Dale Furutani

Dale Furutani is a highly regarded general fiction novelist, best known for his award-winning novel "Death in Little Tokyo." This book was his debut novel and it quickly gained recognition in the mystery writing community. In fact, "Death in Little Tokyo" was nominated for an Agatha Award and won both the Anthony and Macavity Awards for Best First Mystery. This made Furutani the first Asian American to win a major mystery award.

Furutani was born in Hilo, Hawaii on December 1, 1946, to a family of Japanese descent. His grandparents had come to Hawaii in 1896 to work on the sugar plantations as indentured servants. Furutani's grandfather was able to escape his contract and became a successful fisherman, until their fishing boat was taken from them during World War II. When Furutani was five, he was adopted by John Flanagan and moved to California. It was there that he first experienced racial prejudice, being one of the only Asian students in his school.

Furutani attended California State University, Long Beach, where he received a degree in Creative Writing. He later went on to receive an MBA in Marketing and Information Systems from UCLA. Furutani worked his way through undergraduate school by writing articles and serving as a contributing editor for various magazines. He began writing book-length fiction in 1993, and "Death in Little Tokyo" was his first novel.

Furutani is a third-generation Japanese American (a Sansei) and the first Asian American to win major mystery writing awards. He is the author of the Ken Tanaka series, which includes "Death in Little Tokyo" and "The Toyotomi Blades." In 1998, he started a new historical series with "Death at the Crossroads," the first book in a samurai mystery trilogy. He is also the author of "The Curious Adventures of Sherlock Holmes in Japan," a pastiche set in Meiji era Japan, and "The Ronin Returns," a fourth samurai book to satisfy readers about events after the trilogy. Furutani recently wrote a Japanese version of Shakespeare's "Macbeth," titled "Makoto," which puts a uniquely Japanese spin on a timeless story.