Another great entry in this humorous and fast-paced mystery series

The Ninja’s Illusion (A Jaya Jones Treasure Hunt Mystery) (Volume 5)

By: Gigi Pandian

Rating: 5 of 5

I have read all of the books in the Jaya Jones Treasure Hunt series and “The Ninja’s Illusion” is another fun and fast-paced story to enjoy. I’ve thought, from my first reading one of the books in this series, that Jaya Jones was a perfect mash-up between various Elizabeth Peters sleuths and Indiana Jones.

Jaya is an art historian who specializes in Indian history. She’s become somewhat famous for being able to find lost treasures and is often called upon by others in this specialty. In this story, however, she goes to Japan to assist her best friend, Sanjay, when he calls for help. Sanjay is a magician of some renown and is known as The Hindi Houdini. He’s been invited to assist a famous Japanese magician in performing a virtually impossible feat but is very much afraid that someone has nefarious plans which will cause him serious harm if not worse.

Jaya is able to pair spending time with Sanjay with investigating an historical “lost” treasure. She pulls out all stops when a murder occurs and is much too close to her friend than her comfort allows. She is also investigating whether or not her feelings for Sanjay are more than merely just friends.

Lots of old friends from prior books make appearances which is fun. I was so intrigued by the story in this book that I ended up researching the isolationist period of Japan. I was amazed at how the Japanese were able to keep the rest of the world out – even to the point of creating a man-made island where they could trade with their one trading partner.

I was provided a digital advance reader copy of this book by the publisher via Netgalley.