Still Waters

「はい？」

 『相棒』

 "Excuse me?"

"Partners"

Yes, I know, it's not a bad book that usually results in a bland review. It's just a bland book. 

Aibou ("Partners") is an extremely succesful police drama in Japan that's been running since 2000 and by the time this post is published, Season 21 should be entering its final stage.The series is about Sugishita Ukyou and his partner in the two-man unit the Special Orders Unit within the Metropolitan Police Department. Sugishita is a brilliant police detective, but with very strong sense of justice and therefore not always willing to play along with political games within the police organization. Yet, he's too valuable to let go, which is why he is been assigned to the SOU, stuffed away in a small office in police headquarters. Technically, he shouldn't have anything to do unless there's a special order, but Sugishita likes to stick his nose in police investigations all the time nonetheless, unless there's a special order telling him not to. Over the course of the series, several younger detectives have been assigned as Sugishita's subordinate within the SOU, who often form a contrast with the cool-headed Sugishita but work well as a team, hence the title partners. But with a series as long as Aibou, it's of course only natural for cast changes to occur, and Sugishita has seen several 'partners' go throughout the series, starting with his first partner act-before-think Kameyama, followed by the dandy gentleman Kanbe, the hotheaded Kaito and the more conniving Kaburagi.

Sugishita also stars in a series of novels written by Ikari Uhito (a pen name of Torikai Hiu), where he isn't joined by these partners. The stories are usually set in the period between one partner leaving and the new one arriving in the show, or other moments within series continuity when the two aren't working together. Last year I read Sugishita Ukyou no Misshitsu (The Locked Room Mysteries of Ukyo Sugishita, 2013), the third book in this series and found it an entertaining novel for fans and even for newcomers to the series, it could still work as an entry point even if not the optimal choice. Anyway, I was curious to the rest of the series, so I decided to read the first book this time. Sugishita Ukyou no Jikenbo ("The Casebook of Sugishita Ukyou") was released in 2010 and consists of two novellas. Both are set in the time period with Sugishita's first partner Kameyama: the first story between season 1 and 2 during Sugishita's holiday, and the second story after Kameyama left the series in season 7 in 2008-2009. I read this book late 2022 by the way, and after reading the book, I decided to look up the timeline details of this book and I was utterly surprised to learn Kameyama had actually returned to the television series as Sugishita's partner in the currently running Aibou 21. I hadn't really been watching the series the last few years, so I had never expected Kameyama to really return to the main cast. As a reader, you don't really need to know about Kameyama of course, and he's only briefly mentioned in these stories, but I thought it was funny I read this book right around the time Kameyama returned to the series. 

The first story titled Kage to Taru ("Mist and Barrels") is set in Scotland: Sugishita is in the UK for a holiday and via his B&B, he learns that a small whiskey distillery is going to have a special event in a few days: that distillery has ten barrels of single malt whiskey aging for fifty years, and now they'll be opening the warehouse. Andy McMillan is the current owner of the distillery, but it was his grandfather Paul who came up with the plan to make super mature whiskey, creating five warehouses: one for ten years, one for twenty years, etc. Last year's barrels with whiskey aged forty years was a huge success, so everyone is looking forward to opening the last warehouse, though some are worried. Thirty years ago, Andy's grandfather Paul died in an accident in a warehouse and ten years ago, Andy's father Ian too died after opening the forty-year old warehouse, in a very enigmatic manner as it appeared like he had been stepped on by a giant. This is tied to a local belief that seeing the God of Scotch, a mythological giant, will lead to good whiskey, but will also bring misfortune. And now Andy's son says he saw the giant in the mist himself too recently. Sugishita is invited to witness the opening of the warehouse too, but when it is unlocked, they find one of the barrels has fallen off the rack, upside down. They lift the barrel up, only to find the head craftsman had been stuffed inside the barrel. The poor man is rushed to the hospital, but it is too late. But how did the head craftsman get inside the locked warehouse, inside a whiskey barrel, and what does his death have to do with the death forty years ago?

