『平成のホームズ』

「推理に勝ったも負けたも、上も下もねーよ、真実はいつもたった一つしかねーんだからな」

『名探偵コナン』

"There's no winning or losing, no better or worse in deductions; 'Cause there's always only one truth"

"Detective Conan"

Something new: re-reading Meitantei Conan from the beginning. I'm up to date with the Japanese release, but it's been almost ten years since I first started reading Conan. I've forgotten a lot of the stories by now, so I decided to revisit the series again.

By the way, for a short introduction on all things Conan: I recently wrote about the series on Criminal Element.

With this series of posts, I intend to discuss ten volumes per post. These posts won't be real reviews however, nor summaries of the individual cases. It just wouldn't add much to great (Japanese) sources like The Decipherment of Conan, the official Detective Conan Case Report website, or the Mouri Kogorou Detective Agency (in the linkbar). My posts will mostly serve as a short overview of my thoughts on the individual stories, what I noticed about the story-telling and more importantly, how all of the stories interconnect with the overall storyline of Conan. My writings may seem a bit unconnected, as I just jot down keywords while reading everything and sometimes I don't have keywords for large parts of a volume.

I'll be writing this with the power of Hindsight, so I'll sometimes connect stories/characters/themes/motives in earlier volumes with later stories. It's therefore not really spoiler-free, I'm afraid. The series just passed the 70s this year, so this will turn out to be a series of eight posts, if I manage to finish it this year.

Each new recurring character is noted, as well as new gadgets, important locations, etc. Case names are taken from Shounen Sunday's Detective Conan Case Report .

Detective Conan manga & movies:
Part 1: Volumes 1 ~ 10
Part 2: Volumes 11~20; The Timebombed Skyscraper (1) / The Fourteenth Target (2)
Part 3: Volumes 21~30; The Last Wizard of the Century (3) / Captured in Her Eyes (4)
Part 4: Volumes 31~40; Countdown to Heaven (5) / The Phantom of Baker Street (6)
Part 5: Volumes 41~50; Crossroad in the Ancient Capital (7) / Magician of the Silver Sky (8) / Strategy Above the Depths (9)
Part 6:  Volumes 51~60; Private Eyes' Requiem (10) / Jolly Roger in the Deep Azure (11)
Part 7: Volumes 61~70; Full Score of Fear (12) / The Raven Chaser (13) / Lost Ship in the Sky (14)
Part 8: Volumes 71~80; Quarter of Silence (15) / The Eleventh Striker (16) / Private Eye in the Distant Sea (17)
(You will find the links to the reviews of volume 70, 72~76, 78, 82~87 and the films Quarter of Silence (15), The Eleventh Striker (16), Private Eye in the Distant Sea (17), Dimensional Sniper (18) in the library)

Volume 1
Keyhole: Kudou Shinichi
Cases: Jet Coaster Murder Case; Director's Daughter Kidnapping Case; Idol Locked Room Murder Case  
Characters: Kudou Shinichi (= Edogawa Conan), Mouri Ran, Mouri Kogorou, Professor Agasa Hiroshi, Okino Youko.
Police: Police Inspector Megure Juuzou (Tokyo MPD)
Black Organisation: Gin, Vodka (unnamed)
Items: Voice-changing bowtie
Location: Beika-chou, Teitan High School, Kudou mansion, Tropical Land, Mouri Detective Agency
Plot: Shinichi shrinks, moves in with the Mouris

A somewhat uneven start for the series: it's very clear that Aoyama Goushou worked on the light-hearted adventure Yaiba and more importantly, Magic Kaito, before starting this series, as the art-style, the style of jokes and maybe more importantly, the intended readers are definately the same. It results in somewhat easy detectives stories clearly meant for younger children, not unlike a series like Himitsu Tantei Holmes ("Secret Agent Holmes") (which started two years later, but anyway). The first case, the murder on the rollercoaster is spectular, but surely not without its flaws, while the kidnapping case is kinda forgettable. The third story is mostly important as it is the first case to feature the voice-changing bowtie, an unconcious Mouri Kogorou (this time knocked out by an ashtray) and the introduction of idol Okino Youko, who will serve as the series' main link with the entertainment world by introducing new cases to Mouri. Gin and Vodka make one of their rare appearances (of course), but aren't actually named here. I guess that Magic Kaito readers would have related these two gansters to the secret organisation that appears there, though the members of that organisation have different codenames (animals).

