The Honjin Murders

by Seishi Yokomizo, Louise Heal Kawai

paperback, 192 pages

Published Aug. 4, 2020 by Pushkin Vertigo.

ISBN:: 978-1-78227-500-8

In the winter of 1937, the village of Okamura is abuzz with excitement over the forthcoming wedding of a son of the grand Ichiyanagi family. But amid the gossip over the approaching festivities, there is also a worrying rumour - it seems a sinister masked man has been asking questions around the village.

Then, on the night of the wedding, the Ichiyanagi household are woken by a terrible scream, followed by the sound of eerie music. Death has come to Okamura, leaving no trace but a bloody samurai sword, thrust into the pristine snow outside the house. Soon, amateur detective Kosuke Kindaichi is on the scene to investigate what will become a legendary murder case, but can this scruffy sleuth solve a seemingly impossible crime?

1 edition

faticake reviewed The Honjin Murders by Seishi Yokomizo (Detective Kosuke Kindaichi, #1)

Fast-Paced but with Flat Characters

3 stars

I picked up this book because it's been recommended by several well-known authors of locked-room murders. It was promising when I started reading because the language was easy to follow (perhaps credits to the translator) and the plot was interesting, straight-to-the point, and fast-paced. In the end, though, I found the solution to the mystery itself unbelievable, and the characters flat. I have a hard time following stories when I can't care less about the characters, and this story barely gave me anything about the bride and groom, who were, after all, the main characters in the mystery (aside from the detective). Maybe this book was groundbreaking in its time, but it's not for me.

nerd teacher [books] reviewed The Honjin Murders by Seishi Yokomizo (Detective Kosuke Kindaichi, #1)

Refreshing in Unexpected Ways

4 stars

Content warning Describes but does not detail the ending.

Overwhelmingly, I really like this book because of the way it's structured. It's written in the way of a crime writer reporting on a crime that he's heard, using notes and inferences from the various storytellers and people who were present. It's quite interesting because of that, and it feels very different from other detective novels. It's also something I like about Yokomizo's work with his detective, Kindaichi Kosuke; while he is the central figure as the detective, sometimes he's not even the protagonist of the story. You still follow him through everything, but the perspective is placed less on him and more on others around him.

I do have to mention the ending. It is something that people can perceive as being inherently misogynistic (the reasoning by the murderer is but the presentation does not feel that way to me). The blame for the misogyny is still largely placed upon the murderer and other accomplices within the story. It is not described as being "correct," and it's kind of surprising considering when the book was written (which was originally in 1946).

loppear reviewed The Honjin Murders by Seishi Yokomizo (Detective Kosuke Kindaichi, #1)

more my speed than noir, nostalgic

3 stars

A very Holmes-ian mystery to me, set in rural Japan with a declining aristocratic family, the retelling pieced together tidily from a number of accounts and viewpoints.

faticake

rated it

July 14

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