The Unnatural

冷えた空から溶け込む淡い雪

すべてはこの大地の中すい込まれゆくのですね

「冷たい影」（Garnet Crow）

 

From the chilly skies, comes falling light snow that melts away

You see how everything is being swallowed by Mother Earth?

"A Cold Shadow" (Garnet Crow)

Has it been three years already? One of my favorite mystery reads of 2018 was the Sharaku Homura manga series by manga artist Nemoto Shou: originally this impossible crime-focused puzzle mystery manga had been self-published under the doujin circle name Sapporo no Rokujou Hitoma at comic conventions and other events, meaning the comics had only been available to a limited audience. In 2018 however publisher Bungeishunju (Bunshun) made the series available as e-books through all the major e-book storefronts in Japan. At the time, they published three volumes, each bundling 4, 5 issues and I devoured all three of them (reviews of the first, second and third volume here). The adventures of the clever girl detective Sharaku Homura and her assistant Yamazaki "Karate Kid" Yousuke were absolutely brilliant, combining Scooby Doo/Edogawa Rampo-esque set-ups with villains dressing up in creepy/silly costumes to scare their victims, with cleverly written and illustrated impossible crime situations. From locked rooms to impossible disappearances, the series had everything and what was surprising was both how clever the set-ups were, but also the focus on the visual aspect. Panels would hide clues in subtle ways, and you wouldn't notice until you get to the end and you see all the page references that point you back to the exact corresponding page/panel where you'll see the necessary clues had indeed been there all along for you to see.

Nemoto Shou has kept working on new issues all this time, with a new release every six months or so, so when I was notified that the fourth volume had released last week (late August), I was both surprised, and not really surprised. I knew that there'd be enough material for a fourth volume, but I hadn't expected the release to be dropped so suddenly. It was a welcome surprise of course. Kaiki Tantei Sharaku Homura 4 - Hagoromo no Kijo ("Sharaku Homura: Detective of the Uncanny - The Ogress With the Robe of Feathers" 2021) collects the next five issues of the comic, but readers who have been around on this blog for the last few years, will probably recognize the subtitle of this volume. For while this fourth volume was released last week, I have already reviewed three of the five issues collected in this book in the last three years. Which perhaps tells you how much I enjoy reading this series, as I honestly couldn't wait for the collected volume and wanted to read the individual issues as soon as possible each time they were released. Anyway, I already wrote extensively on the title story Hagoromo no Kijo ("The Ogress With the Robe of Feathers") in the past, and it is still one of the most memorable "no footprints in the snow" impossible crime story I have read in recent years and is definitely the must-read highlight of the volume, so it's no wonder it has been made the title story of the volume. For details, I recommend you read the review of the issue, but it's a very densily plotted mystery story with a great fleshed out backstory, false solutions and a truly original explanation for the impossible crime that appears to have been committed by a floating ghost. Two years have passed since I first read it, but it is still a brilliant impossible crime story that fans of that particular sub-genre should read.

I'll also be leaving the links to Kourei Yashiki ("The House of Necromancy") and Youtou Shikabanemaru ("The Demon Sword Shikabanemaru") here, so I won't discuss these stories in detail here anymore. These two stories don't involve murder, but other types of impossible situations (a jewel disappearing during a seance even though everyone had been tied to their chairs, and a sword that starts bleeding suddenly) and I liked the first one especially.

So for this post, I'll only be looking at the two issues included in volume 4 I hadn't read yet. Spriggan is the weird one of the collection. After purchasing a haunted jewel, the jeweler Uehara Yuuji is, well, being haunted. The jewel used to be part of a collection of a jewel collector who, in an attempt to protect his jewels from a robber, swallowed them, but was then murdered and cut open by the robber to get the jewels out of his corpse. Afterward the murderous thief was caught, the jewels were sold off by the victim's family to various parties, but every new owner has since been haunted by the ghost of the murdered collector who wants his jewels back. Since his purchase of one of these jewels, Uehara has been hearing voices around his house too, but his employees think it's just a prank of someone who must've heard about his latest purchase. Still, Uehara hasn't had any sleep since, so he decides to stay in a hotel for a while. Staying in a room on the third floor, he decides to take a nap, when suddenly he's awakened by an alarm clock he didn't set, followed by a ghostly figure opening his room door, stealing the jewel and knocking Uehara out. Uehara asks Homura to help him figure out how the ghost managed to get inside his hotel room: his room was on the third floor, with no other buildings in the neighborhood, the hotel doors lock automatically and the keycard to his room had been lying on his desk all the time and the code is changed every time a new guest arrives, meaning old keycards used by previous guests won't work on this door. The story is rather short, so Homura pretty much figures the whole thing out once she had a look at the room, though I have to say I didn't like the solution that much. The main clue hinting at how the ghost managed to open the door is slightly lacking, meaning it's difficult to come up with how the whole thing was pulled off exactly if you do recognize the significance of the main visual clue. The manner in which the impossible crime is 'dressed' and presented to Uehara/the reader is rather clever though, adding an extra layer of mistifying mystery even though at the core the problem is fairly simple. The way the title Spriggan connects to the actual contents of the story is absolutely weird though.

Kageboushi ("The Shadow Man") tells about a series of mysterious nightly abductions of people living in Block 1 of Nanjou-ku, Shimoyama City by a mysterious Shadow Man. Homura is one of the victims who is taken away during her sleep, only to wake up in a creepy forest with the mysterious Shadow Man. After some banter the Shadow Man decides to hang her down an old well, where Homura faints, but when she wakes up, she's back in her room again. It turns out more people in the neighborhood have had similar experiences during their sleep, but nobody knows why the Shadow Man is doing this. There doesn't seem to be any link between the victims besides their address, as there are male and female victims, of various ages and of various professions. The mystery first focuses on the missing link angle, which ultimately leads to the question of who and why. The matter of the missing link is so simple in its concept that I completely missed it. It's actually cleverly hidden because if you don't realize a certain fact first, you won't see the missing link at all because it doesn't seem likely. Not a very complex mystery, but it's worked out very competently, and the story even has an extra surprise by adding a Challenge to the Reader after the main mystery is solved, asking you to solve a riddle that had been hidden beneath the main story. This one is probably easier to solve than the main mystery, but still entertaining. No impossibilities this time though.

On the whole though, Kaiki Tantei Sharaku Homura 4 - Hagoromo no Kijo is a pretty solid volume. Of the five issues collected in this volume, I think the three issues I had reviewed already were stronger on the whole than the two issues I hadn't read yet, but overall the quality of this mystery manga is still very high, and the title story alone makes this volume worth the read. It's a phenomenal mystery story, and the other stories included also show off quite well how fantastic the visual medium of a comic works with the mystery genre. As these are self-published comics, assuming Nemoto won't stray too much from his release schedule, I guess we can expect a new volume in about three years.... but I'll likely keep my eyes wide to see if I can read the individual issues earlier than that, because the Sharaku Homura series has yet to disappoint so I'd rather read new issues sooner than later!

 Original Japanese title(s): 根本尚『怪奇探偵・写楽炎 4 羽衣の鬼女』

Wonders of the World

Seven Days War 戦うよ

僕たちの場所この手でつかむまで

「Seven Days War」（TM Network）

Seven Days War - We will fight on

Until we will get hold of a place of our own

"Seven Days War" (TM Network)

A re-read today! Well, I had only read a translation of this book quite a few years back, so you could also say that this is the first time I read the original story, I guess.

The deadline for his upcoming book is all what's on Ellery's mind when he's suddenly visited by Howard van Horn, a young talented sculptor he had first met in Europe during the war. Howard has been suffering from extended attacks of amnesia, with him sometimes waking up in the most surprising places, with complete days absent from his memory. Fearing he might've committed a crime during one of these attacks, he hopes Ellery can figure out what's the cause of these attacks, and begs the writer to keep an eye on him. Ellery agrees and finds himself returning to Wrightsville, where Howard lives together with his millionaire father Diedrich van Horn and his stepmother, the young and beautiful Sally. Several curious incidents surrounding the van Horns occur however during Ellery's stay, some of them related to Howard's amnesiac blackouts, but Ellery could've not have foreseen what would connect all of these incidents together in Ellery Queen's Ten Days' Wonder (1948).

