『よくあるパターン』

「でもさ、 桜は警察の人がみんなつけてるマークだよ！強くて優しくてカッコイイ正義の花なんだから！！」

『名探偵コナン』

"But the sakura is the mark of the police! It is a strong, gentle flower of justice!!"

"Detective Conan"

 
It's been almost a month since the last post, but here's the seventh part of the big Detective Conan series overview. This is also the last post in this series for the time being. The newest volume, Conan 73, is scheduled for September and it will probably take almost two years before volume 80 is released (assuming the series won't stop before volume 80). If a volume is interesting enough, I might do an individual volume review whenever a new one arrives, but I think I prefer these bigger overviews on the series, as it's easier to pick up the little details that make up the big storyline of Conan. So yeah, spoilers to be found here.

For me, this particular set of Conan volumes is a bit special as I bought most of these volumes in Japan. On the release day of course. I associate these volumes, the stories very strongly with my time in Japan, so I might sound a bit too positive at times. But ignoring nostalgia (which can be quite dangerous, as Tezuka told us in Phoenix), volumes 61~70 does really feature some great stories showing Conan is still going strong after almost 20 years of (very!) active duty.

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 61
Keyhole: Suzuki Jiroukichi
Cases: Kaitou KID's Teleportation Magic; Blue Spark of Hate; Deduction Battle! Shinichi vs. Okiya Subaru; A Delivery from the Real Culprit
Plot: Conan asks Ran not to tell Okiya too much about himself

While KID stories seem to pop up rather often, Kaitou KID's Teleportation Magic is a real treat. How is KID able to steal a jewel and teleport away to the top of a building in mere seconds? A great impossible crime story with a devious hint to the solution. This story is a lot like Kaitou KID's Miraculous Air Walk (volume 44), with Suzuki Jiroukichi challenging KID, an big open, urban area as the battlefield and KID easily acquiring his target. I think Teleportation Magic is the better of the two stories, but they're both great. Blue Spark of Hate is a Detective Boys story that involves murder, which is not too often. The main problem is finding out how the main suspect managed to set fire to the garage, blowing up the victim; the solution is a simple, yet effective one that is hinted at at many stages in the story. Deduction Battle! Shinichi vs. Okiya Subaru is an interesting story, as the type of storytelling used here is usually reserved for Hattori stories: in this story Conan and Okiya simultaneously solve the mystery behind the paper airplanes that have been found on the streets the last couple of days. Interesting is that it's the first time that Ran (and Sonoko) get to know that Okiya is living in the Kudou residence and Conan asks Ran not to tell Okiya too much about him (Shinichi). Aoyama is clearly trying to set Okiya up as Black Organisation member Bourbon (who was mentioned in volume 60). A Delivery from the Real Culprit is a short story involving the brother of Poirot waitress Azusa, who is the main suspect in a murder case.

Movie 12: Full Score of Fear
Release: April 19, 2008

After the disastrous Jolly Roger in the Deep Azure, I was kinda afraid to start with this movie, but Full Score of Fear is luckily not a total disaster. Conan's keen ears (despite being unable to hold a tone when singing) were already mentioned in Dissonance of the Stradivarius (volume 46), but as this movie features music heavily, this ability of Conan gets abused. The plot is decent enough, I guess, but that's probably because anything after Jolly Roger in the Deep Azure feels good. I can remember very little of this movie actually, which is usally not a good sign. Actually, I can only vividly remember the last scene, with Conan confronting the murderer and a scene somewhere in the middle, with Conan in a boat trying to use a phone by singing and me rolling my eyes very hard because things were getting a bit too ridiculous. People who have seen it, should know what I mean.

