Hotel Lucky Seven

Bumbling assassin Nanao (a.k.a. Ladybug), the hapless hero of Isaka’s “Assassins” series, is back after his outing in The Mantis. This time, Ladybug has a seemingly simple assignment: deliver a portrait to a man in a hotel room. Nanao bungles the task by going to the wrong room. When Nanao is ambushed by the occupant, his training kicks in, and he accidentally kills the aggressor. Then he calmly retrieves the painting, delivers it to the correct room, and goes on to meet a mysterious woman who needs his help. Pun Bandhu narrates with a measured and level tone, capturing Ladybug’s inner thoughts, which contrast delightfully with the mayhem of his surroundings. Bandhu’s talent for deadpan humor allows the comedy of Isaka’s novel to shine even in the most morbid situations, such as when listeners meet “cleaners” Pillow and Blanket, who clean up murder scenes. When the cleaners discover two bodies in a hotel room instead of the single corpse they were expecting, they hardly bat an eye, coldly (yet somehow entertainingly) regarding the second body as a minor inconvenience.