It is no secret that I am a great fan of Ellery Queen's work, especially of his early novels (also known as the Nationality novels), which were admirable experiments in deduction. While Queen's early novels might not have featured bombastic impossible crime situations like locked room murders, they did still often feature interesting and alluring crime scenes, often with a somewhat voyeuristic element, like a body found inside a department store, a completely naked body found on the beach or crucified bodies. Queen combined these scenes with a mystery plot not focused on misdirection or enigmatic clues, but rather on presenting a solvable puzzle plot to the reader: the individual puzzle pieces (clues) might've been simple on their own, like indications that the culprit was left-handed, but it was combining all these clues together in surprising ways that made these early Queen novels so satisfying, and also the reason why when put on the spot, I prefer these puzzle plot novels over for example the more magic show-type of mystery novels like those written by Carr.

But Queen did not stick with what some would call thinly disguised riddles. Calamity Town introduced the readers to the fictional New England town of Wrightsville, and it'd mark a shift in writing style in the Queen canon. No longer were we presented with abstract puzzles: the mystery plots were minimalistic compared to Queen's early work, and human characterization and psychology became much more important. We weren't dealing with abstract suspect A, B and C anymore, but fleshed-out characters. We were also introduced to a much more human Ellery, who'd actually became part of the story, instead of just "looking down" at the actors in the tale of mystery in his role of the great detective. The town of Wrightsville became a character on its own, as it already made an impression in its first appearance, but was also fleshed out even more in subsequent stories. Your mileage on these novels might vary though. I know a lot of people appreciate the more human Ellery and the more naturalistic approach of the Wrightsville novels, while I deem them to be among the weakest of Queen's creative output, with mystery plots that are far too minimalistic, lacking the satisfying complexity and the sheer fun of what made the early novels so engaging as puzzle plot mysteries.

Ten Days' Wonder is the third novel set in Wrightsville, but it is in reality a weird attempt at mixing the naturalism of the Wrightsville setting with the more zany ideas seen in earlier Queen novels, like There Was An Old Woman or The Tragedy of Y. The result is an uneven product, but one I did enjoy in a weird manner. The main problem this novel has is that it is basically working towards a punchline (not a trick solution, mind you), but the set-up takes ages. 70% of the novel is set-up and I can imagine some readers might give up midway, because there's just so little happening. Yes, there are a few incidents involving Howard, but the incidents aren't really alluring on their own, and that combined with the human drama makes most of this novel fairly tedious to get through: little happens and the things that happen are not really exciting.

But then the novel throws a screwball at you by revealing a pattern that connects the seemingly random incidents together, and it's utterly nuts. The link that connects all the dots into a focused line is something that would've been surprising in the earlier Queen novels, let alone in the more realistic setting of Wrightsville, but it works for some odd reason. Is it realistic? No, of course not, it's insane and that's what I like about it, because it does work in a mystery novel. I don't read mystery novels for realism, I read them for going beyond realism for a story that entertains. The contrast between the long and tedious set-up of this novel, and the utterly ridiculous truth (in a good way!) revealed by Ellery is what makes Ten Days' Wonder for me. There Was An Old Woman was crazy throughout, but the slow start and then the sudden shift in tone gives Ten Days' Wonder an extra oomph. The question of whether the pattern is also fairly clued is debatable, I think. There is some foreshadowing, but don't expect the careful and precise clewing from the early Queen novels.

As a mystery novel, I find Ten Days' Wonder difficult to describe though. A long time ago, I proposed the term whatthefuck for a type of mystery novel that is not a whodunit, howdunit or whydunit. I guess that Ten Days' Wonder sorta fits the bill: for most of the time, there is no real mystery for the reader themselves to solve, and the plot's mostly moving from one minor incident for Ellery to deal with to another. In a whatthefuck, there is no clear-cut mystery for the reader to focus on, like a body or a theft or anything like that, but it's a story that works towards a conclusion that allows you to look at the prior events from a completely different angle. It's something Yamada Fuutarou also often used in his novels, making those works also a bit difficult to qualify. It's only when you see the whole picture you realize how it works as a mystery novel, but that also means these stories are very hard to explain without spoilers.

Queen also dives into the fallibility of Ellery as a detective in Ten Days' Wonder and the events of this novel are actually of direct influence on Ellery's behaviour in the novel Cat of Many Tails. Of course, Queen already delved into this topic as early as in The Greek Coffin Mystery, but I absolutely love how the theme is explored in this novel, as it builds further on the theme, moving further than before. In a way, we move towards a post-modern look at the detective-character in Ten Day's Wonder and I think it works especially well, as well as brutal on a detective character like Ellery, especially because he started out as a character in the Van Dine school, as a master detective who overlooks the case as an outsider. The same theme is also often explored in Japanese shin honkaku mystery novels actually, especially by Norizuki Rintarou who has always paid a lot of attention to what he collectivelly calls the Late Queen Problems.

Ten Days' Wonder is thus a weird Queen novel. It takes the form of a normal Wrightsville novel for a very long time, with a mundane, minimalistic plot that does little to really hook the reader, but then suddenly shifts gears to become something much more grotesque and shocking. The last 20~30% of this novel are incredibly bizarre and the finale also makes an impression as an post-modern take on the classic mystery story, but because the extremes of this novel are so drastic, I find it difficult to recommend this novel to people without caveats. I think readers can gain so much more from Ten Days' Wonder if they have at least read one of Queen's nationality novels and one of the other Wrightsville novels to make the comparision. I myself think this is one of the more unique Queen novels, but it's definitely not an accessible entry in the series.

Name of the Game

"I live in the games. I search through systems, peoples, and cities, for this place."

"Reboot"

The last few years have seen an uprising on blogs on mystery fiction, and it has led to a small ecosphere, where people talk about their love for the genre over the internet. Often, the discussions will be about specific works or authors, but sometimes, you'll also see discussions on the best locked room murder trick, or how a murderer made a stupid mistake in an otherwise flawless plan, and at other times, these people will not only try to compete with a book author and the fictional detective in "a battle of the wits", but also with fellow people on the internet, with detective games or puzzles. But all of that is still peanuts compared to today's book.

Somewhere in a back alley of the internet, you'll find a small private video chat group populated by a colorful lot. "The Mad Header", "044APD", "aXe", "Zangya-kun" and "Professor Ban Douzen" are not ordinary people. That is not only because they use voice changers or wear funny masks like that of Darth Vader (The Mad Header) or Jason Voorhees (aXe). It's also not just because they love mystery fiction. This group is not ordinary, because they play a certain game. Once in a while, the group comes together to play a game of intellect: one member has to pose a locked room murder problem to the others, who will need to solve it using the available hints. But the catch is that the host of the problem must commit their locked room murder in real life. So the participants need to solve a real life locked murder, using the information gain from the news, as well as any additional information or hints provided by the host. Eternal glory awaits those who manage to solve a locked room murder, or who manages to mystify their fellow members. Utano Shougo's Misshitsu Satsujin Game 2.0 ("Locked Room Murder Game 2.0", 2009) details a new series of linked short stories about these ingenous, yet monstrous games of deduction.

I read the first Misshitsu Satsujin Game back in 2015 (the review wasn't posted until 2016 because of timey-wimey stuff) and it became one of my favorite reads of the year. It was not only highly entertaining as a short story collection focusing on locked room murders (some of them were really brilliant): the whole set-up of the tale, as well as the characters were memorable. The video web chat setting was not just a gimmick, but was used to its fullest, leading to surprising developments. One fine example was one member having an alibi for their locked murder, as they were busy video-chatting with the others during the murder in an earlier story! The characters, despite only interacting through webcams and hiding behind masks and avatars, were also incredibly lively, each with a distinct personality and way of talking, resulting in very entertaining chat sessions, making the whole book an absolute delight to read. So it was only a matter of time before I'd come back to the world of the Locked Room Murder Games.

