ABIKO was the third author to debut from the Kyoto University Mystery Club, after Yukito AYATSUJI (The Decagon House Murders) and Rintaro NORIZUKI ('The Lure of the Green Door') (ARISUGAWA Alice was also a student in Kyoto, but he was at Doshisha University). ABIKO's career in the mystery genre expands beyond novels, as he was also the mastermind behind the epoch-making Kamaitachi no Yoru videogame for the Super Famicom in the mid-90s, changing the form of mystery games (an English-language localized version titled Banshee's Last Cry is available on iOS/Android). The Starship Damrey (3DS) and 428 - Shibuya Scramble (first English release in 2018) are some other games he worked on that are available in English, but The 8 Mansion Murders will be the first time one of his novels is published in English translation.
For those who have read LRI's earlier releases of (shin) honkaku mystery novels: you probably know what you can expect, so why wait? For those who haven't yet: I actually think this is the most accessible one until now. Like with the other novels, there are a lot of references to classic mystery fiction, but the banter of the characters in The 8 Mansion Murders is really funny to read and the main impossible mysteries are a blast.
And that's it for today's service announcement. I hope you'll enjoy The 8 Mansion Murders!
Thanks for the tip. My copy is on its way to me.
ReplyDeleteThank you!
DeleteI purchased my copy this morning. :) Thanks for the hard work!
ReplyDeleteDo the references within '8 Mansion Murders' to the wider genre spoil any other novels?
Thanks! You're a quick one!
DeleteHmm, a few of the author's footnotes are a bit spoilery on stories (though some are simply: hey, Dr. Fell is a character of Carr), my footnotes are obviously focused on the cultural aspects. The main text does refer to a few other stories too in terms of the mystery plot, but they don't straightout give the game away (i.e. "this situation is kinda like in XX, but that trick wouldn't work here" "What's the trick?" "I'm not going to spoil it, but the situation is just a bit similar" )
So would you say there are any particular novels I should read before diving into “8 Mansion Murders”...?
DeleteI don't think you really need to have read them, but the references and descriptions of Carr's The Emperor's Snuff-Box and Rawson's short story Off The Face Of The Earth are better understandable if you know them. In the case of the references Allingham's short story The Border-Line Case and Conan Doyle's Thor Bridge: just skip the author's notes (each note should say either Author's Notes or Translator's Notes)
DeleteI bought it yesterday, when I saw the news.
ReplyDeleteI still think the title is kinda misleading in that it hints to a body count that would make Kindaichi jealous(maybe saying 8-shaped instead would be better) but I'm definitely looking forward to it.
Thank you Ho-ling for your translation! I hope more are on the way :)
Thank you! The "8" is a bit of clever misdirection I thought (as you say, the "8" shape is what's important, not the numeral indicated with that symbol), but I can see why you might consider it misleading. Hope the book won't let you down!
DeleteI just finished it. It was really nice.
DeleteThank you for your work. And now the wait until next year begins...
Glad you liked it! I hope we can bring something fun next year too!
DeleteGreat news! And look forward to reading it. We simply can't have enough John Dickson Carr inspired detective stories!
ReplyDeleteYou have great timing in posting this, because I have a question about the author. I recently came across an English translated mystery manga, Hostage Detective, which was written by Abiko, but not sure what to make of it. The plot description makes me suspect the detective-angle is not nothing more than a vehicle for pure, unbridled fan service. On the other hand, casting a kidnapping pervert as the detective might be a stroke of genius. Do you have any info on this title?
Hope you'll like the book!
DeleteThat's probably Kankin Tantei you're talking about. I have only seen the live-action film based on the comic (which I believe has a few changes in terms of plot), but the film at any rate was indeed more an excuse to have shots of actress Natsuna tied to a bed.
Got my copy yesterday, very excited! Thanks as ever for all the work that goes into these; as you can see, there's plenty of interest, so do keep 'em coming...
ReplyDeleteHow come everybody's so incredibly quick with getting these books!? Not that I'm complaining! :D Hope you like it!
DeleteHo ling,how did you get in touch with locked room international.Did they contact you? Or did you approach them? Also i want to know whether translation is a profession for you or a part time pleasure? Have you ever given thought of writing a mystery novel of yourself ? I mean after researching over 500+ books surely you have got the talent & experience to do it.
ReplyDeleteLRI approached me. And not really considered writing something myself. Writing about mystery fiction is something quite different than creating mystery fiction yourselves, just like not all sport commentators are necessarily good at said sport, or vice versa.
DeleteThanks for your reply.
ReplyDelete