Volume 2
Keyhole: Mouri Ran
Cases: Akaoni Village Fire Festival Murder Case; A Strange Search Murder Case; The Haunted Mansion Murder Case 
Characters: Yoshida Ayumi, Kojima Genta, Tsuburuya Mitsuhiko
Black Organisation: Miyano Akemi, unnamed Miyano sister
Items: Power-enhancing kick shoes, criminal tracking glasses, elasticity suspenders
Location: Teitan Elementary
Other: Yaiba on TV
Plot: Conan is placed at Teitan Elementary 1B; is witness of the murder of Miyano Akemi

The first inverted story in the series and also the first in a long range of stories where recorded images (photo's, film) are used and where Mouri Kogorou's testiomony is used for an alibi trick. All very Conan-ish. Conan also gains three items, of which only the power-enhancing kick shoes are used regularly to protect himself and others. The criminal tracking glasses are nowadays usually used to track his own friends, while the elasticity suspenders are rarely, rarely used. It seems they are used more effectively in the movies than in the manga. And of course, volume two contains two important introductions: firstly, Miyano Akemi, a member of the black organisation. She is the one who actually confirms that their trademark is black clothing. And we have long-game foreshadowing as she mentions her sister just before she dies. And secondly, the first appearance of the Detective Boys, even though they don't have that name yet.

Volume 3
Keyhole: Mouri Kogorou
Cases: Luxary Cruise Serial Murder Case; Once-a-Month Present Threatening Case
Characters: Hatamoto Natsue, Hatamoto Takeshi
Items: Stungun Wristwatch
 
The first long story, featuring serial murders on board of a ship chartered by the Hatamoto family. Starts out very Kindaichi Kousuke-like, with the large rich family and even the drawing of a family tree to clear things up. While the story is a bit clumpsy, I think this is the first story where we see that Aoyama is trying to write more mature detective stories for Conan. The previous stories were rather stereotypical for children's detective manga, and here we see it move towards the longer, complexer stories like we see in Kindaichi Shounen no Jikenbo (which started two years earlier). Actually, it's pretty clear from his earlier works that Aoyama liked detective stories, so it might have even been Kindaichi Shounen's popularity that prompted him to start with his own pure detective series. Also the first time that Ran suspects that Conan is in fact Kudou. It won't be the last. Oh, and the introduction of the stun-gun wristwatch, which is also a staple of the series. It does change the series a bit, as it allows Conan to directly state his own deductions rather than giving hints to the people around him. Probably made writing easier for Aoyama too.

Volume 4
Keyhole: Megure Juuzou
Cases: The Museum Owner Murder Case; Shinkansen Explosion Case; Metropolis Coded Map Case 
Characters: Kamen Yaiber
Black Organisation: Gin, Vodka (names known)
Items: Glasses-shaped hidden microphone
Plot: Second meeting Gin and Vodka, hears their code names

The opening story ends on a poetic note, something Aoyama likes to do. The image of the man killed by a bloody knight is pretty impressive and even now a story I remember well. It's also another story wher recorded images play an important role. Conan meets Gin and Vodka again (actually learns their codenames this time) in the second story, but loses the track almost immediately. In the last story, Ran meets the Detective Boys for the first time (still not named as such though) and the first of a long, long series of Detective Boys Code Cracking stories. They actually catch a couple of gangsters, so they start to make a name.

Volume 5
Keyhole: Agasa Hiroshi
Cases: Mountain Villa Bandaged Man Murder Case; Karaoke Box Murder Case; Edogawa Conan Kidnapping Case 
Characters: Suzuki Sonoko, Suzuki Ayako, Edogawa Fumiyo
Plot: The Sonoko Zaibatsu is introduced

The first time we see Ran's best friend, Sonoko. Who is immediately portrayed as a man-hunting rich girl. Which has not changed much in the last couple of years. Her sister Ayako doesn't make many appearances after this one, but I think you see her occasionally. The first story is the second of the longer stories in Conan and this one is already an improvement on the first. Also because it contains dismemberment. Also important as Conan uses Sonoko as his proxy in this story and high school-detective Suzuki Sonoko will return often (and the police actually starts to believe her as a great detective). The second story is about a murder in a karaoke-box, wherein Conan contacts Megure as Kudou. He does make Megure promise to keep his name out of the papers. And finally, the appearance of Conan's mother, Fumiyo! (?) Who is probably named after Akechi Kogorou's wife in Edogawa Rampo's novels.