For those who have read the first book and are wondering: at first the connection between that book and this one might seem a bit odd considering how that one ended, but a proper explanation is given over the course of the stories. The plot structure for most stories is fairly similiar: a host details the murder they committed, supplying some additional details about the victim and murder with pictures and videos they took of their deed, followed by several chat sessions where the participants propose solutions while bantering and bickering a lot. Occasionally, the chat sessions are interrupted by moments where we see the participants trying to gain more information in real life, for example by questioning the witnesses themselves or visiting the crime scenes in person. Each story is an entertaining read as all the participants keep throwing their thoughts at each other, constantly developing the plot further.

Q1: Tsugi Wa Dare Ga Koroshimasu Ka? ("Q1: Who Is Going To Kill Next?") starts with a surprising statement to the police by a young man who got arrested on suspicion of a series of murders. He only wrote down a series of numbers, mentioning only that this was all a game. "The Mad Header", "044APD", "aXe", "Zangya-kun" and "Professor Ban Douzen" quickly deduce that the man must also be playing some kind of internet murder game, just like themselves. The people in the other group are apparently murdering their victims in similar ways, making it appear like a serial murder. Working on the assumption that the series of numbers must have some meaning to the suspect's group, our group tries to figure out what that message is, and the details behind the other killing game. As an opener, it's a bit disappointing this story isn't a locked room mystery, but basically a code-cracking story. It's a pretty good one, granted, because as the stories develops, the other game is revealed to be quite shocking, and the way 'our' group deduces that truth is fairly solid. The story also functions as a fair introduction, as we see how the members of our group each gather information in their own way: some only look at the news, while others actually go to the crime scene themselves to gain an advantage over the others. So it's a good code-cracking story, but most people won't be reading this book for a code-cracking story....

Q2: Misshitsu Nado Nai ("Q2: No Locked Room At All") is a short intermezzo, as Professor Ban Douzen tries to lighten the mood with a short locked room puzzle (so this is not a murder they actually committed). The answer to their puzzle of how a murderer managed to attack a man living in  a house that had been closed off completely is utterly ridiculous, but oddly fair, due to the careful wording. It's obviously meant as a joke problem though. A variation on the same problem is offered with a more serious solution, which is better, but again, this is just light stuff compared to the actual murders they commit.

Q3: Kirisaki Jack Sanjuppun no Kodoku ("Q3: Jack the Ripper - Thirty Minutes of Solitude") is our first genuine locked room murder of the book, and it's a gem. A man was killed inside one of the buildings he owns. His daughter found him inside one of the office rooms, but at the time of the discovery, the only office door was blocked by something on the inside, so she had to push hard before she could open it. The objects blocking the door were her father's legs: his torso was lying in the middle of the room, his stomach cut open and all his organs had been pulled out. The legs had been put against the door after it had been shut and that door is the only exit out of the office. So how did Zangya-kun commit their gruesome murder and then managed to "lock" the door with the legs? The story has a nice pace, as the group banters on about the horrible murder case and Zangya-kun keeps on provocating the others for not being able to solve their murder. It's a very tricky locked room murder too, as it even features a trap. The story is also a good showcase of how a deduction should be based on clues: at one point Zangya-kun decides to reveal a clue on purpose to help the group out, and it's that one clue that changes all the deductions up to that point, changing the problem they had been playing with in something different. The way that one clue manages to turn everything upside down is absolutely brilliant, and results in an incredibly memorable locked room mystery. This story is titled after after a Shimada Souji novel by the way.

Q4: Soutou na Akuma ("Q4: An Unbelievable Devil") is an alibi deconstruction story, as the impossibility comes from the fact that the Mad Header couldn't have committed the murder they committed. The victim had been in Osaka on the night of her murder, and while her body was found buried somewhere thereabouts, her head was found inside the refrigerator of her own apartment back in Kanagawa Prefecture, near Tokyo. The problem however is that on the day of the murder, the Mad Header held several video chat sessions with his group, one of which together with the body even. These chat sessions however place him until a certain time in Tokyo, which means it would've been impossible for him to make it all the way to Osaka in time to do his video chat session with the victim's body. So how did he manage to make it in time to Osaka for the murder? The solution to the alibi is a bit simple, and not really impressive, but it's in fact no the main attraction of this story: once you realize how the alibi was created, a new riddle arises of how that situation could've been orchestrated in the first place, and that's when the story ventures into very surprising areas, making excellent use of its unique setting as a web-based story. I'd say this tale is more memorable because of the latter revelation (which is really surprising) than the (ostensibly) main puzzle, and one with a really nasty aftertaste (designed on purpose). The title is a play on Arisugawa Alice's Soutou no Akuma ("Double-Headed Devil")

Q5: Mittsu no Kannuki ("Q5: The Three Latches") is named after Carr's The Three Coffins, and features a special 'coffin' with three latches. aXe's victim was stuffed inside a transparant coffin, which had been locked from the inside by three latches, and the coffin itself stood a few meters away from a lonely automobile road. Snow had also fallen that night, but no footprints were found that led to or away from the coffin. The locked coffin and the untouched snow means a double impossible situation to solve for the chat group. The solution is a bit... dissappointing isn't the right word, but I'd say less impressive than the previous efforts? The other participants make the same complaint actually, but a transparent box dumped near a road isn't that memorable, and as early on aXe admits they themselves created the box, the reader will soon suspect there's something err... to suspect about the box. The way the impossible situation was created is in practical terms okay, but it misses... imagination, I guess.

Q6: Misshitsu yo , Saraba ("Q6: Farewell, My Locked Room") is the last full story in the volume, and is all about 044APD's daring locked room murder. The person 044APD announced they'd kill was indeed found murdered, but what baffles everyone is the fact the victim was found lying dead inside an apartment he had no connections to whatsoever. One of the inhabitants of the apartment was also murdered, but she and the victim had no ties at all. Furthermore, the apartment door and windows were naturally locked, and the only entrances leading inside the building are either the emergency exits (which can't be opened from outside), or the entrance which is being watched by a guard all day, with visitors being required to sign a register. So how did 044APD manage to get their victim inside a random apartment, in a secured building? This is by far the longest story, with 044APD holding several chat sessions as nobody manages to solve the conundrum. The solution is incredibly daring, with many steps required to accomplish the impossible. This is why we read mystery fiction! The sheer imagination and audacity needed to pull this murder off is what tickles our interests! And not only does it feature several ingenious red herrings (which also take on a completely different meaning when you know the truth) that manage to send the other participants in the wrong direction, it also makes good use of the internet chat group setting again to set off some other surprises on the way. This is really a good story that combines a great locked room mystery in a natural, but meaningful way with the overall plot, setting and the characters as established in the previous stories. Definitely this volume's MVP.

The book ends with the one-page long Q?: Soshite Tobira ga Hirakereta ("Q?: And Then The Door Was Opened"), but this is nothing more than a teaser for the third book in the series.

Like the first volume, Misshitsu Satsujin Game 2.0 proves to be a great locked room murder short story collection. The combination of a "modern" setting like a video chatroom (used to its fullest!), with a incredible cast of totally crazy people who commit murders for their own entertainment, and incredibly imaginative locked room murders means that this second volume is a gem too in the genre. There's so much goods going on here, from genuinely captivating conversations to surprising plot twists and usage of the web-setting, that I can only recommend Misshitsu Satsujin Game 2.0 wholeheartedly. The one minus point I could give it, is the fact that it resembles the first volume a lot, so it lacks the initial shock, but this is still a very good book.

Original Japanese title(s): 歌野昌午　『密室殺人ゲーム2.0』

The Game Is On

"Move according to the rules or it's the end of the day."

"What is Reality?" (Batman: The Animated Series)

I remember seeing this book in Japanese bookstores so often and me picking it up to look at it when the pocket version was released in 2010 but the title never really appealed to me, so it always ended with me putting it back on the pile. Fast forward several years, when I'm asked specifically about this title and going through the reviews, it appeared the book was actually well received. And then it took another couple of years before I actually got the book myself.

Misshitsu Satsujin Game - Oute Hishatori ("Locked Room Murder Game - The King & Rook Check", 2007) is a linked short story collection by Utano Shougo and stars a group of five persons with unlikely names. "The Mad Header", "044APD", "aXe", "Zangya-kun" and "Professor Ban Douzen" know each other only from their private chat group, with masks and voice-scramblers hiding each of their faces/voices whenever they appear on the webcam. They come together once in a while to play a murder game of intellect: one member has to pose a problem of crime (involving murder), which the others have to solve. The murder cases they have to solve are not about whodunit, but other problems like how it was done. As for why they don't have to solve whodunit, even though it's usually the first thing you'd want to know in a murder story: the host of the current problem has also be the person to have committed the murder in real life. The problem posed are thus all murders that really happened. And so these five pass the time by solving, and committing murders...