I don't know much about making whiskey, but I guess the author does, because a lot of the story is about the things that go on at a distillery and how whiskey is made. The story is quite long (much longer than the second story in the book) and deals with several semi-impossible situations, like the death of the head craftsman in a warehouse which has been locked for fifty years and which shouldn't have been opened, and the mysterious death of Ian ten years ago. Sugishita is a Japanese police officer on holiday, so he can't really butt in, but Sugishita wouldn't be himself if he actually cared about that, so naturally, he investigates this tragedy that happened to his hosts. I don't really like the truth behind the body-in-the-barrel death and the locked warehouse on their own to be honest, because it involves people just acting really stupidly multiple times for all of that to work, though I have to admit I am more impressed by the way Ikari (Torikai) manages to tie everything together: he comes up with a convincing reason for why certain things had to happen and is also good in leaving a variety of clues like Andy's young son's testimony about the God of Scotch and him playing with his cat, it's just that the actual "event of the death" isn't quite convincing to me. At least, not the way it is done (perhaps if it had been executed with different details, I would've liked it more). This is one story I'd have loved to see in television form though, as while the trick of the locked warehouse is a bit silly, I can imagine it would at least have been funny to see acted out on screen.

The second story, Kenmun no Mori ("The Forest of Kenmun") is one I really didn't like. It involves Sugishita travelling to Amami Oshima on the reqeust of Kakuta, his old friend and head of the division Organized Crime. A wanted criminal was recently involved in a boat accident on the island and is now being detained in a hospital there with his accomplices, and Sugishita is to escort this Yasuda back to Tokyo. Yasuda and his Chinese henchmen manage to escape the hospital just before Sugishita arrives though, and thus starts a manhunt for the dangerous criminals, who seem to be busy with a certain plan, but nobody knows what it is. In the meanwhile, Sugishita also hears about tourist sighting a kenmun, a local yokai, in the forest, but what does this have to do with the flight of Yasuda? It's one of those stories that's really just about working towards a punchline, which can work for a detective story, but this particular punchline just wasn't that impressive or surprising. I feel like that the idea behind the punchline could have been used as a "normal" focus for a mystery story pretty well, but by making it a punchline to the mystery of what Yasuda is trying to do while on the run from the police, it feels a bit underwhelming.

So on the whole, I didn't like Sugishita Ukyou no Jikenbo as much as I liked the third volume. I think the third volume can be enjoyed even without much knowledge of Aibou, but I think the stories in this first volume are rather bland, so if you don't have any connection with Aibou in the first place, there's very little here to warrant a recommndation. I'll probably still read the second volume, just to see if it's closer to this volume, or the third volume in terms of plotting, but this one is only for the fans.

Original Japanese title(s): 碇卯人『杉下右京の事件簿』：「霧と樽」/「ケンムンの森」

Ask a Policeman

One is the loneliest number that you'll ever do 

"One" (Three Dog Night)

Aibou ("Partners") is a very succesful police drama in Japan that's been running since 2000, with season 20 probably nearing its end by the time this review is published. The series is about the Special Orders Unit, a two-man unit within the Metropolitan Police Department that is basically only there to keep Sugishita Ukyou there: while Sugishita is one of the most brilliant men to be found within the police force, his sense of justice often clashes with the decisions of administration. The people at the top know Sugishita is indispensible, that if they need him they really need him, but at the same time, they like to keep him locked up in a box until that time, and that's basically what the Special Orders Unit: he is to do nothing, unless there's a special order. Of course, Sugishita likes to poke into his business that aren't his, so more often than not, he decides to look into homicide cases, figuring that he's allowed to do this, unless there are special orders that tell him otherwise. In the series, Sugishita is always accompanied by a younger subordinate, his titular partner, who forms a contrast with the cool-minded Sugishita. While Sugishita has been a constant in the television show since it started in 2000 however, he has seen partners come and go, with his current partner in Season 21, Kaburagi, being his fourth formal partner in the SOU. I occassionally watch an episode or special of the show, but I haven't really been following this series lately, even though I did watch the whole run of Kaito (the third partner) in season 11 - 13, as well as the first seasons with Kaburagi. 

