Castle Skull

We'll fight you in the harbor.

We'll battle you on land.

When you meet singing pirates... 

They'll be more than you can stand.

"The Curse of Monkey Island"

I sometimes hardly read the summary/blurb of a book, just buying a book based on knowing it includes certain tropes etc. So I actually thought this book would turn out very different. Based on the covers, I thought this book would be about an adventure-rich mystery odyssey across the seas!

The Island of Solon lies off the coast of the Kingdom of England, located between the British islands and Denmark. Technically, Solon consist of two islands, the Greater Solon Island, where the town is and economic activity takes place, and the Smaller Solon Island, where Aylwin Castle stands. Some generations ago, an Aylwin battled the Danes that lived on these islands, and since then, the Aywlin family has governed the islands in name of the Crown of England. Rolent Aylwin now leads the prosperous merchant island, but lately, he seems worried, and for some reason, he has summoned mercenaries to his castle. Amina, daughter of Rolent, spots Falk Fitzjohn at the harbor, and mistakenly assumes he and his disciple Nicola are mercenaries too, bringing them to her father where other mercenaries have gathered too. To her great surprise, it turns out her father has been expecting the Danes to attack the island in an attempt to take what was stolen from them, and the problem is: these Danes are not normal Danes but supernatural, immortal Danes. Rolent will pay handsomely however, so the various mercenaries agree to assist the very small troupe of soldiers stationed on the island to fight the Immortal Danes. Some like Konrad Neudorfer may just be a "normal" knight with his own troupe of men, but someone like Suwayd can actually use magic while Iter is a great bowman. Falk however is not a mercenary, and it turns out he is here for a completely different reason. 

Falk is a Knight of the Brotherhood of the Holy Ambrosius, and he has been hunting the Dark Knights: former members of the Brotherhood who have turned to the dark side, using magic to act as assassins. Falk has followed the trail of the dark knight Edric to the Solon Islands, and when he learns a loyal guard died "accidentally" only recently, Falk is convinced Edric has come here. Edric is a special kind of assassin, as he can use his magic to make someone his loyal puppet and have them kill someone, without his puppet ever remembering committing a murder. Falk suspects Edric might be after Rolent, and the following day, his fears are proven right: Rolent is found murdered in his war room, having been killed with a sword from the war room. There is little time to mourn Rolent's death however, as the Danes are coming. Amina's brother Adam, while character-wise perhaps not suitable, becomes the de-facto leader of the island and has to prepare the few soldiers on the island for the incoming attack, while Amina is given permission by her brother to investigate their father's murder. Because it seems very likely Edric was behind this, she asks Falk in turn to find out who committed the murder. This is easier asked than done however, as due to Edric's spell, not even the murderer will remember they commited the crime! Can the people of the Islands of Solon find the murderer and fight off the Immortal Danes in Yonezawa Honobu's Oreta Ryuukotsu (2010), also known as The Broken Keel? 

 The winner of the 64th Mystery Writers of Japan Award was touted as a mystery that combined a puzzle plot with a supernatural setting, something we have become quite accustomed too nowadays. While they have been around for a longer time, they were certainly less common in 2010, and I was quite curious to read this one, especially as it was set in a sorta historical Europe (England)... only with a little bit of magic. The world as depicted in The Broken Keel mostly follows real-life history, being set in the 12th century, and making references to the crusades and King Richard. But as mentioned in the introduction above, there's also a bit of magic in this world, ranging from a mercenary who can control a Golem, to Immortal Danes (there's a captured Immortal Dane in the Aylwin Castle who has been there for generations, ever since the Aylwins took the Solon Island) and of course the main problem of the book: a spell that can turn anyone into a murderer, without them knowing they are a murderer.

That said, the book is fairly long (two volumes in the pocket release), and for a great deal, the story reads as a fine historical fantasy book. We get a glimpse in the lives of the people living on the Islands of Solon, and we especially see much of Amina, daughter of the leader of the island, so in a lot of ways a very powerful and free woman, but at the same time completely chained to her own fate as the daughter of a wealthy family. The death of her father especially seems to seal her fate, as she knows her brother is not likely to be very thoughtful of her personal wishes when arranging her future in the form of a political marriage. Tagging along with Falk and Nicola while they investigate the suspects of the murder on Rolent is a way to break away from her usual life (...after the death of her father) and so we go on an adventure together with Amina.

And an adventure it is, as during their investigation, Falk will also occasionally find himself venturing into the seedier parts of town. Early on in the investigation, Falk is able to significantly reduce the number of suspects from the whole island of Solon to a much smaller number, as the Smaller Island of Solon is inaccessible during the night due to a treacherous stream which even the usual experienced ferry-man doesn't dare to overcome. The suspicion lies especially on the mercenaries: any of them could've been turned into an unknowing minion of Edric, being suddenly activated that night to kill Rolent and then forgetting everything. Edric's spell will also cause the minion to die after some time has passed after the murder, so it's a race against the clock to find the murderer, even if they themselves don't remember a thing. Edric's spell however is not an all-mighty spell: it does not make the minion smarter or suddenly capable of doing things they couldn't before. Thus Falk knows the murderer committed the murder in a manner that was actually possible for that specific person, giving him his first opening into the hunt for the minion and Edric behind them.

While Falk tries to interrogate every suspect on their movements on the night of the murder however, the trio of Falk, Nicola and Amina stumble upon a few more mysteries they have to solve on their way, but this only takes up more time as the Immortal Danes start to approach the island. It's around the half-way point of the story the story sets the mystery plot aside for a moment as it shifts a bit more towards a fantasy adventure mode where we finally see the Immortal Danes. Fortunately, I think the adventure parts of this book do not outweigh the mystery parts of the plot, something I did feel with A Case of Dragonslayer, which was more fantasy + a mystery element, rather than a mystery + a fantasy element. 

Ultimately though, despite the setting with Immortal Danes attacking the island and there definitely beign other magical elements (Edric's spell being the most important one), I don't think the fantasy elements are overwhelmingly "present" in the story, and it's almost a historical mystery with a hint of magic. As a mystery story, it does provide a satisfying plot where these minor magic elements do play a role together with other "conventional" clues. We are treated to a long deduction chain where one by one, suspects are eliminated from the list based on everything we know the culprit must have done that night to murder Rolent (and what they must have known or have been capable of doing, to be able to commit the murder). And yep, that includes criteria involving what magic can or can not do. That said, the concept of magic is fairly loose in this book, it's not like we actually know exactly how magic works or what magic in general is capable of, we are only told about the spells that are relevant to this particular plot, but it can feel a bit vague, which can fuel a sense of "unfairness" as we simply don't know if there could've been some other spell that could've been used or not, we only are told this is the only solution assuming we know all the relevant pieces. That is a minor gripe though, as overall, The Broken Keel is a pretty interesting fantasy mystery novel, with a rather unique setting. I think I still like Kokuroujou ("The Castle with the Dark Prison") AKA The Arioka Citadel Case AKA The Samurai and the Prisoner, better overall as a historical mystery, but I think The Broken Keel is also much more accessible.

You will certainly find books that go either deeper into the historical element or deeper into the fantasy element than Oreta Ryuukotsu/The Broken Keel does, but the combination of the two does give the book something unique. It certainly feels very different due to its original setting, and as a fantasy adventure novel, it's a very pleasant read, while at the same time offering a robust mystery plot that embraces the minor magic element it also has. Definitely a solid supernatural mystery, and I think this book in particular will also appeal beyond a mystery-reading audience, as it has enough fantasy-elements to attract readers there too.

Original Japanese title(s): 米澤穂信『折れた竜骨』