Greedy

A British expat in Tokyo spirals downward as he struggles to keep himself afloat in Kazumi’s competent sophomore thriller (after Claire, Darling). Once a recruiter and sous chef, Ed Cook is now unemployed and hiding the truth from his family while he dodges yakuza crime boss Isamu Ikagi, to whom he is profoundly in debt. When Ed comes across a mysterious, high-paying chef job, he falsifies his credentials and arrives at a remote, eerie mansion owned by Hazeline Yamamoto, a sharp-tongued, scandal-haunted British Japanese widow. Hazeline’s extravagant tastes lead Ed to a tense but promising trial shift that he rushes to convert to full-time employment after he learns that Ikago is on his trail. As Ed falls deeper under Hazeline’s influence, cooking for her secretive gatherings and accepting her sometimes ostentatious help, he begins to sense that her charity may mask darker motives. When Hazelin’s facade finally cracks, Ed must confront just how entangled he’s become with his new employer and determine how far he’s willing to go to settle his debts. Kazumi’s assured prose and tense set pieces keep the pages turning, even if certain plot developments are a little too predictable. Still, this is a solid bet for neo-noir fans. Agent: Camilla Bolton, Darley Anderson Literary. (Feb.)