Volume 6
Keyhole: Yoshida Ayumi
Cases: Edogawa Conan Kidnapping Case; Antique Collector Murder Case; The Disappearing Corpse Murder Case;  Tenkaichi Night Festival Murder Case
Characters: Kudou Yuusaku, Kudou Yukiko, Night Baron
Police: Police Inspector Yokomizo Sango (Saitama)
Items: Detective Boy Badge
Plot:  Yuusaku & Yukiko learn of Kudou's problem; the Mouris are officially asked to take care of Conan; Detective Boys established

We officially meet Shinichi's parents and learn things about them that are used in future stories, like Yukiko's talent for disguise and Yuusaku being a famous detective writer and about his fictional character Night Baron. The second story (a man slashed to death) uses a visual clue, which really has become a characteristic of this series by now. Also: kendou is a recurring theme in Aoyama Goushou's work, most prominently in Yaiba, but the Hattoris in later volumes are all skilled kendouka. In the third story, the Detective Boys finally get their transceiver badges and also their group name. They also encounter their first dead body and it won't be their last. Nobody considers sending the kids to therapy or something. And finally, an inverted detective story introducing Chief InspectorYokomizo Sango of the Saitama police. The first non-MPD cop we meet in Detective Conan, and one who often asks Kogorou's cooperation in his investigations in later cases. Foreshadowing of all the other cops we're going to meet in the series?

Volume 7
Keyhole: Yokomizo Sango
Cases: Tenkaichi Night Festival Murder Case; The Moonlight Piano Sonata Murder Case; Pro Soccer Player Threatening Case  
Characters: Yamada (editor); Asai Narumi, Akagi Hideo
Items: Portable bentou fax
Plot: the end of the Moonlight Sonata case serves as a trauma for Conan

The editor in the first story (Yamada) is actually a recurring character, though never in the limelight. You'll be sure to see his name mentioned again later. Volume 7 for me was a turning point in the series. The Moonlight Sonata murder case is really a representative story of the series and I think the anime special is rated amongst the better ones by the fans in Japan. It's really creepy, a series or murders all accompanied by the Moonlight Sonata and the minor code cracking, as well as the linguistic clue to the identity of the killer is something that made impression on me. The next story is more like a cute one where we see how viciously jealeous Ran can get and it also introduces the utterly useless portable bentou fax. With real food. With the introduction of cellphones, the bentou fax, as well as the later introduced ear-ring phone quickly disappeared. They were silly anyway. Also the first mention of star soccer player Akagi Hideo, whose name will pop up once in a while.

Volume 8
Keyhole: Suzuki Sonoko
Cases: Pro Soccer Player Threatening Case; Night Baron Murder Case; June Bridge Murder Case 
Characters: Matsumoto Sayuri
Police: Superintendent Matsumoto Kiyonaga (Tokyo MPD), Police Inspector Yokomizo Sango (transferred to Shizuoka)

The Night Baron murder case, the first of a long series of murders when Conan and the others visit Izu. Yokomizo of the Saitama police has conveniently been transferred to Shizuoka, so they meet again. Together with the Moonlight Sonata case of the last volume, this case symbolizes the slight change in tone from a slightly serious kids-oriented series to a more serious detective series. Also a case featuring computer programmers, whichi is interesting considering later stories. The last story introduces us to Super Intendent Matsumoto and his daughter Sayuri, who used to be teacher of Kudou, Ran and Sonoko. Matsumoto often appears in big cases as the direct superior of Megure.Oh, and high school-detective Suzuki Sonoko makes her first appearance in front of the police.

Volume 9
Keyhole: Kojima Genta
Cases: Ayumi's Kidnapping Case; Kogorou's Reunion Murder Case; Investor's Daughter Murder Case 
Items: Turbo-engine skateboard
Plot: Kogorou is established as an accomplished judouka

Another 'code cracking' story with the Detective Boys, this time by vague descriptions of a location. First appearance of the solar-powered turbo-engine skateboard, which is probably what set of the whole action theme the Conan movies have. If he can ride a turbo engine skateboard, then why not a helicopter/boat/car/train/plane/etc, script-writers must have thought. The second story (a favorite!) is with Kogorou's old friends. It shows that Kogorou is not as dimwitted as he might seem and that his years as a cop weren't for nothing. His considerable talents in judou are also first shown here. The story itself, featuring a Benkei motive, is the first one in Conan using Japanese legends as a motive. Many are to follow and they're all very memorable.

Volume 10
Keyhole: Hattori Heiji
Cases: Investor's Daughter Murder Case; Diplomat Murder Case; Library Murder Case; Snowy Mountain Villa Murder Case 
Characters: Hattori Heiji
Police: Deputy Commissioner General Hattori Heizou (Osaka)
Plot: Discovery that Paikaru acts as an antidote to the shrinking (ironic because it's an alcohol?)

First a regular story with no real interesting features, except for the fact that I 'recently' saw the alibi trick used in a Kindaichi Shounen no Jikenbo story, but much more complex. But the main meat of this volume is the introduction of Hattori Heiji as a rival to Kudou (Hattori of the West, Kudou of East). A layered locked room mystery and the return of Kudou Shinichi make this a very entertaining story. After ten volumes, Conan and Agasa finally seem to have a clue as to how to turn Conan back into Kudou. Heh. There's also a short Detective Boys story, with our kids' second meeting with the dead, set in a library. The last story is the first of the trademark Conan dying message stories, which are hard to solve if you're not familiar with Japanese culture. And even then they're not easy.

