The Problem of the Phantom Parlor

"Don't let the ghosts and the ghouls disturb you, love"

"House on Haunted Hill"

Isn't it about time they started developing a live-action series based on Kindaichi 37-sai no Jikenbo with Doumoto Tsuyoshi? We should have enough material by now for one cour...

The Poltergeist Manor Murder Case started at the very end of volume 7 of Kindaichi 37-sai no Jikenbo ("The Case Files of Kindaichi, Age 37") and finally ends in the recently released volume 9 of the series, so time to look back. And some might even remember I wrote a short preview of this story already. Otowa Black PR is hired as a subcontracter by the big PR company Denpoudou to help out in a project to develop a Scottish manor into a pension. The manor was moved brick for brick from Scotland to Japan thirty years ago, but had fallen in disuse and now Denpoudou wants to redevelop it into a tourist spot. Denpoudou wants to preserve the current vibe of the manor however, so no renovations have been made yet. A test pilot is organized to see how guests enjoy a stay at the manor, and Hajime and Marin (of Otowa Black PR) are sent to assist in the pilot, basically doing all the menial work while the capable manager Shiratori Reo from Denpoudou and her assistant supervise the project. When they moved the manor to Japan though, they apparently also moved the poltergeists to Japan too, as there are rumors of ghosts and other supernatural beings. And indeed, the party has only just arrived in the building when they are greeted by candles in the hallway suddenly lighting up on their own and falling wineglasses. And it doesn't take long for supernatural murders to occur, like a poisoned arrow in the parlor which decided to fly straight into a victim's neck or a woman being attacked by a suit of armor inside her locked bedroom. The perfect moment for our middle-aged Hajime to show he's more suited to be a detective than an event planner!

The Poltergeist Manor Murder Case is also honestly one of the least interesting stories I've ever read in this franchise. In my preview, I mentioned how uninspired and boring the clue gathering scenes where in this story: Hajime and Marin spend a whole chapter just visiting each crime scene, Hajime immediately noticing an important clue and realizing how the impossible murder was committed, then off to the next room where Hajime does exactly the same, rinse and repeat. It was basically a grocery list of the necessary clues which writer Amagi decided to present in the most literal and straightforward manner without any intention of making it feel natural even remotely. This uninspired approach is felt throughout this story basically, with the murders and most of the mysteries presented being rather dull. The murders and the tricks behind ghostly pranks basically all occur in a vacuum, with tricks that are not related to each other. Which isn't a bad thing per se, but each of these tricks can barely be called variants on the classic locked room murder tricks and none of the ideas shown will impress: you'll have seen the same basic ideas elsewhere, even within the Kindaichi Shounen franchise, only as better or more original variations. I mean, 17-old Hajime saw plenty of tricks that use the same basic ideas, only in better adapted versions. The trick behind the flying arrow features the most original approach (relatively speaking), but even then it's not enough to make this a truly memorable story.

The only part of the mystery plot that I did enjoy was the elimination process, where Hajime slowly crosses off suspects of his list. The last part is genuinely clever, with a fantastic set-up for the decisive clue that allows you to identify the one murderer. Honestly, there's only one thing you need to remember of this story, and that's this part, as it's a great idea that makes fantastic use of the unique setting of this story and also a fantastic example of how mystery fiction can basically use anything, even or especially the objects you yourself use every day without much thought, as a brilliant clue or part of a mystery plot. What's done here is easy to overlook, but in hindsight it's an idea that works perfectly in this franchise.

In fact, it's the first three chapters of the next story included in this volume that seem much more promising. In The Ayase Serial Murder Case, we are reintroduced to a familiar face from the past: Kindaichi Fumi, Hajime's cousin. And no, that's not a spoiler as she's featured prominently on the cover. For the reader, it's been about three years since we last saw her in The Kindaichi Fumi Kidnapping Murder Case in the finale of Kindaichi Shounen no Jikenbo R, but in-universe it's been twenty years for Fumi too. Twenty-nine year old Fumi now works at a detective agency, but she's also been dabbling with writing mystery fiction (based on Hajime's cases) and at the start of the tale, Fumi informs her cousin that her novel Hinokawa Legend Murder Case, written under the pen name Kaneda Hifumi, has actually won one of the Osokawa Mystery Awards. Using this connection, Hajime manages to get the job for his company to organize the award ceremony, where Hajime and his assistant Marin also meet some of the other winners like the young debuting student Fuyuki Agatha and Osokawa editors. The grand award goes to Setokura Ryou and his The ABC Murders-inspired The Ayase Serial Murder Case, but Setokura disappears before he is handed the reward and instead a creepy video is shown where a man is murdered inside an abandoned building in a city block named Ayase. Hajime quickly realizes that this murder is exactly the same as the first murder in The Ayase Serial Murder Case. Fumi, her boyfriend (a mystery author), Agatha and an editor manage to track down the building shown in the video and indeed find a dead body there. When a new murder video is mailed to Setokura's editor, everyone of course fears that the murderer is copying the murders in Setokura's book.

But we'll have to wait until the next volume to see how this story develops further, as we're only three chapters in. But I have to say I liked the set-up of this story much better than the previous story already. Admittedly, it's partially because of the appearance of familiar faces like Fumi and Makabe (again), but the story pattern is also quite different from the usual Kindaichi story and I'm really curious as to what will happen next.

Kindaichi 37-sai no Jikenbo's The Poltergeist Manor Murder Case (volumes 7-9) is definitely not one of my favorites in the current series, even if it has some minor points I liked. Which is perhas also partially the reason why I was so pleasantly surprised by the first three chapters of The Ayase Serial Murder Case, which is definitely a must-read for the long-time fans due to the return of Fumi. The next volume is scheduled to be released in June already, and while the last few volumes were all delayed slightly from their announced release frames, I hope we'll see the next volume soon and find out what happens next!

Original Japanese title(s): 天樹征丸（原）、さとうふみや（画）『金田一37歳の事件簿』第7, 8, 9巻