Like I said, Aibou is huge in Japan, with the franchise being much more than just the core television show. There have been theatrical releases, spin-off movies, video games, and of course novels. Most of the novels are, not surprisingly, simply novelizations of the episodes, but there is also a sub-series of novels that feature completely original adventures of Sugishita. The novel series is also referred to as the Sugishita Ukyou series, as it focuses on him alone, rather than on "partners." These books, written by Ikari Uhito (a pen name of Torikai Hiu), usually have Sugishita operating alone, for example during a holiday or are set in the periods between partners leaving and coming. Other familar faces in the series do appear in these stories, but these stories do feel a bit different from the television show because Sugishita acts alone here. Sugishita Ukyou no Misshitsu (2013), which also has the English title The Locked Room Mysteries of Ukyo Sugishita, is the third book in the series and consist of two novellas. I decided to read this one, because chronologically, it felt the most "familiar" to me: these stories are set in the period after Sugishita's second partner Kanbe left the show in season 10, but before he met his third parter Kaito in Hong Kong in the pilot special of season 11, which is when I started to really watch whole seasons, so starting with this book also felt the most natural to me. I don't think you need to have any prior knowledge to enjoy this book as a mystery book by the way, and it's written in a very simple manner so it might even be perfect for people starting to read mystery stories in Japanese, but it will probably feel a bit bland, because the stories do assume you know the recurring characters well enough and it barely bothers to explain anything about them.

The first story, Daifugou no Chousenjou ("A Challenge from a Billionaire") in the book opens with Sugishita receiving a letter from an old college friend. Takamatsu Hirofumi belonged to the contract bridge club at university, while Sugishita of course belonged to the chess club, and it's througn these games that the two first met. They had not kept in touch however, which is why Sugishita is quite surprised to receive this letter. After college, Takamatsu started a venture business in semiconductors, which eventually grew into the major company Semicon Z. Recently, he announced he'd retreat as the head of the company however. He plans to retreat to his new house on Kubura Island, an island in Okinawa he has bought for himself and his wife. In his letter, Takamatsu invites Sugishita to a small party to commemorate this new phase of his life, but in a special post-scriptum accompanying the invitation, he says he's planning to hold a special detective game during the party, and he hopes Sugishita will come. Intrigued by this letter, Sugishita decides to go to Kubura Island, where he learns the other guests are all people who work at Semicon Z, as well as the architect of the splendid house Takamatsu had built. The house is built against the cliff, and there's an elevator that goes down into the cliff, leading to a special room below sea level with a glass wall that serves as a private aquarium, looking out right into the sea!

Before the party starts, Takamatsu confides to his old friend that he fears someone's after his life, and that's why he gave up his position at Semicon Z: curious incidents that could've ended very differently for him have occured recently, and he doubts they were accidents Takamatsu suspects this is related to a case of a leak of confidential business information that happened at Semicon Z, and a bugging device he found in his office. The other guests at the party are in fact all suspects in the eyes of Takamatsu, and he has a "detective game" in mind during dinner to smoke out the spy. That evening, Takamatsu disappears during dinner, but is then shown on a television screen to his guests. Sitting in the aquarium room, he announces they are going to play a detective game. The "made-up" case is about a company spy, a bugging device, and the summing up of suspects who all have a reason to betray the company, and of course, the "story" told by Takamatsu basically applies to what really happened, and the persons present at the party. Takamatsu then says that he challenges his guests to guess who the spy is: they have twelve hours to figure out which of them is the traitor, with Takamatsu also claiming he has found a fingerprint on the bug he discovered in his office, and that combined with the fingerprints he will retrieve from the tableware used during dinner, they'll know for sure who the spy is (a bluff). Takamatsu even challenges the murderer to come to the aquarium room, as he and the evidence will be waiting there the coming twelve hours. Sugishita wants to stop this game and urges the spy to come clean, but is immediately knocked out by the servant. By the time he wakes up, it's basically twelve hours later, but there's no announcement by Takamatsu. When they go downstairs in the aquarium room, they find Takamatsu stabbed to death in the aquarium room, as well as one of the guests, but time-wise it doesn't seem he could've killed Takamatsu and what's even more puzzling: the door of the aquarium room can't be opened from the inside and Takamatsu had been acting as bait to trap the spy inside this room. But if so, how did the real murderer escape the room after killing Takamatsu?