With the first ten volumes read, I'm actually quite surprised that some Conan staples aren't even established yet. I would never have thought that by volume 10, Professor Agasa and the Detective Boys hadn't met yet!  Or that Chief Inspector Yokomizo is the only identified non-Tokyo cop! Some of the older stories were quite hard to read after this many years and if you compare the stories nowadays with those of the first volumes, it's very clear that they are so widely different. Aoyama really grew in the years he wrote Conan, with the stories nowadays much more better structured and in general, better detective stories. The first volumes are clearly more meant for a younger public, but by volume 7~8 the tone does seem to have changed.

Volumes 11~20 tomorrow!

Original Japanese title(s): 青山剛昌　『名探偵コナン』第１巻～１０巻

Ellerius Bibliophilus

"I can understand a chronic bibliophile having this bizarre collection on his desk, for some dark purposes of his own (...) Your employer does not impress me as having the intellectual potentialities of a paleontological field worker, who is a stamp-collecting addict, who has a passion for medieval comerce, who knows so little of music that he must read a child's history of it, and finally who indulges in the sickening horseplay of the year's best - or worst- vaudeville jokes! ... Wes, old boy, there is more here than meets the vacillating eye."

"The French Powder Mystery"

Another Ellery Queen in just a few days? In fact, this was the only Western detective I actually planned to read this year, all the other books just happened to cross my path...

Reviews of Ellery Queen's 'nationality' novels:
The Roman Hat Mystery
The French Powder Mystery
The Dutch Shoe Mystery
The Greek Coffin Mystery
The Egyptian Cross Mystery
The American Gun Mystery
The Siamese Twin Mystery
The Chinese Orange Mystery
The Spanish Cape Mystery 

The French Powder Mystery is the second novel in the EQ series and starts very promising. Every day at noon, an exhibition of a living/bed room is held in a window-booth of the French department store. A girl is supposed to show the various products in the booth and lure the bypassers on the street by her demonstration. But when she pulls down the bed-built-in-the-wall, she, and the onlookers are in for a big surprise as the dead body of a woman falls down from the bed! She is quickly identified as Mrs. French, the wife of the department owner. Inspector Queen is charge of the case, even though he is busy enough with the new Commissioner (who demands reports every day by every officer on the force, checked by Queen) and a drug-ring in the City. Son Ellery on the other hand sees no problems in the French case, as he quickly and steadily deduces himself to the killer.

Wow, I really liked this book! It starts off great, with the public exposition of a dead body and then the logical progress of the story: Ellery Queen notices something at place A, which logically leads him to place B et cetera. Reading the story is like following Ellery's train of thought and that's precisely what I like about the early Queen books: carefully plotted stories that develop at a steady pace that ultimately lead to the one solution. And whereas Inspector Queen and Velie seemed more present than Ellery in The Roman Hat Mystery, Ellery is no doubt our protagonist in this book.

Queen classics like the search of an open, public space (looking for suspects and clues within a department store) and the profiling of the killer through several characteristics indicated by the clues are executed flawlessly. Add in the public display of the dead body, the complete team of Inspector Queen, Velie, Prouty and the others, a Challenge to the Reader, introducing quotes (!), thematic chapter-naming and we have a Classic Queen that has all the elements I love. I especially like the part where Queen uncovers several vital clues by looking at a couple of books and deducing something is not all quite right with them.

My one complaint is maybe that Ellery states his own deductions at several stages of the story, leaving almost no new material for the conclusion: most of his explanations we already know. While the deductions are presented a lot more structured in the conclusion, I think this made the challenge to the reader a bit too easy, as too much of the deductions were already voiced by Ellery, rather than leaving it up to the imagination of the reader.

And that was actually the last of the Nationality novels I needed to read. Still got some Queens left to read, but Classic!Queen is still the best of all Queens, and I doubt I'll encounter something as fun as this amongst the remaining ones.

「解けない謎はないんです」

"Look, a ladder!"

"That's a "step"-ladder"

"So? What's the difference? You need to stop judging things based on narrow-minded cultural assumptions, Nick!"

"Phoenix Wright Ace Attorney"

Oh, something Dutch! But Japanese!

Whereas modern criminal court-room drama mainly focus on a) defense attorneys, b) prosecution, c) lay judges or c) expert witnesses, you seldom see one featuring judges. Which is logical, I concur, but in the old, old times, judges in Asia were pretty much the only factor of importance in the courtroom, which were more like civil courtrooms, with individuals prosecuting each other and the judge as acting as the one who decides who was right. Probably the most famous example in the West would be Van Gulik's Judge Dee. Which is a pretty amusing series, featuring a Chinese judge who acts as a detective.