The oute hishatori subtitle of the book is a move in shougi, that puts both the ou (king) and hisha (flying chariot, or "rook") in check. I am not familiar with shougi, but like in chess, losing the king means losing the game, and the hisha/rook is apparently one of the most useful pieces of the games, so in terms of 'painfulness', the oute hishatori would be like having both the king and queen in danger. The subtitle is also just slightly relevant to the whole book by the way.

Misshitsu Satsujin Game is one of Utano Shougo's better known books, as well as the first book in the series (which is three books long at the moment). It's definitely a fun book to read: here we have a group of detective fiction readers who have 'outgrown' simple fiction and now want to solve real murders, as well as commit them. Yet they are still very clearly fans of mystery fiction and the problems they pose to the others are alway fair-play: they give all the necessary information to solve the conundrum of the week (or the information is available from the news, as the murders all really happened). A large portion of the book is carried by the bantering of the characters and they really come alive through their chat sessions, each having their own quirks and distinct personalities.

Q1: Tsugi wa Dare wo Koroshimasuka? ("Q1: Who Will I Kill Next?") introduces the reader to the characters and the concept of the secret chat group. And the book starts off with a very spectacular serial murder case with people from all genders and various ages being murdered. "aXe", host of the problem, sends the other members photogaphs of the crime scenes and poses the following question: who is going to die next? The problem is thus one of finding the missing link between the seemingly random victims. The solution is, at the core, a rather simple one in a missing link story, but there are just enough twists and traps laid down to keep it from being too obvious. And heck, a lot of people die before the other members even suspect the connection between the victims.

Q2: Suiri Game wa Yoru wo Fukete ("Q2: A Deduction Game, All Night Long") and Q6: Kyuukyoku no Hanninnate wa Kono Ato Sugu! ("Q6: The Ultimate Whodunit, Right After The Commercial!") are two very short intermezzo howdunits: Q2 is about a murder commited in one train, while the murderer was in another. The solution is incredibly simple, which is also pointed out in the story itself. Q6 is about a murder in a sauna, and has a variation of a very classic trick. The variant itself is also starting to become rather overdone nowadays, so again, just filler material.

The problem of Q3: Namakubi ni Kiitemiru? ("Q3: How About Asking The Head?") is, in a broad sense, a locked room mystery. A man was found decapitated in his room. His head was placed on a vase, while his torso was taken outside and dumped in a park. The problem: the street leading to the victim's apartment building was under construction, and none of the construction workers there saw someone (=the murderer) carry a torso away, so how did the murderer make his escape? This was a great story: while the basic locked room mystery is not that complex, the story does include a lot of cool 'gimmicks' that make it quite memorable, and it's also the first story in the volume to be set at two levels: the actual murder, as well as the chat sessions, as the murderer actually has an alibi for the murder, as he was chatting with the others in the previous story!

Q4: Ho Chi Minh - Hamanako 5000 Kilo no Kabe ("Q4: The 5000 Kilometer Wall Between Ho Chi Minh - Lake Hamanako") is a classic alibi trick story: how could someone who was in Ho Chi Minh City, commit a murder in a rural highway service area in Japan the following day, if there are no planes flying between Ho Chi Minh City and the local airport that day? The solution is not particular difficult, but the hinting is actually done very well and even when everything is solved, this story has a bit more to offer that ties in with the end of the book.

In Q5: Kyuudousha no Misshitsu ("A Seeker's Locked Room"), the group has to find out how "044APD" managed to kill a man in his bedroom. In a house with the latest security system. In a walled housing complex with guards at every entrance. The 'absolutely safe' new housing complex appears to be a little bit less than absolutely safe because of "044APD's" daring deed, but evidence shows that "044APD" was able to make his way inside the victim's house several times before actually commiting the murder. The solution is daring and memorable, and the whole show is made even more effective because of the way the whole story is hinted (which already started in earlier stories). Probably the best story of the whole volume, but much of it comes from the way it ties in to the other stories.

Q7: Misshitsu De Wa Naku, Alibi De Mo Naku ("Q7: Neither a Locked Room, Nor An Alibi") is at first sight rather like the previous story: a man was killed in the toilet of his apartment room, in an apartment building with security. Yet, as the story unfolds, we discover that this problem has a lot more to offer than that. The problem itself is not very difficult to solve, I think, but it works very well in the context of the book. The surprise of this story is made so much bigger because it's chapter seven, because we've gone through all of the other murders in the previous stories. Q7 is thus a brilliantly planned one, that manages to bring the most out of what basically should have been much more boring and simple.

The last story, Q?, has a title I don't want to spoil, but is very different in tone from the other stories. In fact, it is an incomplete story and literally ends with the words to be continued. It's like Utano couldn't think of a good ending and decided to throw a bomb at the cast to create a cliffhanger so he could get more readers for the next book. It's forced and it doesn't really add anything good. A really disappointing ending to an otherwise great book.

The use of (anonymous) chat groups as a plot device is not particularly new, but the last few years it's been of special interest of course. One of the Kindaichi Shounen no Jikenbo novels from 1996 was also about an offline meeting of a group of mystery fiction readers, and Detective Conan too had a story about an offline meeting of a magicians chat group (volume 20). You'd think that by now, we'd have more classic puzzle plot stories that make use of ideas like internet alibis or anonymity, but most of them appear to be still stuck in the past, trying to sell the "X wasn't X, he was just using a different name on the internet!" as a surprise twist.

Save for the disappointing ending, Misshitsu Satsujin Game - Oute Hishatori was a great book. The concept of the murder club is fun, as well as the fact that it avoided the more obvious problem of whodunit in favor of howdunits. It's also a great excercise in linked short stories, as little pieces from one story would carry over to the next story and actually be part of the whole deduction process. If you have the chance to read it, I definitely recommend it and I myself will probably continue reading the series. 

Original Japanese title(s):　歌野昌午『密室殺人ゲーム　王手飛車取り』

The Long Way Down

「親方！　空から少女が！」

『天空の城ラピュタ』

"Boss, a girl came falling from the sky!"

"Laputa, The Castle in the Sky"

Note to self: don't forget annual viewing of Laputa, The Castle in the Sky.

The first death was thought to be a normal suicide. A lonely young man, living on his own, who jumped out of his apartment room. Sad, but not uncommon. The one thing that was uncommon was a sign that was drawn with lipstick on his forehead, resembling the Greek letter θ (theta). The second death raised questions. A nurse had jumped from the hospital's roof. Once again, not uncommon when viewed as a seperate incident, but there was a scarlet link: the sign was also found on the second body. By the third time somebody jumped from a high building with the sign on his body, the police knew these deaths were all linked, but how? Nishinosono Moe's interest in the case is piqued when she is told about it her friend Ai (her university was asked to analyze lipstick samples) and like always, she uses all of her connections and friends to get hold of the truth in Mori Hiroshi's θ wa Asonde Kureta yo ("θ Played With Me"), which also bears the English title Another Playmate θ (2005).

θ wa Asonde Kureta yo is the second book in Mori Hiroshi's G series, a spin-off to his more famous S&M series. But this book might as well have been just been part of the S&M series, because the plot of this novel is mostly driven forward by characters from the S&M series (especially Moe), while the proper protagonists of the G series (the students Megumi, Yamabuki and Kurage) have to be content with staying mostly in the back in their second book.

In fact, I'd say that to enjoy this novel to its fullest, the reader would need at least some of knowledge of the characters, especially those who hail from the S&M series. The cast this time is fairly big and they're basically all recurring characters from different Mori series (the S&M series, the V series and the G series) and while θ wa Asonde Kureta yo is readable even if you don't know anything about the series and its characters, you might have trouble keeping an eye on all those characters and the relations between them. I for example know nothing about the V series, but one part of the novel was obviously alluding to events and characters from that series and it felt like I was missing something. The previous book, φ wa Kowareta ne, wisely focused on its own protagonists, but this time the gloves are off and Mori throws recurring character upon recurring character at the reader. The reader is warned.

