Author Chats: An Interview With Wendy Jones Nakanishi aka Lea O’Harra

Japonica sits down with the author of the Inspector Inoue mysteries set in rural Kyushu

DC Palter
Japonica Publication
5 min readJun 6, 2022

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Wendy Jones Nakanishi aka Lea O’Harra. Photo by permission of Nakanishi.

Wendy Jones Nakanishi is the author of the Inspector Inoue mysteries, set in rural Kyushu that she writes under the pen name Lea O’Harra. She lived in Takamatsu on Shikoku for 36 years and was a professor at Shikoku Gakuin before retiring to the UK.

The mystery series, originally published starting in 2015, has recently been reissued. That was a good reason for us to begin reading them, starting with the first book in the series, Imperfect Strangers.

This is a fun mystery to read and an immersion into the intricate world of a small academic institution in a rural area of Japan away from the big cities.

This week, Japonica had a chance to sit down (virtually) with Wendy to discuss her novels and life in Shikoku.

Tell us a little about yourself, particularly your life in Japan.

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DC Palter
Japonica Publication

Entrepreneur, angel investor, startup mentor, sake snob. Author of the Silicon Valley mystery To Kill a Unicorn: https://amzn.to/3sD2SGH