Bertus Aafjes did something similar like Van Gulik. Van Gulik based his Judge Dee on the historical Judge Dee (see also Parallel Cases under the Pear-Tree, a translation by Van Gulik of real Chinese court records). Bertus Aafjes wrote several stories starring Judge Ooka, who was based on Ooka Echizen, a famous judge presiding in Edo in Tokugawa Japan and who is still revered as a wise judge, who was able to find solutions for seemingly impossible problems. Like Van Gulik, Aafjes didn't 'storify' existing Ooka legends, but came up with original stories. Een Ladder tegen een wolk ("A Ladder against a Cloud") is the first short story collection by Bertus Aafjes featuring ten  original stories with Ooka. They're all quite short, maybe ten pages, sometimes less and usually feature a problem that is seemingly impossible to solve, until the wise Ooka intervenes (note that my summaries are really short this time, as the stories themselves are short too).

De haan heeft gegaapt of de zaak van de vele moordenaars ("The Cock Yawned or the Case of the Multiple Murderers") is about three old friends who accuse each other of murder. One says he did it, the other she did it and the last one says they both did it. Which of them is the real murderer?

In Een ladder tegen een wolk of de zaak van de afperser ("A Ladder against a Cloud or the Case of the Blackmailer"), an old couple is forced to steal in order to pay a blackmailer who had found out they had illegally left the city of Edo. The old couple gets caught while stealing. Ooka wants to be lenient on the old couple, but that would mean that he would have to let the blackmailer go.

In Wie de schaduw liefheeft krijgt het koud of de zaak van de wanhopige samoerai ("He Who Loves the Shadow gets Cold or the Case of the Desperate Samurai"), Ooka gets a strange request by a woman: her husband, an ex-samurai, is unhappy now he has to work in a store (rather than carrying a sword) and because of that, they lose clients everyday. How is Ooka able to make the ex-samurai content again?

In Wie zich met vermiljoen mengt wordt rood of de zaak van de identieke verdachten ("He Who Mingles with Vermillion turns Red or the Case of the Identical Suspects"), Ooka is confronted with the ancient problem of unreliable witnesses. The witnesses point to two different men as the thief of their store. Ooka is sure one of them is the thief, but which one? 

In De ware mens is geen werktuig of de zaak van de woedende winkelier ("A True Man is Not a  Tool or the case of the Raging Retailer") a woman begs Ooka to help her son: he works at her brother's store, but gets abused a lot. Ooka takes the case and uses his wisdom in sorting things out.

In Een wilde gans is honderd goudstukken waard maar men moet er eerst drie uitgeven voor een pijl of de zaak van De Wenkende Kat ("A Wild Goose is worth 100 Gold Coins but You have to Pay 3 Coins First for an Arrow or the Case of the Inviting Cat"), Ooka gets out to find decisive proof that one of the suspects in his custody is the person they're looking for.

In Zelfs de koelies bemerken nog wie de geliefde van de keizer is of de zaak van de zonderlinge spion ("Even the Coolies know who the Emperor's Lover is or the Case of the Strange Spy"), Ooka has to sort out a strange case wherein one family has planted a baby as a spy in another family.

In Ook een aap valt wel eens uit een boom of de zaak van de dief van Toranomon ("Sometimes even a Monkey Falls Out of a Tree or The Case of the Toranomon Thief"), Ooka is having troubles catching the Torananomon Thief and a different judge, Kujou is appointed to take over the case of Ooka.

Ooka faces his biggest challenge in Beter zijn leven te verliezen dan zijn gezicht of de zaak van het vrijwillige doodvonnis ("Better Losing His Life than his Face or The Case of the Voluntary Death Sentence"), as thanks to a trap by his enemies, Ooka is forced to sign his own death sentence!

Finally, in Als men er drie jaar op gaat zitten wordt zelfs een rotsblok wel warm of de zaak van de beide eerstgeborenen ("If You Sit On It for Three Days Even a Rock Will Become Warm or The Case of the Two First-Borns"), Ooka has to identify which of the identical twins is the first-born in an inheritance case.

The stories are amusing, very much like the cases in Parallel Cases under the Pear-Tree (even though that's Chinese). The focus on finding solutions for seemingly impossible problems is fun, even if sometimes it's not nearly as brilliant as the text tries to make you think. As someone studying Japanese studies though, I sometimes had to let out a Marge Simpson "hmm...." moan though. While I gather that Bertus Aafjes has visited Japan and it's mostly correct, some details do seem a bit iffy. Which is also a reason I don't think Judge Ooka's as fun as Judge Dee. At least, this particular short story collection was OK to read as a snack, between other books, but it sure didn't leave me satisfied.