An interesting story, also because it doesn't feel at all like a story you'd see in the normal Aibou series, at least, not in this form. A closed circle mystery on a remote island in Okinawa, with an underwater room being the setting of a locked room murder mystery: while Aibou episodes do provide puzzle plot msyteries at time, they seldom have all these tropes in one single story! The mystery revolves around how the murderer could've commited the crime inside a room designed as a trap, as a space that would seal itself once they set foot inside. The trick behind how this was all done has elements that will feel familiar perhaps, but the manner in which the stories lays out its clues and leads the reader (and Sugishita) to the answer is pretty good. It's definitely a concept you will likely not see in the main Aibou television series and it clearly leans much more into the fantastical ideas and tricks you see in mystery novels, rather than on television. So it gets points for that. It's a simple concept that's easy to visualize, though I have an inkling that readers of mystery fiction will soon think of it, though regular viewers of Aibou might find this much more surprising. I do think the story does feature a lot of coincidences that are designed solely to act as misdirection, and a lot of the latter part of the story consists more of brushing away all these red herrings rather than focusing on the core mystery. Of course, most mysteries do feature a red herring or two, but a lot of the elements here feel like they feel added arbitrarily, functioning solely as a standalone red herring and it can feel tiring to constantly learn that something wasn't relevant to the actual murder anyway. 

The second story, Kabe ("Wall") starts with the discovery of the half-decayed body of Watari Junichirou, president of the outdoor sports equipment business Outdoor Dream by his secretary. Watari was believed to have left for the States a week ago and while he was gone, the vice-president wanted to try out the special climbing wall they had built on top of the building of Outdoor Dream. Watari had a special tower made on the roof of the building, with climbing walls on the inside. While "technically" it was for all employees, only the president used it regularly. But the vice-president wanted to have some exercise too, so he decided to ask Watari's secretary to unlock the tower, so he could try it out too during Watari's trip in the US. But it appears Watari never left for the US, and that he had been lying dead in the climbing tower since the day before he was supposed to go on his business trip. At first it's believed the man may have fallen to his death during climbing, but when Sugishita points out the man has no chalk in his hands, suspicion of murder arises, especially when the police learns the man was a notorious womanizer who had been harrassing women at work too. But the tower was locked until the secretary opened the tower eight days after his supposed death, and she saw nobody inside the tower, nor could anyone have escaped from the tower or roof during the time she got help and notified the police. So how was this murder committed?

A much shorter, and more simple story. The idea of a climbing tower as a locked room space is interesting: spatially speaking, it's actually very large (and high), with the extended roof being part of the setting too, but as the only two keys to the tower were either inside the tower, or kept by the secretary during those eight days, it's still a proper locked room mystery. The manner in which the story introduces the culprit and involves them in the core puzzle-solving plot feels a bit forced, but the clues that ultimately point out how the murderer did manage to escape the locked room are good, as are the clues indicating the identity of the murderer. The motive too feels closer to something you'd usually see in the series, which is also strengthened by the appearances of more familiar faces in the series, as we do see people like the forensic investigator Yonezawa despite Sugishita's partner Kanbe having left the series already at this point.

On the whole, I think Sugishita Ukyou no Misshitsu is a pretty decent read for fans of the series. The two stories featured here are definitely more focused on a fair play puzzle plot than the stories you usually see in the television series, which tend to focus more on social school themes, so especially those who do like the world of Aibou, who occassionally wants to see more "classic" mystery set-ups, this book is the way to go. There's nothing mind-blowing here, nor truly original ideas, but the stories are competently written and provide at least the level of entertainment I'd expect from an original Aibou story. I for one am definitely planning to read more of this series. But while these books are written in a very accessible way and take little time to get through them, I do hesitate a little to recommend them to people who don't know Aibou, as these stories do very little to actually introduce the reader to the world and characters. While the mystery plots do work as standalone stories, they do feel a bit underdeveloped without prior knowledge of the series. So this book is best read as a companion to the series, even if theoretically, you can read them without knowing the television show.

Original Japanese title(s): 碇卯人『杉下右京の密室』:「大富豪の挑戦状」/「壁」

Appointment with Death

Ave, Imperator, morituri te salutant

De Vita Caesarum  

"Hail, Emperor, those who are about to die salute you."

"The Life of the Caesars"

I love the cover art of this book!

