This was a well paced suspenseful read that had me on the edge of my seat. Lily was an amazing character with a good sense of a humour and she was a total badass. I loved the idea of her working to become a female ninja in order to be a protector of women. It was a unique concept and one which I felt the author covered well. The descriptions of the martial arts was really interesting and I loved all the cultural elements that were included. The secondary characters were good too although I didn't really care much about Daniel. On the other hand Tran! I hope he makes an appearance in the next book. I really liked the way he and Lily were kindred spirits of a sort, even if their motives are as different as can be. I can't wait to read the second book. 4.5 stars, rounded up to 5. ( )

WHAT'S THE NINJA DAUGHTER ABOUT?
Lily Wong's nickname is Dumpling, and like that food, there's a lot hidden underneath the surface.

For starters, there's the fact that she trained extensively in martial arts—more than her parents realized—growing up. Then there's the fact that she (in her mind, at least) let her sister down the night that her sister was sexually assaulted and murdered. Which fuels the last hidden part of her life—she uses her guilt and need for vengeance to fuel her utilization of those martial arts skills to be a kunoichi—a female ninja—to help women and children who are the victims of abuse while she hunts for her sister's killer. Her parents only know she does IT work from home.

When the book opens she's trying to help a Ukrainian immigrant woman and her son get away from her abusive husband (who brags about his criminal connections), but that's not going too well. To distract her self from the lack of success there, she takes up the cause of a waitress who'd been attacked in her home by a customer. The judge tossed the case based on insufficient evidence following weeks of the waitress being victim shamed through the media (traditional and social).

Lily decides that this waitress needs a big sister to look out for her and appoints herself to fill that role. She does this by doing what she can to keep Mia safe and then to investigate the guy she pressed charges against. This leads her into a murky world of government contracts, real estate, organized crime, and murder.

YOU KNOW WHO LILY REMINDS ME OF?
Part of it's the city of L.A., part of it's the female action-hero vibe, the one woman against the world kind of thing. Part of it is ineffable. But I couldn't help but think of Cas Russell (of Zero Sum Game and Null Set) and Teagan Frost (of The Girl Who Could Move Sh*t with Her Mind) as I read this book.

Sure, Lily's more grounded than either of them, she has no real powers other than those that are the result of years of training and practice. Theoretically, everything that Lily does in this book Tori Eldridge is (or at least was at one point) capable of doing herself—and a lot of what Cas and Teagan do are purely the stuff of fiction. Still, I'm probably going to lump the three of them together in my mind for some time to come.

The biggest difference between them is that Lily knows just who she is and where she comes from—her family is strong, affectionate (in their way), and supportive. She may have friends to augment that core support, but they're not everything she has. This makes her a bit more stable and capable of dealing with challenges that come than the others.

(and, yeah, I thought of Lydia Chin and her mother every time Lily and her Ma interacted, but that's a whole other can of worms).

THE FOOD
There's food all over this book. Lily's father owns and runs a Chinese restaurant in Chinatown. The woman that runs the shelter she works with cooks amazing sounding soul food. The meals she eats with her family and on her own sound amazing. Spenser and Elvis Cole may know their way around a kitchen, but Lily Wong knows her way around some fantastic restaurants in L.A. She's so far ahead of the game than Kinsey Milhone's lousy sandwiches and Hungarian food that it's hard to believe they're in the same genre.

Do not read this book if you're peckish. Keep yourself fed well, or you're going to be snacking far too much.

LILY'S HERITAGE
It's that family makes Lily who she is. In these three hundred pages, we hear more about Lily's grandparents and parents than I'm used to hearing about a protagonist's family over several books. Particularly when we're talking about an action hero.

Eldridge has given Lily the same heritage that she has—a Norwegian father from North Dakota and a Chinese mother. So Eldridge knows the special kind of alchemy that the mixture of the two cultures produces.

THE IMPORTANT WORD IN THE TITLE
Obviously, it's Ninja that draws your attention and is the memorable takeaway, but as you can tell, it's Daughter that colors the whole book. It's Lily's interactions with her parents, her application of the way they raised her and still care for her, the way she draws on what they teach and tell her that defines her and proves to be the key to figuring out what's going on in the book.

