Namiokas moved to Ithaca, New York, where Isaac Namioka taught at Cornell University, and Lensey Namioka taught at Wells College.

In 1959, the Namiokas' first daughter Aki was born, followed by a second daughter Michi, who was born in 1961. The family moved to Seattle in 1963, when Isaac Namioka accepted a position at the University of Washington.

In the 1970s, on a visit to Japan, Namioka visited Namioka Castle. The experience inspired her to learn more about the samurai. This study culminated in The Samurai and the Long-nosed Devils, which was published in 1976. Namioka expanded this book into a whole series of books about samurai. Namioka also wrote a series of books about a Chinese American family named Yang, and several books about young women and girls facing difficult choices.

Lensey Namioka is the only person known to have the first name "Lensey." Her name has an especially unusual property for a Chinese person born in China: there are no Chinese characters to represent it. Lensey's father, Yuenren Chao, was cataloguing all of the phonemes used in Chinese. He noted that there were two syllables which were possible in the Chinese language, but which were used in no Chinese words. These syllables could be written in English as "len" and "sey." His third daughter was born soon after, and he named her "Lensey."

Reviews

[Littlerhymes]

Wandering ronin Zenta and Matsuzo visit the village where Zenta was trained by his old master Ikken. But they find the village an unwelcoming place, with Ikken living in poverty and far fallen from his previous status, and the entire village terrified of a mysterious creature that is killing young girls.

How can you go wrong with a title like this? Fantastic title. A+. The mystery is interesting too!

At times this felt aimed at children in the simplicity of the language and the care Namioka takes to explain some concepts. At other it felt quite adult in the way it treats some quite brutal murders and ritualised suicide.

[Len · Rating 4 out of 5]

I remember really enjoying these books when I was between eight and ten years old. They were exciting, fast paced reads with significant accurate background information and were appropriate for a rather innocent reader such as myself. They are delightful, enjoyable and not remotely predictable, a surefire delight for readers young and old alike.

[Alan Mills · Rating 4 out of 5]

Odd mixture of writing which appears aimed at the YA audience but with somewhat gruesome subject matter (the slaughter on going girls).

This is one entry in what appears to be a long series of books centered on the adventures of Ronin (unattached Samurai). I have read none of the others, so no clue how this fits into the larger narrative. This entry is set in a tiny village in rural Japan, apparently in the early 1800’s, as the Portuguese have arrived, but only in the coast.

The set up is the main character is returning to is it his old teacher on New Year, only to find that both the village and his teacher have been reduced to poverty and are being preyed on by a band of snake oil salesmen offering supposed protection against a supernatural cat, which is killing young girls, apparently at random.

Our hero Ronin take on the task of discovering what is really going on.

[C.J. Milbrandt · Rating 5 out of 5]

Zenta decides to visit his old mentor in time to celebrate the New Year with him, only to find the village run down and wild rumors flying about a vampire cat who preys upon young girls. A tense case with much bloodshed.

[Greta · Rating 4 out of 5]

This may be slow reading for some as it does not follow same dynamics of American style mysteries. However, book gives excellent sense of Japanese culture and feudal times. Interesting experience reading a mystery centering in Japan.

[itsumoAoi]

Lensey Namioka's resume :
Zenta and Matsuzo travel to visit the honored teacher of Zenta's youth, only to find the old warrior and the village terrorized by a force or forces unknown. They must help overcome a large gang of bandits and a madman who has brutally murdered four young women

[Lilly [Hiatus due to School] · Rating 4 out of 5]

This was great series especially as I was interested in Japanese culture and history. I remember being sad when I read the last book in the series.

[Lance Reece · Rating 5 out of 5]

One of my 1st novels/loves.

[Karis!! · Rating 5 out of 5]

I needed that foray into nostalgia. Now, back to our regularly scheduled programming