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.” Read more…