Author Naomi Hirahara based her crime-solving protagonist, Mas Arai, on an unassuming role model: her father, who started a landscaping and gardening business in the L.A. area after World War II. With no police or military background, a 72-year-old Japanese American gardener may seem an odd choice for an amateur detective, but from the start, the series has won acclaim from both readers and critics. “I’m basically making a character like my father a hero,” says Hirahara in an interview with NPR. “I think all the times I complained that my dad was a gardener and we couldn’t afford this trip or that trip, I’m trying to make up for it by creating this heroic, iconic figure that’s underestimated.”

Like the author’s father, Isamu Hirahara, Mas was born in the U.S., but was in Hiroshima the day the atomic bomb was dropped. “It was really important for me for Mas to have the experience of being a hibakusha, or atomic bomb survivor — but an American-born hibakusha,” she explains. Also, like Hirahara’s father, after the war Mas was confronted with limited employment opportunities in Southern California because of his race, so he turned to the gardening trade, one of the few vocations open to Japanese Americans, to make a living. In the books, set in present day, the heyday of the Japanese gardener has passed, but Mas’ quiet, observant manner, worn Dodgers cap and his ability to blend into the background as a service worker, give him the perfect opportunity to solve crimes.

Hirahara, former editor and writer for Rafu Shimpo, a Japanese-language newspaper in Los Angeles, has written four books in the Mas Arai series so far. The first two books Summer of the Big Bachi (2004) and Gasa-Gasa Girl (2005) won starred reviews from Publishers Weekly and Booklist respectively, and the third book, Snakeskin Shamisen (2006), won the Edgar Allan Poe award for Best Paperback Original in 2007. The latest installment, Blood Hina, was released in March 2010. Mas has developed a significant fan base in the U.S. that is spreading to Japan, where the books began to be released a few years ago. Hirahara is currently working on the fifth book in the series. When asked about the plot, the author remained tight lipped, but did offer one hint. “All I can say is, the next one involves baseball.”