Keigo Higashino, The Devotion of Suspect X
- This bestselling novel written in 2004 starts off as a fascinating crime thriller set in Tokyo.
- The resolution, blurbed as a surprise ending, is also quite absurd.
- Why this was a bestseller is beyond me. Forget it.
- This detective story was written in 1948 and set in 1937. Yokomizo, who died in 1981, was a prolific and very popular crime writer in Japan.
- The novel is a fascinating and enjoyable read. It’s a ‘locked room’ mystery, a genre that is frequently used by seasoned crime writers.
- The narrator is a character in the novel. He confides in us as he outlines what he’s doing. He’s charming and likeable. The Japanese setting is also captivating.
- The resolution is surprising, and how the perpetrator pulled the whole complex thing off a little hard to believe. Nevertheless he did it!
- Definitely worth reading.
- A hard working woman is visited by her ex-husband who has tracked her down and wants to re-unite with her. She and her teenage daughter, however, want nothing to do with him and during an argument end up killing him in their apartment. Their neighbour hears the commotion and offers to help dispose of the body and clean up any evidence of their crime.
- As the drama develops however it thickens with so much microscopic detail it totally bogs the story down and becomes tedious.
- The resolution, blurbed as a surprise ending, is also quite absurd.
- Why this was a bestseller is beyond me. Forget it.
Seishi Yokomizo, The Honjin Murders
- This detective story was written in 1948 and set in 1937. Yokomizo, who died in 1981, was a prolific and very popular crime writer in Japan.
- The novel is a fascinating and enjoyable read. It’s a ‘locked room’ mystery, a genre that is frequently used by seasoned crime writers.
- The narrator is a character in the novel. He confides in us as he outlines what he’s doing. He’s charming and likeable. The Japanese setting is also captivating.
- The resolution is surprising, and how the perpetrator pulled the whole complex thing off a little hard to believe. Nevertheless he did it!
- Definitely worth reading.
Yu Miri, Tokyo Ueno Station
- This is a brilliant, big picture perspective on Japan and particularly Tokyo.
- It focuses on one man's sad life, a life encompassed by tragedy and poverty. Now dead, the man reflects on all the major events that affected him, his family, his friends, and his country - the Second World War and the huge number of lives lost, the horrendous Kanto earthquake of 1923 which killed hundreds of thousands and injured many more, the sudden deaths of his young son and wife, how he ended up homeless and sleeping on the streets, and his frequent urge to commit suicide.
- It's a short 180 page novel that I will definitely re-read. Beautifully written and full of wisdom.
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