Original Dutch title: Bertus Aafjes, Een Ladder tegen een Wolk

「ヤツはとんでもないものを盗んでいきました・・・ あなたの心です！」

"Do you have any proof of what you're saying?"

"None whatsoever," replied Lupin. "But proof is sometimees less convincing than logic." 

"La Cagliostro se Venge"

Oh, look, an Arsene Lupin review of something not written in Japanese! Oh, and this planned posting thing is awesome.

While not as big an adventure like 813 or Les Dents du tigre, La Comtesse de Cagliostro ("Countess Cagliostro") was one of the more engaging Arsene Lupin stories, chronicling his earliest big heist as a thief and his battles against and affairs with the mysterious Countess Cagliostro. As I couldn't find an English translation at the time, I read the whole thing in German and it's the only German book I own. I love Lupin that much. Anyway,  while Lupin had seemingly won in La Comtesse,  readers knew that a horrible plan had been set in motion by Cagliostro for her revenge. It was just a matter of time.
 

Well, time and availability. I had wanted to read La Cagliostro se Venge ("Countess Cagliostro's Revenge") for some years now, but it wasn't until last year that an English translation (bundled with an English translation of La Comtesse) was published. Even worse that release had kinda slipped under my radar too!  But now, a year late, I finally got to continue in the Lupin saga. In La Cagliostro se Venge, set many years and books after La Comtesse, master-criminal Arsene Lupin is finally confronted with Cagliostro's revenge. It starts out with a normal day for Lupin, who is doing reseach on a potential target, but little does he know that soon he, a young architect who lives in his mansion and the neighbours are soon to get involved with a murder. The murder is the starting sign of a long adventure of lovers, of people trying to blackmail Lupin (don't try it!), about old friends and enemies and the culmination of Cagliostro's revenge.

Like always, an Arsene Lupin novel is more a swashbuckling adventure by our master-criminal (compared to the more 'classic' short stories), but they seldom bore. I am kinda disappointed in the novel though; if I was an evil Countess woman with a criminal organisation to my disposal, I would have planned my revenge... more detailed? More sure? More... I don't know, hate-inspired revenge rather than a I'll-see-what-happens-revenge. The story is short too, so no awesome epic like 813. Which is still the best novel-length Arsene Lupin novel. This novel is somewhere in the OK-ish ~ not-really-worth-it range.

I only recommend reading this Lupin novel because it forms a set with the La Comtesse de Cagliostro, which does belong to required-reading list of Arsene Lupin. Some Lupin novels are best read in groups anyways, like Les Dents du tigre is best read together with 813, or how to a lesser degree Arsene Lupin vs. Herlock Sholmes and L'Aiguille creuse form a set within the Arsene Lupin timeline. But the plot-twist at the end of La Comtesse is really strongly connected with La Cagliostro se Venge, which automatically turns it into an important book within the Lupin world. Few qualities of its own, but recommended reading for the fans.

『揺れる警視庁１２００万人の人質』

「官憲の権力（ちから）なしでこの明治の世に、剣一本ではもはや何もできんのだぞ。」

「剣一本でも、この目にとまる人々くらいなら何とか守れるでござるよ。」

『るろうに剣心』

"Without the power of the government, there is very little you can do in the Meiji period with just one single sword."

"Even with just a single sword, I can at least protect the people around me."

 "Rurouni Kenshin"

Heh, reading English is a lot easier than Japanese, I can easily finish one or two books a day now! Of course, this does mean that I spend fewer days on Japanese books, which in turns means it will take longer for me to finish my backlog pile...

In Ellery Queen's Cat of Many Tails (Dutch translation: Paniek op Manhattan / "Panic in Manhattan"), a mysterious serial killer has been creating chaos in Manhattan. During an unbelievable hot summer, men and women from all classes and ages are found strangled, without a single clue to the identity of the murderer. Who is this "Cat", as the press call him, and how many lives is the Cat going to take? The police isn't able to find any connections between the victims and it seems like anyone in Manhattan could have committed the murders. Inspector Queen is made head of  the Cat investigation, but the police is stumped. What makes things even worse is that the population is getting very restless under the stress of the unknown assailant and the killer-heat. Ellery is appointed as a special advisor to the mayor to assist in the man-hunt, but can our man create logic out of chaos?

After several trips to Wrightsville better left unmentioned, Ellery Queen finally returns to his home-base: Manhattan! But the story is quite different from what we're used too: instead of a real mystery, a manhunt, a thriller, the search for that single killer amongst the population of Manhattan. And how to stop him! Or her! Or it! For who is the Cat, and why is he killing everybody? It's an interesting problem and the 'missing link' between the victims was wonderfully devious! Leave it up to Queen to find that single thread of logic. Of course, the search for something within a confined space was a specialty of Queen: see the search of the theater in The Roman Hat Mystery and The American Gun Mystery. Or compare to that other specialty of Queen, the reducing of suspects by comparing them to a list of characteristics of the killer (the killer is 1) left handed, 2) blind and 3) deaf, therefore it was A). Looking for a single killer within Manhattan is in fact a blown-up version of this, though executed in different way, as we don't even know what we're looking for.