Jarimistan is a small nation in the Middle-East which only a few decades ago shifted its focus from oil to a new foundation of the national economy. The Jarimistan Terminal Prison is a unique facility, as it houses those who have been sentenced to death from not only Jarimistan, but all over the world. Nations can transfer their condemned to Jarimistan for a fee, so they don't have to maintain a death row themselves. The thousands of inmates of the Jarimistan Terminal Prison are offered relative freedom: their only obligations are an 8-hour daily activity (with some salary) and classes to learn the Jarimistan language, after which they are free to themselves. (Light) alcohol and cigarettes can be bought, internet can be freely used and even a midnight stroll across the square is allowed. However, death for any of these inmates can come at any time, as the Sheikh of Jarimistan decides on a whim when the death sentence will be executed, only four days before the fateful day. With people of so many nationalities thrown together under such special circumstances, it's no wonder that the Jarimistan Terminal Prison has become a society of its own. One of the new arrivals is Alan Ishida, an American who was sentenced to death for murdering his parents and attempting to burn them together in their house. He is soon taken under the wing of Old Schultz, who is not only the oldest inmate, but also the person who has lived longest within the confines of the prison walls. In the many years he spent here, this head inmate of Prison Wing 2 had gained a reputation as a keen-minded problem solver, who has even earned the respect of the guards and management of the prison. And though they are destined for execution, it seems there's definitely a need for the presence of Old Schultz and Alan in the prison, as strange happenings do occur inside the four walls as depicted in Torikai Hiu's interlinked short story collection Shi to Sunadokei ("Death and the Hourglass", 2015), from an impossible double murder inside a cell block with guards inside, to the legend of the one man who managed to escape the inescapable prison.

My first review of this year was of Torikai Hiu's Gekisou Fukuoka Kokusai Marathon - 42.195 Kilo no Nazo, which I only picked because it was set in the city of Fukuoka. I had never even heard of Torikai before, but the novel was a nice surprise, as it was a very entertaining sports novel with a solid mystery basis. I decided to see what else Torikai had written, and my attention was immediately drawn to today's Shi to Sunadokei. Impossible situations and other mysteries to be solved inside a prison setting, and a special prison too, with only death row inmates and from various countries? I had read mysteries set in prisons before, like Ellery Queen's The Tragedy of Z, and the Kindaichi Shounen story Gokumonjuku Satsujin Jiken, which was set in a cram school that was originally a prison. With rules that govern the inmates inside and guards everywhere, a prison is a very alluring setting for a mystery story, so I knew I had to make this my next Torikai.

Maou Shafo Dolmayan no Himitsu ("The Secret of the Magic King Shafo Dolmayan") starts with the farewell speech of Shafo Dolmayan, a refugee from Central-Asia who had roamed Europe as a magician and freak show, but who was sentenced to death after a mishap in an oil state. He is scheduled to be executed tomorrow, as is a Japanese soldier-of-fortune, but the next day, Old Schultz and Alan are informed that both Shafo and the soldier-of-fortune were killed that night. The event raises many questions: How did the murderer enter the special death row cell block as there was a guard standing outside all night? Where did the murder weapon go? Why was the soldier-of-fortune killed with a clean cut, but Shafo horribly stabbed countless of times across his body and limbs? And most importantly, why kill two people who were scheduled to be executed anyway? A very fun opening story. Some of the hinting is a bit too obvious, so it shouldn't prove too much trouble to deduce where the murder weapon went and as a result, how the murders were committed, but this is a very well plotted story, with several hypotheses posed throughout the story, which keeps the reader on their toes and the motive of why these murders were committed in the first place is really well done, with surprisingly good hinting and set-up ( and there's even a very good fake solution in regards to the motive).

In Eiyuu Chen Weizi no Shissou ("The Disappearance of the Hero Chen Weizi"), Old Schultz and Alan are given three days to solve the disappearance of Chen Weizi, the one man who managed to escape from Jarimistan Terminal Prison. Chen was a Chinese surgeon whose liberal thoughts and support to rebels eventually earned him a death sentence. As a doctor, he was already a very popular man among his fellow Chinese inmates, but his escape from the prison several months earlier made him a hero among all prisoners. Inmates of the Jarimistan Terminal Prison are under observation through two systems: besides the watchful eyes of the guards, inmates also have a microchip implanted in them, which gives them a horrible electric shock should they ever enter places they shouldn't be. Nobody knows where this implant is as the patients are always under the influence of anesthetics during the operation, so removal is impossible. Chen Weizi however had somehow overcome these two hurdles, and what's more, he managed to escape on a bright night with a full moon and strangled the strongest and most fearsome guardsman in the whole prison on his way out. There's been no sign of Chen since his escape, but political pressure from China (where most of the inmates of Jarimistan Terminal Prison come from) has the Sheikh of Jarimistan desperate to find out what happened to Chen as soon as possible. This is the best story of the collection, as Chen's escape really seems impossible considering all the security measures going on. Of the two obstacles in Chen's way, one is relatively easy to guess how it was beaten, but the other is really brilliantly done, with a wonderful explanation for why Chen chose that particular night to escape and that guardsman as his victim. The conclusion is quite cynical too, fitting perfectly with the whole collection.