As a mystery novel, and specifically a missing link story (a mystery plot focused on finding a link between multiple victims), I was slightly disappointed in θ wa Asonde Kureta yo. The plot was very similar to a certain episode of a famous Japanese mystery show I won't name and while a bit of redressing can help, θ wa Asonde Kureta yo resembled that episode just too much, so it was quite easy to figure out the missing link (that said, I think that the mystery was simple enough that even without that foreknowledge, any reader could have guessed the truth behind the missing link). Like in the previous novel though, I liked how the plot developed through the discussions of the many, many characters. I've always been more of a 'theory' person than an 'crime scene investigation' person when it comes to mystery fiction.

Like φ wa Kowareta ne though, 'details' like motive and other little things are left vague on purpose in θ wa Asonde Kureta yo. Partly because it's just the way Mori's plots often develop: a big cast of characters all play amateur detective, discussing the case over and over, until the 'real' detective (Saikawa in the S&M series and Kurage in the G series) state their definitive theory. Theory, as both Saikawa and Kurage don't have any interests in solving the case in the sense of the police getting their hands on the culprit and figuring out all the details and logistics. Saikawa and Kurage just pose hypotheses based on the available information that can explain all mysteries. This is something I don't have any trouble with. But there are also other details that are clearly left open to be picked up in later entries in the series (or even other series?), which is a bit annoying, as I already think the G series feels a bit heavy on background lore. As a standalone work, θ wa Asonde Kureta yo does not satisfy.

While I quite enjoyed the first book in the G series, I thought that the second effort was a bit disappointing. θ wa Asonde Kureta yo is as a mystery not particularly exciting and it feels a bit alienating at times with characters from different series popping up. If you're well-read in Mori Hiroshi's series, I think θ wa Asonde Kureta yo offers great fanservice, but the downside is that it makes less accessible to the uninitiated. I hope the next volume is more enjoyable to read as a standalone mystery novel.

Original Japanese title(s): 森博嗣　『θ（シータ）は遊んでくれたよ ANOTHER PLAYMATE θ』

Five Little Pigs

This little piggy went to market, 

 This little piggy stayed home, 

This little piggy had roast beef, 

This little piggy had none, 

And this little piggy cried wee wee wee all the way home 

Seriously, today's book has a pretty bad cover. I know I shouldn't judge a book by its cover, but I think that in day and age, publishers should put some effort in covers. A book isn't just the story inside, it's a physical product, and that includes the cover, so I'd appreciate it if they wouldn't treat cover art as an afterthought.

The winter of Sparta, New York feels even more ruthless this year, as the town is haunted by a mysterious serial killer calling him(her?)self HOG. The murders and the victims all vary: from a highway sign crashing on a car to what at first seemed like a trip of a staircase, from little children to the elderly, nobody is safe. And HOG derives pleasure from taunting the police with Dear Boss-esque letters that show how utterly helpless they are. Private investigator Ron Gentry also becomes part of the hunting troupe and he in turn is asked to contact his mentor, Professor Niccolo Benedetti, the world's most renowned detective. Whimsical (and freeloading) as Benedetti may be, even he feels that there's absolutely evil at work in Sparta and puts his own name at stake to find the serial killer in William L. DeAndrea's The HOG Murders (1979).

Oh, how often I heard people praise DeAndrea's The HOG Murders! I don't have a special interest in serial killer stories to be honest, but still, Queen's Cat of Many Tails is quite good, so there was always the little note in the back of my head, to read The HOG Murders. Of course, too much expectations could work in its disadvantage, so I kept those in reasonable check, and I went in the book with no more knowledge than that 1) this book was about a serial killer and 2) it was supposed to be good. How did it turn out?

Well, it certainly didn't disappoint! This was my first DeAndrea and I want to read more now! The serial murders that form the core mystery are gruesome, terrifying and seem only to shock and awe the reader into accepting The HOG Murders is just a crazy serial killer story, but this is actually a well-clued, absolutely fair orthodox mystery novel. And a good one too. Pick up the hints and turn your head the right way and you can spot HOG in time (I didn't pick up on the hint, but my Gut Instinct and Meta-Knowledge did give me the right person. But that's cheating). The one little problem I have with the solution is that a lot of orthodox mystery stories that feature serial killers kinda revolve around the same concept and The HOG Murders is no different: if you have read other puzzle plot mysteries with serial killers, there's a good chance you have a rough idea what to look for. I guess it's the same for most tropes in the genre, but I haven't seen that much variation in the concept with the serial killer trope, though that may be perfectly be the fault of my skewed reading diet.

There's more to The HOG Murders than just the serial murders though and I in particular liked two parts of the story that I thought feel quite Queenian: first is speculations around what HOG actually means and the wordplay reminds of Queen's dying message stories with many, many possible solutions that what seems a simple word (the 'solution' is presented in a rather arbritrary way though). Second, there's a very strange crime scene around three-quarters in the story, with someone who froze to death. The strangeness of the scene and the way the hints to the solution were laid out (as well as the 'sort' of hints) are classic Queenian stuff and I really loved it.

Not a big fan of the detective Professor Niccolo Benedetti though, but that's more on a character level. The HOG Murders does suffer a bit from a few too many 'detective' figures in the story: I get why DeAndrea went for that and it allows him to keep the momentum by jumping to moments with story developments, but still, it's a bit crowded with a great detective, a private detective, a police inspector, a reporter and a criminal psychologist to follow. It would be bit different if they were rival detectives, but they actually work and quite often move together in little groups.

I have to admit though, I do prefer less open mysteries in general. There's just something more thrilling and enjoyable with murders commited in more intimate circles, rather than an 'everyone in this town can be a victim!' type of plot. Even with a fair play puzzle plot where you can detect the criminal in advance, I can't say that I'm a very big fan of these open mysteries. That said, I still think The HOG Murders is great, but I just don't read that much orthodox mysteries with serial killers.

Anyway, The HOG Murders is a great detective novel that combines the serial killer motif with a puzzle plot in a succesful manner. Recommended reading for everything and I'm definitely going to read of DeAndrea in the near future to see what more surprises he has in store.

Seven Days A Week

Hello Mr. my yesterday 云っておくれよ 

"夢叶うその瞬間にまた逢える"と 

「Hello Mr. my yesterday」（Hundred Percent Free)

Hello Mr. my yesterday, please say to me:

"We'll meet again the moment your dream comes true"

 "Hello Mr. my yesterday" (Hundred Percent Free)

Some Japanese pockets feature some great cover art, but there are also the 'artsy' ones I almost never understand, or like (like this one). Todays cover is not horrible and I get the weekday references, but still... what is it?!

The death of mystery writer Raiki Raito left behind quite some questions. He may have died in his own study (locked from the inside), but was it really suicide? What about the rumours of him having been working on a new book the year before his death? And most important, what did he mean when he claimed to have discovered "the ultimate trick"? These questions also fly around in the heads of the participants of a monitoring panel for a hotel event: the hotel owns Raiki's house, the Mystery Mansion, and is planning to use it as the stage of a murder mystery event and has invited several people to try out their game. A magnificent reward awaits the winner: the location of Raiki's "ultimate trick". Among the participants are Ishizaki Kouji, our protagonist and mystery fan, and the two high school students Miria and Yuri, who were invited as representatives of a high school mystery club (little did the hotel know that the club is a fake club, only set-up to receive financial benefits for club activities from school). Can these three solve the murder mystery event and figure out what Raiki Raito's secret was in Ishizaki Kouji's Nichiyoubi no Chinmoku ("Sunday Silence", 2000)

This book was the debut novel of Ishizaki Kouji and the winner of the 18th Mephisto Prize (for more about the award and the type of novels that win, see this post). As with a lot of the Mephisto Prize winners, this is a fairly meta-conciousness novel; mystery writers killed in locked rooms, the "ultimate trick" (reminiscent of the ultimate locked room trick in Arisugawa Alice's 46 Banme no Misshitsu) and this time, a very literal game-approach to the mystery, as most of the story is about the murder game organized by the hotel. And of course, be ready for countless of references to other mystery novels (a great number of them also originating as Mephisto Prizes).