I see many, many positive reviews of Cat of Many Tails, but I am not as enthousaistic about it as other, I think. It just feels too different from classic Queen. By the time you reach the plot-twist near the middle of the book, it's way too easy to see who the Cat is going to be and it's annoying to see post-Wrightsville!Queen angsting over everything, while we know that classic!Queen wouldn't have been so slow in getting to the truth. Seriously, it might be cool and post-modern and I don't know what for a detective to angst over his abilities to save mankind or something like that, but I sure don't like it (note: I'm very sure that I feel this also partially because I read Cat of Many Tails right after Rouletabille chez le Tsar, where Rouletabille ends up freaking out too at the end).

Cat of Many Tails has some great parts in the beginning though, with the descriptions of the lives of the victims of different layers of New York society. Similar passages are found in The ABC Murders, but the big difference to me is that our victims here are all inhabitants of Manhattan; the city is alive more than in other Queen novels, with the population feeling as one big entity. You feel that the fear for the serial killer is slowly but surely rising in the city and the culmination of that fear in riots was one of the more captivating parts of the book.

The way the victims are linked is smart and I like the depiction of Manhattan in this novel, but it's just so far away from what I expect, want from a Queen novel that I doubt I'll ever really like it as much as other people seem to do. Sure, Cat of Many Tails ranks amongst the better late-period Queens, but that is not saying much.

"I have eaten all your caviar. I am your guest. I am your friend"

Sometimes one only imagines things," said Rouletabille, keeping his hand on the door.

"Oh yes," said the other, growing more and more melancholy. "So a man suffers.He is his own tormentor; he himself makes the wheel on which, like his own executioner, he binds himself."
"Rouletabille chez le Tsar"

While I love Maurice LeBlanc's Arsene Lupin novels, I really regret I can't read them in the original French. I just can't seem to get feeling for the language. Strangely enough, I had few problems with Latin at school, but French... I just can't do it. I feel the same regret about Gaston Leroux's Rouletabille series, which I have read in English. While not perfect, it's hard to not acknowledge how some problems in Le Mystère de la Chambre Jaune were simply brilliant. I have to be honest and say I can remember absolutely nothing about the crimes in the sequel Le Parfum de la Dame en Noir, but as I don't feel an instant obnoxious feeling coming up like I feel with some Sayers' novels, I am going on a limb here and say it was at least entertaining.

The third Rouletabille novel picks up right where the previous left us. In Rouletabille chez le Tsar ("Rouletabille with the Czar", US: Secret of the Night), young French reporter Joseph Rouletabille is requested by the Czar himself to protect General Trebassof, responsible for subdueing a Nihilist revolution in Russia and the death of countless of young students. Designated as an enemy of the people for his deeds in the revolution by the Nihilists, there have been several attempts at the life of Trebassof. With his legs injured by a previous attempt with a bomb, Trebassof is confined to his house together with his wife and daughter. Despite an all-out security, somebody seems to be able to get into the house though, and it is up to the eccentric reporter to put a stop to this all.

Not sure what to think about the story. While the previous novels weren't that fair either, this novel was mostly a clueless mystery, with Rouletabille walking (crawling/swimming/etc.) around and then revealing unbelievable things we didn't know about. Yet, near the last two chapters some strings of plot were knitted together nicely and I felt positive about the book when I finished it. But I suspect I was just being fooled by a sweet aftertaste.

The poking around for the ways the Nihilists are going to attack the general is a big change from the previous two novels, which centered on good old crime scene investigation. Add in the change in writing style (no longer the notebook-style narration) and the new, rather antagonistic environment of Russia right after the subdueing of a bloody revolution attempt and and we have a novel that feels quite different from the previous novels. I guess you could do something really fun with the pre-emptive locked room mystery (solving how they're going to enter a locked room). But that is not really what Leroux did here. Too bad.

From the tone of my writings you can probably guess I am not really excited about this novel. If I think about the previous novels, I just see too much potential gone to waste. It's not completely awful, but it takes too long for just a small sniff of something nice.