The inmates of the Jarimistan Terminal Prison are treated relatively well, but even so, some guards occasionally forget they are in fact working with humans and abuse their position. The Jarimistan Terminal Prison is therefore subject to an annual inspection, where the inmates can talk directly with the visiting inspector to talk about their living conditions here. Kansatsukan Gemaya Kaled no Toukai ("The Self-Effacement of Supervisor Gemaya Kaled") introduces us to Gemaya Kaled, the veteran supervisor who has been doing this job with pride and joy for many decades and who will retire immediately after his inspection this year has finished. During his inspection of Wing 2, Adamson, an American inmate, tells Kaled about Mubarac, a guard in Wing 1 who not only abuses the prisoners there, but even rapes them. Adamson had originally been in Wing 1 himself, until he bribed himself to Wing 2. Kaled promises to look into this, but he is murdered that night in his office. Schultz and Alan are also asked to think along, though the case seems clear as day: Mubarac's fingerprints were found on the knife that had been stabbed into Kaled several times, a witness had heard Mubarac enter the office and have a row with Kaled and another witness saw Mubarac leave some minutes later, after which Kaled's body was found. And yet Schultz has his doubts about what happened, and for good reasons too. As a mystery, this story is very easy to solve, as some of the wording used makes it very clear what must have happened, but I did like the clue Schultz points out that supports this solution: this supporting clue is easy to miss, but makes so much sense in hindsight.

Hakamori Lagba Garpo no Homare ("The Honor of Gravedigger Lagba Garpo") starts with Marco, an Italian inmate who's friends with Alan and Schultz, telling how he heard that the gravedigegr Lagba Garpo was seen eating a corpse he had dug up. Lagba is a Tibetan who despite his many years here has not learned the common language Jarimistanese, making it impossible for anybody to communicate with him. While most people would hate to be digging graves for their fellow inmates each and every day, Lagba does this daily task faithfully and few others would be so good for the job. Marco, Schultz and Alan check out the graveyard, and indeed find a freshly dug-up grave, and inside they see that the arms of the body inside have been cut off. Schultz warns the other two to keep silent about this, but this becomes impossible when Lagba is discovered right as he's busy mutilating another body. Sotojor was an immensely popular inmate, so many were shocked to hear Lagba was using his shovel to cut Sotojor's arms off and cut open his chest. Schultz does not believe Lagba was trying to eat Sotojor, but what were Lagba's intentions then? I like how one clue is used as the foundation of a fake solution, but given a completely other, and far more original interpretation in the true solution, but it is a bit hard to guess what Lagba's true motive is if you don't have knowledge about a certain custom. If you do know it, you might be able to guess what's going on here, but it is a lot harder without that knowledge (as it's hardly hinted at), though I have to say this is a thematically very strong story.

Joshuu Maria Scofield no Kaitai ("The Immaculate Conception of the Female Prisoner Maria Scofield") is the shortest story in the collection, and has Layla, the female doctor of the women's quarters visit Dr. Haji of the men's quarters, as well as Schultz and Alan. Maria Scofield is a woman who has lived in the Jarimistan Terminal Prison for over thirteen months now, but for some reason she's become pregnant. No men (guard or prisoner) are allowed in the female quarters and Maria even claims she's a virgin and never ever had relations with a man before, so how did this impossibility occur? This story is perhaps at its best when Alan is proposing all kinds of realistically sounding hypotheses of how Maria could've become pregnant now which are shot down by Layla one by one but after the first half, the story changes when Alan is brought to the women's quarters to have a talk with Maria herself. The story reveals itself to be something quite different than seems at first sight. Is it really still a mystery story? Yes, I guess, as in hindsight, there's a really cleverly formulated sentence at the start of the story, but both the length and the type of story make this the least interesting of the whole collection.