This is a very lighthearted mystery. This is because of both the characters and the plot. To begin with the characters: the real detectives in this story are Miria and Yuri who act most of the time as stereotypical high school students who just wanna have some fun and like to make fun of everyone and everything. Heck, they only accepted the invitation for the event because of the free stay and food, not because they have an interest in detective fiction. Ishizaki Kouji (the character in the story, not the actual writer) is usually the victim of Miria and Yuri's jokes and this atmosphere of joking and teasing stays from start to finish. Miria and Yuri are also written extremely alike and there's almost seems there's no reason for them to be two different characters, though they have been split into two as to avoid the romantic implications of a thirty-ish Ishizaki Kouji and one high school student hanging out together for three days in a hotel.

But they also turn out to be a bit more intelligent than seems at first and they have a great hand in solving the mystery event, as well as figuring out the secret behind Raiki Raito's death. For most part, the mystery consists of a missing link story, where the participants of the event have to figure out what the (staged) murders are hinting at. This is solved at about two-thirds of the novel, leaving the rest for solving the secret of Raiko Raito and the 'ultimate trick'. 'Both' plots are... not bad per se, but a bit light... The first plotline is a fairly doable missing link story and actually has several layers of solutions to it, making it quite enjoyable (some solutions are kinda silly, but there's a perfectly good explanation for them). But the second missing link plotline is almost impossible to solve because it's so farfetched, making it not fun at all. Also, the secret of the 'ultimate trick' is kinda disappointing for something ultimate, making the last third of the novel not nearly as entertaining as the first two thirds (the two parts also feel a bit distinct, instead of feeling like one whole story).

Overall, Nichiyoubi no Chinmoku is entertaining enough, but it's not nearly enough to really fill one's stomach. It needed a bit more impact to really make an impression. Miria and Yuri are fun though and I gather that Miria, Yuri and author-avatar Ishizaki Kouji return in other stories too, so I might try those some time.

Original Japanese title(s):  石崎幸二『日曜日の沈黙』

His Alias Is

"One shall stand, one shall fall"

"Transformers: The Movie"

And that's another series wrapped up! I just realized that I've read very few mystery series completely, but that's also because I read many contemporary writers. Who knows when those series will stop?

A Aiichirou series
A Aiichirou no Roubai ("The Discombobulation of A Aiichirou" AKA A For Annoyance)
A Aiichirou no Tentou ("The Fall of A Aiichirou" AKA A Is For Accident)
A Aiichirou no Toubou ("The Flight of A Aiichirou" AKA A For Abandon")

A few weeks ago, I reviewed the last volume in Awasaka Tsumao's wonderful three volume A Aiichirou series. And today, I review the second volume of the series because who cares about chronological order? A Aiichirou no Tentou ("The Fall of A Aiichirou") collects eight short stories starring A Aiichirou, a handsome, but somewhat clumsy photographer who specializes in wildlife photographs. A often accompanies academic expeditions as the resident photographer, but he has a knack for getting into trouble, or just noticing little things that lead into bigger problems. But beneath his stuttering and cowardly demeanor, hides a frightfully keen mind that can solve the most baffling of mysteries.

As I've remarked in the reviews of the other volumes, the A Aichirou series is heavily inspired by the Father Brown series and the 24 stories can roughly be divided in two categories: the impossible crime stories, and what I like to call the what the hell sories. The first speaks for itself, but what I mean with the second term is a story where it's not immediately clear there is a mystery,  or even in the case it's clear there is some kind of mystery, it's very unclear what it means. In the case of the A Aiichirou stories, these mysteries are usually solved by an uncanny intuition.

The opening story, Wara no Neko ("The Straw Cat"), features a somewhat clearly defined mystery, though the significance and the implications of that mystery sure stay vague until Aiichirou explains all. At an exhibition of the late Kayuya Toukyo, a painter in the Realist school, A Aiichirou discovers that many of his pictures contain strange 'mistakes'. A girl with six fingers, a door in the background that can't possible be used. The story unfolds as a missing link story and the truth hidden behind these mistakes is quite surprising, a bit too surprising maybe. While I admit the story does feature some hints that point to the solution, so much of it depends on 'interpretation' and 'intuition', I find it hard to say it's completely fair. The same holds for Nejirareta Boushi ("The Crooked Hat"), where Aiichirou and an associate try to locate the owner of a top hat: tracing the hat's shop and the store written on a receipt hidden inside the hat results in strange, conflicting stories and once again the missing link between these events is what leads to the truth. Which is so farfetched and impossible to deduce, that this was definitely the weakest story of the volume. Followed by Arasou Yon Kyotou ("The Competing Big Four"), in which the granddaughter of a recently retired politician is suspicious of her grandfather's recent activities. He has been spending a lot of time with some of his old friends, and she found newspaper cuttings, coins and other strange objects in the room they usually stay. The granddaughter wants to know what they are doing there and while the story features some great red herrings and a fairly amusing solution, the jump between the missing link and the solution seems a bit too big and I'd prefer some more hints to exclude other solutions a bit more convincingly.

A personal favorite was Suzuko no Yosooi ("Dressing like Suzuko"). Kamo Suzuko, affectionately called Rinko, was a slightly under-the-radar idol singer, whose popularity soared after her tragic demise in an airplane crash. One year later, her agency holds a Rinko look-a-like contest, with the winner earning the role of Rinko in a film. Aiichirou happens to be in the theater where the contest is held, but he discovers that between all the auditions, something is going on. This is a great whatthehell story, as there really is no visible mystery at all, until A Aiichirou suddenly pulls your attention to the many, but very small points that bothered him. As you go "Now you mention that...", you suddenly realize that there really was something hidden in the story and the solution is quite memorable, especially the circumstances that led to it all.

Igai na Igai ("The Unexpected Corpse") is a relatively straightforward mystery in comparison to the previous stories: a murdered corpse is found on a mountain where Aiichirou and a researcher have been taking photographs of rare fish. The strange thing about the body: not only was it set on fire, it was also boiled. The story links to a local nursery rhyme, giving the whole story a Yokomizo Seishi-vibe. A story that does pretty much everything good. The hinting in particular is fantastic and it's amazing how much is crammed in the limited page count.

And like all A Aiichirou volumes, A Aiichirou no Tentou also features some neat impossible crime stories. Sugake no Soushitsu ("The Disappearance of the House of Suga") features the classic trope of disappearing buildings. Because of a landslide, A Aiichirou and two fellow travelers decide to walk the way to the next town instead of waiting for the rails to be cleared of debris. The trio get lost in the mountains though, but manage to find shelter in the house of the last of the Sugas, of whom legends say their family house has disappeared multiple times in the past. Before the trio go to bed, they see there is a house in the distance from their window, but when they wake up the next day, they discover it has disappeared completely! I had never seen this solution to the problem of the disappearing building before and I quite like it as it actually makes absolutely sense and seems quite plausible. Saburuchou Rojou ("On the Roads of Saburouchou") too is great: a taxi driver wants to pick up his last ride when his prospective client cries out for a good reason: there's a dead body in the backseat! And as if that wasn't strange enough, the taxi driver swears that the body is that of the customer he had just dropped off somewhere else! A solidly written story and the trick reveals the magician within Awasaka Tsumao: he was actually an amateur magician and even wrote another series about a magician-detective. The final story, Byounin ni Hamono ("A Sharp Instrument for the Ill"), also deserves special mention. A patient on the garden-roof of a hospital accidently walks into another patient and falls down. But by the time A Aiichirou, the nurse and other patients have run to the poor man, he has been stabbed in his stomach. Yet everyone swears the victim and his tumbling partner weren't holding knives, nor that any knives were lying on the ground. A very satisfying impossible crime story, also because of the hints Awasaka has spread across the text.