「見た目は子供、頭脳は大人。迷宮なしの名探偵」

"He is the Napoleon of Crime, Watson, the organiser of half that is evil and nearly all that is undetected in this great city...",
"The Final Problem"

While it's always fun to see a master detective solve 'normal' crimes, we all know that things get serious when a master detective is pitted against a master criminal. We all know what happened with Holmes in his battle against Moriarty (but he got better). Or the battles of Holmes (or Sholmes) and Arsene Lupin. In more recent years, Tantei Gakuen ("Detective Academy Q")'s Q Class has been fighting against Pluto, an organisation that sells perfect crimes to would-be murderers. Tantei Gakuen Q's Pluto was a logical evolution of Kindaichi Shounen no Jikenbo ("The Case Files of Young Kindaichi")'s Puppeteer from Hell, a consulting murderer who came up with perfect crimes for his clients.

I was actually very surprised to see that the master criminal was the main theme of Nikaidou Reito's Akuma no Labyrinth ("The Devil Labyrinth"). Going by the title, I was expecting some kind of trick with a building or something like that. Especially as this book was written after Jinroujou no Kyoufu ("The Terror of Werewolf Castle"). But no. Akuma no Labyrinth is the story of the first skirmishes between master detective Nikaidou Ranko and master criminal Demon King Labyrinth. And yes, calling yourself a labyrinth is kinda strange. Calling yourself after a structure. A name like Puppeteer from Hell is scary. A labyrinth is a bit... abstract. And yes, I know that the term meikyuu-iri (lit.: inside a maze) means unsolved cases and that Demon King Labyrinth refers to that, i.e. his crimes can't be solved, but still. It's a really abstract name. Like calling yourself the Demon Archway or something.

But I digress. Set just before the events of Jinroujou no Kyoufu, Akuma no Labyrinth is split in two distinct parts, much like how Arsene Lupin contre Herlock Sholmes was basically two novelettes strung together. In the first story, The Mystery of Sleeping Limited Express Asakaze, a magican called Demon Satan is sent a threatening letter by Demon King Labyrinth, saying he is not worthy to carry the name of Satan. Just to be sure, Demon Satan's agent arranges for a private detective to accompany him on his trip from Tokyo to Fukuoka on the sleeping limited express Asakaze. It was for naught though, as 1) Demon Satan disappears from his room, 2) the dead body of his assistent who had been standing on the platform when they took off is found inside the room, 3) and all that in a triple locked environment; inside a moving train, inside a locked room, right under the nose of the private detective! The police ask Ranko for her help (who had received her own warning letter of Demon King Labyrinth by now), thus beginning the battle between Ranko and Labyrinth. A locked room using a trick I have seen before, but executed well mostly, except on one little point, which was passed over all too easily, in my opinion. I might want to check with a train-expert fan, but it sounded a bit too easy.

The battle continues in The Secret of the Glass House, which was like an Edogawa Rampo story, with too much strange happenings in a short time period. First the search of an abandoned mansion which seems to be an old hide-out of Labyrinth. A couple of Scooby-Doo secret doors and underground hallways lead to something which seems like a clue to Labyrinth's plans. And a lot of dead bodies. And then an intermezzo of a man discovering a cave holding frozen statues of naked dead men (think Kurotokage ("The Black Lizard")). And finally a locked room murder in a house of... well, mainly glass. Which was way too easy to solve. Other aspects of the mystery were impossible to solve on the other hand and Ranko's 'deductions' really came from nowhere. The more I think about it, the more I'm convinced this was intended as an homage to Edogawa Rampo.That is the only explanation for the cannibal appearing.

And then it stops. Without a real conclusion. It seems like Nikaidou intended Akuma no Labyrinth to be a series-opener or something. As of now, we only have vague hints about who/what Labyrinth is and a lot of foreshadowing. As of now, this is really nothing more than just a teaser and we don't even get any real developments in the conclusion of the book. It's entertaining stuff, but it feels a bit incomplete. I guess I'm expected to read the rest in following books.

The introduction of a nemesis to Ranko is kinda... surprising though. I can't remember the last time I saw a master-detective/master-criminal show-off in a novel. Often enough in manga and movies, but in a novel series? On the other hand, seeing how Jinroujou no Kyoufu ended, it was not totally unexpected, I guess. You could say Nikaidou was just building on some themes introduced there. And yes, it's sorta cheap to set this book before the events of Jinroujou no Kyoufu, because it allows Nikaidou to write on with Ranko. No, she doesn't die there, or anything like that at all (so stop the guessing or saying I'm spoiling things), but it's significant that Nikaidou chose to set this book (and I guess subsequent books with Labyrinth) before Jinroujou no Kyoufu.

I'm reading my Nikaidou books in the worst order possible though. I still haven't read the first Nikaidou Ranko novel yet (yes, I have it), but I pretty much have read her greatest cases already and it seems that continuity in this series is actually slightly relevant.

Oh, and the reviews (yes, plural) for the following few days are of gasp! Western books.

Original Japanese title(s): 二階堂黎人 『悪魔のラビリンス』