About two years have passed since Alan Ishida was transferred to the Jarimistan Terminal Prison, but now his time has come in Kakuteishuu Alan Ishida no Shinjitsu ("The Truth of Death-Row Inmate Alan Ishida"). With only four days left in his life, Alan Ishida decides to tell Schultz about the crime that brought him here. He was sentenced to death after killing his parents and attempting to set their house on fire, but Alan says while he did kill his (step) father in a rage, it was his father who killed his mother. As Alan tells Schultz about his past however, he realizes something about these events he had never done before, and with the deductive skills cultivated in his time spent with Schultz, he decides to reveal his conclusions at his farewell speech. The realization of Alan is rather easy to guess considering all the previous stories, but one has to admit this was really well set-up. One important clue is only mentioned in this story, but that only becomes meaningful when you realize you have to combine it with various minor, almost insignificant events that occured over the course of all the previous stories. This 'bringing the whole thing together' moment is quite fun and while the conclusion takes on a different tone from the rest of the puzzle plot mystery book, the cynical twist at the very end is one that really fits this collection well.

Shi to Sunadokei is thus a very entertaining short story collection that not only offers a very unique setting, it uses that setting to bring very alluring mystery plots. The prison is mostly used for impossible situations, but there's not only the expected impossible murder or impossible prison break, but even an impossible pregnancy, and the other stories leave an impression especially because they are set in this death row prison. I for one have no doubt this short story collection will turn out to be one of my favorite reads of this year.

Original Japanese title(s): 鳥飼否宇 『死と砂時計』: 「魔王シャヴォ・ドルマヤンの密室」 / 「英雄チェン・ウェイツの失踪」/ 「監察官ジェマイヤ・カーレッドの韜晦」/ 「墓守ラクパ・ギャルポの誉れ」/ 「女囚マリア・スコフィールドの懐胎」 /  「確定囚アラン・イシダの真実」

Running to Horizon

走る走る俺たち　流れる汗もそのままに 　

いつかたどり着いたら　君にうちあけられるだろ 

「Runner」 （爆風スランプ）

We run, we run, with sweat pouring down

But when I finally make it there, I will be able to confess to you

"Runner" (Bakufu Slump)

Every year, I try to read at least one mystery set in the city of Fukuoka, so why not start this new year with one?

The Fukuoka International Open Marathon is one of the oldest annual marathons held in Japan and its position in the world of athletics is therefore quite important. The sixty-first edition of this race however has an extra bit of glamour to it: the Fukuoka Marathon is the first of three marathons held in 2007 in Japan which will determine which athletes will be sent as the national representatives in the Beijing Olympics the following year. Victory at one of these marathons, or at least the best result among the Japanese participants, more or less guarantees you'll be picked as a member of the Olympic team. But while there are certainly participants who are competing for that ticket, it's also true that every single partipant in this race has their own goals. Some of the professionals are not only aiming for a ticket, but perhaps for a personal or even a national record time. The foreign guest runners too are eager to finish in first place in this prestigious race. But there are also amateur runners who simply want to experience what it is run a full marathon, while others participate to prove a point to someone. Everyone has their own goals and designs as they make their way to the goal, but some runners have far more complex and sinister plans in mind as they speed through the streets of Fukuoka and with all these dreams and schemes bunched together, it was only a matter of time before one star runner would become the victim of a sinister plot and die. The questions of what the truth behind this runner's death is and what is everything hoping to accomplish is what drives Torikai Hiu's Gekisou Fukuoka Kokusai Marathon - 42.195 Kilo no Nazo ("The Fierce Race - The Fukuoka International Marathon: The 42.195 km-long Mystery", 2005). The book was later retitled to the shorter Gekisou when it was released in pocket format.