In fact, I noticed I had not once written more extensively about the type of hints Awasaka Tsumao used in previous reviews, so to talk a little about it now: The A Aiichirou stories seldom feature material evidence or hints, but instead feature thematic hints. Awasaka often mirrors certain aspects of the crime / mystery in other segments of the story, that function as hints to the final solution. He usually manages to distort the mirror image enough so it's not immediately clear it's actually the same as the circumstances of the mystery, but it does suit the intuitive mode of detection many of his stories have: if you happen to 'feel' correctly that mirror image A is in fact the same as the main mystery, it's usually fairly simple to deduce the correct solution. It's similar to Miss Marple's and Father Brown's comparisons, and they work brilliantly for these stories. It also helps that the A Aiichirou stories are written in a fairly comical way. Like Higashigawa Tokuya, Awasaka Tsumao hides these mirror images and hints within comical situations that don't appear to be related to the mystery at first sight, only to turn out to be of crucial importance.

A Aiichirou no Tentou is, like all in the series, a great mystery short story collection.. If I had to rank the three collections, I would say that the first is the best, then A Aiichirou no Tentou and then the last, but it is not like one volume is much better or worse than another. I'd say that especially those who like the Father Brown series should take a look at the A Aiichirou series. There is a spin-off volume featuring A Aiichirou's forefather by the way, so I might read that book too one day.

Original Japanese title(s): 泡坂妻夫　『亜愛一郎の転倒』: 「藁の猫」 / 「砂蛾家の消失」 / 「珠洲子の装い」 / 「意外な遺骸」 / 「ねじられた帽子」 / 「争う四巨頭」 / 「三郎町路上」 / 「病人に刃物」

Reunion, and Turnabout

「予習してきてるやないか。ふぅん、そうか。代表がその野沢公子に替わってから、入信する若い男が増えたらしいな。ミーハーな奴が多い」

「お前は、ふらっとけえへんのか？」

「ふらっときて入信するほど軽薄やないわ。河原町あたりで野沢公子のポートレート付きパンフレットを配ってたら、手を伸ばすやろうけど。代表やなんて事務的でそっけない肩書は似合わん。からかい半分にせよ、マスコミが〈女王〉と奉るのも道理や」

「充分ミーハーやないか。何が〈女王〉や。俺やったら、同じ奉るにしてもエラリー―」

『女王国の城』

"So you also prepared for this? Hmm. I see. But I heard a lot of young men joined the religion after Nosaka Kimiko took over as the representative. Those guys are just into her."

"No way you're goin' to do the same?"

"I wouldn't just join a religion like that. But if they would hand out pamphlets with Nosaka Kimiko's portret on them near Kawaramachi, yeah, I would take them. A title as stiff as 'representative' doesn't fit her. It might be a joke of sorts, but I see why they worship her as the "queen" in the media"

"You're just into her too. What a joke, a queen! The only Queen I worship is Ellery Qu.."

"The Castle of the Queendom"

Everyone been enjoying the last few episodes of Agatha Christie's Poirot? I'll probably write something after the last episode is broadcast, but I have to say that I have been mostly pleased up until now. Just two more weeks!

Student Alice series
Gekkou Game - Y no Higeki '88 ("Moonlight Game - The Tragedy of Y '88")
Kotou Puzzle ("The Island Puzzle")
Soutou no Akuma ("Double-Headed Devil")
Jooukoku no Shiro ("The Castle of the Queendom")

The members of the Eito University Mystery Club (EMC) have been involved in several puzzling murder cases, but they could always rely on their club president Egami Jirou to solve the crime and save them. In Jooukoku no Shiro ("The Castle of the Queendom") however, it's Egami who needs help. Or does he? Egami seems to have suddenly disappeared and the members (Oda, Nobunaga, Maria and Alice) fear something might have happened to him. They find clues that seem to indicate that Egami has gone to the mountain village of Kamikura, the home of the headquarters of the new age religion the Human Species Society. HSS was founded by Nosaka Mikage, who after her encounter with the alien Peripari, started to prepare humankind for the coming of the aliens. The current head of HSS is Nosaka Kimiko, who because of her beauty is refered to as 'the Queen', living in her 'castle' that is HSS HQ. The EMC members eventually find their beloved club president inside the 'castle', but during a tour of HSS headquarters, a guard is found murdered near the 'sacred cave' where Pelipali is to return again. The EMC members naturally want to contact the police, but the brass of the HSS say they want to solve the murder themselves to keep the scandal to a minimum (new religions are always watched with a suspicous eye), and basically hold the EMC members captured inside the 'castle', until the case is solved. Of course, the fact that even more murders happen during their confinement is a bit worrying. It is up to the EMC members to solve the crime and regain their freedom.

Ah, my beloved Student Alice series! Whereas Arisugawa Alice's Writer Alice series can be a hit or a miss series, and is more like his safer, 'steady-income' series, the Student Alice series has always maintained a very high standard as an orthodox detective series. From Gekkou Game on (the first book in the series and also Arisugawa's debut work), the series has been among the best if it comes to being a spiritual successor to the Ellery Queen novels, with beautiful deductive chains leading to the one truth. Jooukoku no Shiro is the last novel of the series for the moment, so I had been kinda 'saving' it, but now I've finally read it. And I was not disappointed.

There are three major characteristics to the novels in Student Alice series; 1) precise deductive reasoning that lead to the identity of the murderer, 2) a closed circle situation and 3) an element of a youth adventure novel brought by the members of the EMC. Let's first look at the mystery of Jooukoku no Shiro. Kotou Puzzle still holds the title of having the most impressive deduction chain of the series (heck, one of the best in the long history of detective fiction, period), but this novel doesn't disappoint either. The process of identifying characteristics of the murderer and see who fits the profile sounds easy, but actually doing it, and doing it in a way that doesn't seem cheap, is another thing and Arisugawa really comes up with a great explanation of how to identify the murderer. It's amazing what one can infer from just one object and it's these kind of novels that really appeal to me in the mystery genre. In Jooukoku no Shiro, the deductions that lead to the murderer are all basically based off one item. This seems similar to Kotou Puzzle, but that had a long, complex single chain of deductions that led to the murderer (X, therefore, Y, therefore Z etc.), while Jooukoku no Shiro has several, shorter deductions that start by looking at the item in question from different angles. Different, but definitely great stuff. And of course, there is a Challenge to the Reader!

The closed circle setting employed here is the most captivating of the whole series, I think. Kotou Puzzle and Soutou no Akuma had closed circle situations because of fairly natural circumstances (geography, weather). The vulcano eruption in Gekkou Game is a natural phenomena, I guess, but it felt so artificial I just couldn't take it all too seriously. Jooukoku no Shiro has the protagonists held prisonor in the Human Species Society HQ, which is actually a lot creepier. It brings elements like questioning whether the HSS has a hidden agenda for holding them captured, and also elements of planning a prison escape. Jooukoku no Shiro is the most dynamic of the series, with the protagonists trying to solve the murder, and trying to regain their freedom. The book is also by far the longest of the whole series, but it never drags.

The setting of a small group confined in a small community with a common religion/belief/goal/characteristic/something to hide is not uncommon (in a variety of genres). I mostly associate it with Yokomizo Seishi and Trick (especially Trick), but who can forget Ellery Queen's little adventure in And On the Eight Day? Original, it isn't, but it can definitely add the right amount of suspense (of us against them) to a genre that can occassonally feel a bit slow.

And the youth novel element comes alive quite good. Because of circumstances, the EMC members were often forced to work seperatedly in the previous novels, so this is the first time we see the whole team (including Maria, who joined in the second novel) acting as a team, reacting to each other and also sharing stories about themselves and their lives as students. In English-language orthodox detective fiction, it seems that (university) students aren't that common a protagonist-type. In Japan however, with the New Orthodox (or New Authentic) school basically starting from university mystery clubs, the student-detective was actually relatively common for a time (just take a look at all the debut novels of the New Authentic school for example). The Student Alice series is the only original New Authentic school series that still has students as its protagonists, but I find it an entertaining setting.

Nothing bad? Well, no. It has the most horrible map of a building I've ever seen. Sure, the precise architecture of the 'castle' isn't needed to solve the crime, but even after finishing the book I still don't know how all the towers and 'flying saucer' buildings are connected...

But in conclusion, a very solid detective novel that should appeal to anyone who likes the genre. There is thrill, shock and suspense, but also a great mystery that shows that pure logic is still the best way to solve a crime. Arisugawa Alice's Student Alice series is definitely one any fan of the genre should try.

