![](https://heysocal.com/wp-content/themes/heymediadev/assets/img/logos/beacon_white.png)
![](https://heysocal.com/wp-content/themes/heymediadev/assets/img/logos/logo-white.png)
Naomi Hirahara and the book cover of ‘Hiroshima Boy’. – Courtesy photo/ Prospect Park Booksa
Pasadena author Naomi Hirahara was nominated for a 2019 Edgar Award on Jan. 22 for her seventh and final of the Mas Arai mystery series, “Hiroshima Boy,” published by Prospect Park Books. Hirahara is not new to the Edgars, which are considered the Oscars of the mystery writing world—she won the Edgar for the third in the series, “Snakeskin Shamisen,” in 2007. The series has also been nominated for Macavity and Anthony awards. Naomi will fly to New York in late April for the black-tie awards banquet hosted by the Mystery Writers of America.
Hirahara was born in Altadena, attended high school in South Pasadena, and has lived in Pasadena for most of her adult life. The protagonist of her series, a Japanese-American gardener from Altadena named Mas Arai, was inspired by her father, who was also a gardener from Altadena. Like Mas, her father (and her mother) were survivors of the Hiroshima bombing in 1945, and in “Hiroshima Boy,” she sends the elderly Mas from Altadena back to Hiroshima where he gets involved in a murder case.
Hirahara is also the author of the Ellie Rush mystery series (Berkley) and “Life After Manzanar” (Heyday Books). A graduate of Stanford University, she has also written extensively about gardening and Japanese-American history and culture, and she has contributed to several anthologies and collaborative books, including “Los Angeles Noir,” “Santa Cruz Noir,” and “Hometown Pasadena.” Later in 2019, Prospect Park will publish the debut of a new mystery series from Hirahara, “Iced in Paradise,” set in Hawaii. Learn more about her at naomihirahara.com.
We are able to provide high-quality political journalism to you for free thanks to our advertisers. So that you can continue to enjoy HEYSOCAL's in-depth reporting, we ask that you please turn off your ad blocker and come on in, free of charge.
Subscribe to our newsletter for this giveaway and many more. Also, stay in the loop for SoCal news and updates.
Your subscription has been confirmed. You've been added to our list and will hear from us soon.
Your request has been confirmed! We will get in touch with you shortly.
This website uses cookies so that we can provide you with the best user experience possible. Cookie information is stored in your browser and performs functions such as recognising you when you return to our website and helping our team to understand which sections of the website you find most interesting and useful.
Essential Cookies should be enabled at all times so that we can save your preferences for cookie settings.
If you disable this cookie, we will not be able to save your preferences. This means that every time you visit this website you will need to enable or disable cookies again.
This website uses Google Analytics to collect anonymous information such as the number of visitors to the site, and the most popular pages.
Keeping this cookie enabled helps us to improve our website.
Please enable Essential Cookies first so that we can save your preferences!
You can find more information about our Terms of Service and Privacy Policy