I'm the first to admit I'm not a sports viewer at all in real life, but the Fukuoka International Open Marathon is one of the few big sports events I saw with my own eyes: I was living in the neighborhood Kashii in Fukuoka at the time, and the Miyuki Bus Stop near the two Kashii stations is the turning point of the marathon somewhere beyond the 30 kilometer point, after which the runners run back to the Heiwadai Stadium near Ohori Park. My dorm was only a 5-10 minute walk away from the Miyuki Bus Stop, so I caught a bit of the race back then. My knowledge that this book would likely refer (even if very short) to the neighborhood I knew was a reason I really wanted to read this novel. Of course, as the marathon route goes through the whole of Fukuoka, most of the locations mentioned were somewhat familiar to me.

I've seen Gekisou Fukuoka Kokusai Marathon referred to as both a sports novel with a mystery element, and a mystery novel with a sports element, and both descriptions could work, depending on where the reader puts emphasis on. There is a properly clewed mystery plot here, but one has to admit that if you didn't know this was a mystery novel, you probably wouldn't notice it until extremely late in the novel and the novel's first impression is certainly that of a sports novel. The whole story is set during the Fukuoka Marathon, from the start until the finish, with each section counting off the number of kilometers left until the goal. The plot follows an ensemble cast of people partipicating in the race, but also a few outside the race. We get a glimpse in the minds of the three star runners Ogasawara, Nikaidou and Taniguchi for example, who all compete for a ticket to the Olympics, but also other runners in the race like one of three pacemakers in the race, as well as a runner who is competing for a ticket to the Beijing Paralympics. Outside the runners we also follow people like the police officer on the motorcycle leading the pack. All of these people have different things on their mind as the race continues, and the further we get, the more we learn about their pasts, their dreams and what they hope to accomplish in this race. It's also here where you slowly realize that some of these people are trying more than just win the race. Overall though, I'd say this novel is an entertaining read as a sports novel, diving into the heads of the diverse lot as they make their way through Fukuoka.

It takes a long time before something happens that one would associate with the mystery genre. It's only around the halfway point when one of the runners suddenly keels over while getting his drink and dies in the ambulance. Death during a marathon isn't unheard of, of course, considering the physical strain it places on the body of the participants, but the motorcycle police officer leading the pack still thinks something fishy is going on. The truth behind this part of the mystery isn't super original and this part is a bit short (as the sections with the officer's thoughts are constantly cut off by the narratives of the other cast members), but it is definitely cleverly clewed, with the hints nicely hidden within the various narratives. Had this been the only mystery element, Gekisou Fukuoka Kokusai Marathon would have been a somewhat weak novel, but Torikai manages to much more with this novel. The problem: I can't write about it, as that would really give the game away. Let's say that once you reach the finish, some events and narratives that occured during the last two hours of the race take on a completely different meaning. Something big is going on and it happens under the nose of the reader. In hindsight, this is also properly hinted at and realizing how much of the various events that occured over the last 42 kilometres were in fact clues and foreshadowing is quite satisfying. So as a mystery novel, the set-up takes a long time, but I am quite pleased with the pay-off, even if you won't even realize that something is going on.

I have to admit I haven't read many sports mystery titles, but I do think this one stands out. Detective Conan has several sports-themed stories, but most of them are about bombs for some reason, and they happen outside the match themselves, with Conan having to trace bombs placed around a stadium or something like that, with the actual athletes having little direct connection to that (they usually have to do *something* to help Conan, but even then the focus doesn't lie on them). Examples would be the London story in volumes 71-72 for example, or the film The Eleventh Striker. Detective Conan: The Crimson Love Letter takes the form of a traditional sports film too, complete with training scenes, and is perhaps one of the best sports stories in Conan, even if it features a minor sport like competitive karuta. Queen has a few short stories too in The New Adventures of Ellery Queen I remember. What makes Gekisou Fukuoka Kokusai Marathon so remarkable however is the plot truly revolves around the marathon and the various interested parties, and that the whole plot takes place over the course of the race itself, and we don't see anything before or after the race itself.

So Gekisou Fukuoka Kokusai Marathon - 42.195 Kilo no Nazo was an entertaining novel that does a good job at bringing both a sports and mystery story. If you're looking for a mystery plot however, you do need to have patience, as it takes a while to get there and it's more one of those mystery novels that you only realize is actually a properly clewed mystery novel in hindsight. If you do manage to keep up with the pace however, you're in for a short, but engaging read.

Original Japanese title(s): 鳥飼否宇『激走　福岡国際マラソン　42.195キロの謎』