Original Japanese title(s): 有栖川有栖　『女王国の城』

The House in the Mist

「ですから、探偵小説の中で起こる事件は、やあり、なるたけ突拍子もないものであって欲しいもんですな。いかにも現実 にありそうな事件くどくど読まされるくらいなら、そりゃあ、警察の捜査記録に目を通しとる方が宜しい。その方がよっぽど、リアルっちゅう意味じゃあ刺激になる」

『霧越邸殺人事件』

It's about time I get started on the review backlog. Today, a book I read probably over a month, maybe even two months ago.

On their way back to the station after a trip, the members of the theater troupe Dark Tent get lost in a sudden snow storm. As they try to find their way back in the forest, they arrive at a big mansion facing a lake. As it's already dark, they decide to ask for shelter, which they get, albeit somewhat reluctantly. The mansion, the Kirigoe Mansion, is inhabitated by a group of people who have strange ways of making their guest feel 'welcome'. The guests are each given a room and a great dinner, but the master of the mansion absolutely refuses to appear in front of his guests, and his servants are also doing the mere minimum. And the guests are repeatedly reminded of the fact that the Kirigoe Mansion isn't a hotel, so they shouldn't wander around. Which may also be for their own sake, because the mansion seems to have a strange power of 'foretelling' the future of those inside its walls. And considering the title Kirigoetei Satsujin Jiken ("The Kirigoe Mansion Murder Case"), it shouldn't be a surprise that the Kirigoe Mansion is also the setting of a mysterious chain of murders. The twist: the victims are all people of the theater troupe, so the master of the mansion figures that it's their problem: the murderer is logically also one of them, so they have to find out who did it themselves.

Kirigoetei Satsujin Jiken is a pretty well-received novel by Ayatsuji Yukito. It's the third novel by Ayatsuji that made it into the Touzai Mystery Best 100 and often hear positive things about it and... yes, it is actually an excellent mystery novel, but I for some reason didn't enjoy it as much as I did other novels by Ayatsuji. And I have no idea why.

For this is really a very competent mystery novel. It is quickly revealed that the murders in the mansion are actually following a pattern (i.e. nursery rhyme murders) and the way the members of the theater troupe deal with the closed circle situation, as well as the mystery behind their host and the mansion make the 600~700 pages fly by (the start is a bit slow though, but it has a killer tempo afterwards). The truth behind the nursery rhyme murders is logical and totally solvable and it is absolutely clear that Ayatsuji is very familiar, and skilled in using tropes like the closed circle, mitate murders, the 'mountain villa in the snow storm', the mysterious host and servants and Western mansions as a setting, as these are also the building blocks for his Yakata series. In fact, this novel was written for a different publisher than th one for the Yakata series, but one could see Kirigoetei Satsujin Jiken as a spin-off title.

But a slightly weaker spin-off. Maybe the novel doesn't really appeal to me, because it's a bit too classic. Which might sound strange, considering my preferences in the genre, but in the Yakata series, Ayatsuji seems to do more surprising with the tropes. From examination, reconstruction and deconstruction, to simply coming up with grand tricks that work on a totally different scale than you'd usually see. Kirigoetei Satsujin Jiken is a lot safer in that respect, and slightly disappointing. Every time I recognized a trope here, I was expecting Ayatsuji to play around with it, but alas it's mostly just using the tropes as is. In a good way, and many writers would dream of writing something like Kirigoetei Satsujin Jiken, but to me, it's a bit underwhelming. But like I said, this is overall a very well received novel, so I am the minority here.

The best part of the novel is the setting of Kirigoe Mansion. Western mansions are of course Ayatsuji's thing, considering his Yakata series, but this has to be the scariest one, mainly because this house actually seems to have magical powers (that don't have actual influence on the mystery part of the story: you can solve the whole thing through logic). It reminded me a bit of the 1977 horror fantasy (comedy?) movie Hausu, with a building that seems to be keeping its inhabitants inside to have some bloody pleasure. No human-eating piano here though. Ayatsuji Yukito has a strong reputation in novels with a strong and memorable settings, but Kirigoetei Satsujin Jiken is certainly among the best of those works. Like I wrote in my review of Ellery Queen's There Was An Old Woman, you have to have certain setting for a nursery rhyme murder to work, a slightly deranged plae where anything can happen. Well, Kirigoe Mansion is that place.

Overall, this is a strong, classical work of mystery fiction. Some consider it among the best of Ayatsuji's works, I find it a bit too predictable, but it's definitely a good mystery that's worth a read.

Original Japanese title(s): 綾辻行人　『霧越邸殺人事件』

UN-GO

Two's company, three's a crowd

With more and more English-language blogs on detective fiction popping up, I always hope more on Japanese detective fiction appear... but it never happens. I'll just keep waiting.

During the Second World War, the narrator (a writer) had been staying at his friend Utagawa Kazuma's family mansion. Now two years after the war, the narrator is once again invited to the Utagawa mansion, together with a group of other artists who had been staying there too during the war. However the narrator is relunctant to go, because there are bound to be troubles. Among the guests are: three men, all vying for the hand of Kazuma's sister. Kazuma's wife's ex-husband. Kazuma's ex-wife and her current husband. Another couple of which the wife is in love with Kazuma. And complex human relations is just half of the problem. A threatening letter has been sent to Kazuma, while another letter asking for a detective's help signed by Kazuma was sent, even though he denies having written one. And the day all guests are gathered, a murder happens. And then a second. And a third. But what is the motive behind these seemingly disconnected murders in Sakaguchi Ango's Furenzoku Satsujin Jiken ("The Non-Serial Murder Case")?

A classic scene: the detective (most probably Poirot) gathers every suspect in the drawing room and states everyone in the room had the motive for wanting to have killed the victim. It's only after extensive fingerpointing that he moves on to the real suspect. In Furenzoku Satsujin Jiken, this method would have been a bit troublesome because this novel works, and in a way fails, because everyone has a motive for something.

This works at one hand, because the main problem of this novel is the mystery behind the motive(s) behind the many murders. Is it a serial murder case all done by one and the same person? Or a non-serial murder, with multiple murderers working at the same time? Just as you think you found a pattern, another murder pushes your ideas towards a different direction, keeping you on your toes all the way to the conclusion. You can't accuse Furenzoku Satsujin Jiken of being boring, or at least not after the first murder.

But the story also fails on the other hand, because it is too complex at times. By which I mean, what the heck are all these characters doing in this story?! There are way too many characters here, who are all interconnected. A is married to B but in love with C who is love with D who hates B and E but like F etcetera. So A might have motive to kill C and D, but not E and maybe F. And B might want to kill A, C and D but not F, but.... I didn't count them, but according to Wikipedia, 29 persons, including the servants, are running around the Utagawa mansion and that is just... confusing. Especially with the ridiculous relations between them. Even if you consider that fact that people get killed off rather easily and fast in this novel,Furenzoku Satsujin Jiken overdoes it. There is no correlation diagram in this novel, but I advice people who are going to read this to make one yourself: it will save you.

Also, most characters are absolutely horrible and it makes no sense at all for them to all be at one place. When you read a detective, you won't be surprised when it turns out that everybody had a motive to kill the old man, but you might wonder why the old man allowed all those people who hated him to gather at one place, right? Here we have the Utagawa mansion, where everybody is having an illicit relation with somebody else, or at the very least hoping to have one and they are all artists, which is usually used as another word for 'unpredictable', 'crazy' in these kind of books, so of course something is going to happen. But it is a riddle why all these people would gather here on their own free will! Most of the time, I couldn't care less about who died, as nobody appealed to me. Which is rare.

Oh, and for those interested in linguistics and the Japanese language, this is another of those books where the use of words like kichigai (madman) and semushi (hunchback) is still intact: they are not allowed to be used on TV anymore (political correctness and stuff), but you still occassionally come across them in novels.

Overall, Furenzoku Satsujin Jiken is an okay story. I really did like the main problem, but the book does suffer from misuse of characters. In the Touzai Mystery Best, this book ranked 19th. I certainly wouldn't rank it higher, but it indeed has it's good points. Also, for those interested in Sakaguchi Ango, and not-literate in Japanese, the animated series UN-GO (Ango) is based on his mystery works and available for streaming on websites like Crunchy Roll.

Original Japanese title(s): 坂口安吾 『不連続殺人事件』