Naomi Hirahara’s Mystery Novel Wins Edgar Award
Sunday, May 6, 2007

“Snakeskin Shamisen” awarded best paperback original by Mystery Writers of America.


Naomi Hirahara, holding her Edgar Award, is flanked by “Snakeskin Shamisen’s” editorial and publicity team: left to right, publicist Sharon Propson, publicist Katie Rudkin, editor Shannon Jamieson Vazquez and editor Danielle Perez.

NEW YORK CITY.—Author Naomi Hirahara’s third mystery novel in the Mas Arai series, “Snakeskin Shamisen,” was awarded the Mystery Writers of America’s 2007 Allan Poe in the category of Best Paperback Origi­nal at the Edgar Award gala banquet at the Grand Hyatt Hotel in New York City on April 26.

The prestigious 2007 Edgar Award honors the best in mystery fiction, non-fiction, television and film published or produced in 2006. Honored as Grand Master at this year’s event was best-selling novelist Stephen King. Other winners included Jason Goodwin’s “The Janissary Tree” (Best Novel) and “The Faithful Spy” (Best First Novel).

Also nominated in the Best Paper­back Original category were Massimo Carlotto’s “The Goodbye Kiss,” Brian Evenson’s “The Open Curtain,” Paul Levine’s “The Deep Blue Alibi,” and Patrick Neate’s “City of Tiny Lights”.

“Snakeskin Shamisen,” which delves into the Okinawan American community in Southern California, is Hirahara’s third book in her series featuring a Kibei Nisei gardener and atomic-bomb survivor. Her first in the series, “Summer of the Big Bachi,” was nominated for a Macav­ity mystery award and was on both Publishers Weekly’s and Chicago Tribune’s lists of best books of 2004. The second, “Gasa-Gasa Girl,” was on the Southern California Booksellers’ Association bestseller list. The series is published by the Random House imprint, Bantam Dell/Delta.

Hirahara, former English Editor of The Rafu Shimpo, has produced more than six nonfiction books on the Asian American experi­ence. Her middle school book, “1001 Cranes,” will be published by House’s Delacorte in the summer of 2008. Visit her web site at www.naomi­hirahara.