SO, WHAT DID I THINK ABOUT THE NINJA DAUGHTER?
If you want to ignore the deeper stuff and enjoy a book about a determined young woman out for vengeance (presumptive and by proxy, as it often is) on the streets of Los Angeles, this book will do the trick.

If you want a rounded, complex, female character trying to figure out how to deal with personal guilt, and trauma while helping out women and children by any means necessary, this book will do the trick, too. The idea that she may be starting to figure out a way past the guilt and move into healing and happiness* makes that all the better.

* Sure, I realize that within the first fifty pages of the sequel, all that can go away. The important thing is that it was there

You could make the case that Philip Marlowe was Chandler's attempt at telling the story of a knight errant in early-twentieth-century L.A. Lily's in the same vein—just a little more modern (and, ironically enough, using an older kind of warrior). Eldridge's L.A. has slightly nicer mean streets, but they're just as deadly and are in just as much need for a hero. I hope we get to see her at work for quite some time. ( )

Cozy in conflict with Noir
Review of the Agora Books paperback edition (November 2019)

[3.5 rounded up]
The Ninja* Daughter is a promising first outing for an expected series to come. Author Eldridge incorporates her own varied ethnic upbringing and martial arts training into the mix of what may seem like a quirky backstory but still comes across as authentic. The cozy family and food scenes do seem in conflict with the rather vicious bloodletting that comes along, especially towards the end. Usually crime fiction goes either the cozy or the noir route, so this may throw off fans of one or the other branches of the genre. Still, I'm eager to see how the Lily Wong character will develop in the future.

This should appeal to fans of the Jane Whitefield series (who similarly is a vigilante protecting the victimized) by Thomas Perry and the Ava Lee series (who similarly practices martial arts) by Ian Hamilton.

* Technically, this should probably have been The Kunoichi Daughter, but the average person wouldn't know what Kunoichi means.

Trivia and Links
Lily Wong will return in The Ninja's Blade (September 2020).

You can read the first appearance of Lily Wong in the short story Call Me Dumpling in the December 2014 issue of Suspense Magazine here.

The Ninja Daughter is one of the initial titles from Agora Books, a new imprint of independent publisher Polis Books which will be "a diversity-focused imprint devoted to crime and noir fiction." Other initial releases from Agora Books are Three-Fifths (September 2019) by John Vercher, Remember (October 2019) by Patricia Smith, Untamed Shore by Silvia Moreno-Garcia (February 2020), Matthew Henson and the Ice Temple of Harlem by Gary Phillips (February 2020), Line of Sight by James Queally (March 2020) and Both Sides: Stories From the Border edited by Gabino Iglesias (April 2020). Watch for further releases from Agora Books at the Polis Books website. ( )

BOTTOM-LINE:
Good debut, look forward to the next story
.
PLOT OR PREMISE:
A Chinese-American woman trained as a ninja and now protects abused women in L.A.
.
WHAT I LIKED:
The story works on three levels for me. First, there is a mystery to solve involving multiple bad guys, politics, and a new subway being constructed (the motive is obvious, the details are not). Second, she helps women get away from their abusers, and feels a bit in places like the Jane Whitefield novels by Thomas Perry. Third, she is choosing romantically between a nice guy and a danger guy, similar to the Stephanie Plum novels by Janet Evanovich. I had a small sense of deja vu that I knew this storyline as it progressed.
.
WHAT I DIDN'T LIKE:
As the first story in a series, there is a lot of exposition going on. Explaining Lily's background, her mixed Norwegian / Chinese heritage, and even some of her relationship with her parents. Her angst with her mother is brought up about six or seven places in the novel, while 1-2 would have been fine. Equally, her father's colloquialisms show up way too often, "doncha know". Plus, she explains kunoichi about three times, as if we didn't see it the first two times. The repetition was a bit heavy-handed.
.
DISCLOSURE:
I received no compensation, not even a free copy, in exchange for this review. I am not personal friends with the author, nor do I follow her on social media. ( )