Volume 62
Keyhole: Shiragami
Cases: A Delivery from the Real Culprit; Softness Overcomes Mystery; Murderer Kudou Shinichi / Shinichi's Real Identity and Ran's Tears/What I Really Want to Ask
Plot: Haibara's working on a set of antidote pills

A Delivery from the Real Culprit is not a really interesting story though, more like one of those two-hour drama stories. Softness Overcomes Mystery is a fun little story with Eri, Ran and Conan, who are being used by a judoka for her alibi trick. The trick is easily enough to see through, but it's fun to see that Mouri Kogorou can really pull through as a real detective when it's needed. The final story-arc in this volume is the first of three big story arcs in volumes 61~70. Kudou Shinichi apparantly made a horrible deduction mistake one year ago and he is asked to review the case. Conan and Hattori arrive at the village where the incident happened, but due to some circumstances, Conan gets seperated from the rest and what's worse: he has accidently taken one of Haibara's experimental antidote pills. Hattori and the others are thus very surprised when they suddenly discover Shinichi, who is suffering from amnesia. What's even worse, Shinichi seemingly commits a murder! Hattori has much trouble solving the locked room murder case and protecting Shinichi/Conan's secret (having an amnesiac Shinichi does not help), but the case is really an awesome one, with a really sad ending. The hinting is done quite good, I think, and while all the Shinichi cases are fun, this is one of the better ones.

Volume 63
Keyhole:  Kojima Genji
Characters: Kojima Genji
Cases: What I Really Want to Ask/Kaitenzushi Mystery/The Criminal is Genta's Dad/The Witch Shrouded in the Fog

What I Really Want to Ask is a pretty interesting story: a man is found strangled in a running car. A moving locked room! It's a great little case that is sure to entertain; the main problem is fun, the story develops quite fast and the solution is realistic. Kaitenzushi Mystery is a personal favorite, as it features a poisoning in a kaitenzushi restaurant. The location is great for such a story, with moving belts and foodstuffs. The deductions that involve food etiquette within such a restaurant make the story feel quite realistic. The Criminal is Genta's Dad is a mix of the standard which-of-the-three formula with a The Red-Headed League-ish story. Genta's dad is one of the many participants to TV-show featuring people with the family name Kojima and he ends up as one of the three finalists. The one who came up with the show is found dead in the studio; pushed of the stairs. The only suspects: the three participants. Conan has to find out which of the three Genta's dad is, as well as find out who the murderer is. It's clear that the victim had been pulling some strings behind the scenes, selecting the three finalists himself, but why and is it related to his death? The Witch Shrouded in the Fog is a fun urban legend story involving a car that challenges other cars in races down mountains. It's even said that the witch's car can float in the sky! At the core, this is just a which-of-the-three story, but the urban legend makes this a blast to read.

Volume 64
Keyhole: Matsumoto Kiyonaga
Cases: Ikkaku Rock, Where Fish Disappear; Scar of a First Love/Scar that Invokes the Past; A New Scar and the Whistling Man/An Old Scar and a Detective's Spirit/Kaitou KID vs. the Strongest Safe
Plot: Matsumoto Kiyonaga likes the Beatles; Satou and Takagi's first kiss

Ikkaku Rock, Where Fish Disappear features some characters from Tragedy of Marumie Pier (volume 45). The setting is also the same, on a secluded space on sea, but this is not a poisoning story, but a dying message story. I think it's mostly difficult for kids (and foreigners), but it's a fun little dying message that is probably hard to translate. We also have a short Okiya scene who seems highly trained in hand-to-hand combat. Scar of a First Love/Scar that Invokes the Past is a lot like Ellery Queen's The Witch of Time Square (Q.B.I.), with a woman who wants to share some of her fortune with someone she had last met as a child. Her only clue: a long scar on his body. The problem is that two men claim to be the man she is looking for. The solution is easy, but the story mostly serves as an introduction to the next story. Whereas volume 28 explained why Megure's always wearing a hat, this story explains why Superintendent Matsumoto Kiyonaga has a big scar over his eye. The story is also a lot like MPD Detectives' Love Story 3 (volume 27), as both stories feature an old case and a race against the time (statute of limitations). I'm not particularly a fan of the puzzle-plot here though, as the clues consists of some specific jargon, but as a police-drama story, this one ranks with the best. The KID story is a bit tame compared to the excellent Kaitou KID's Teleportation Magic in volume 61. A fake Kaitou KID says he'll open Suzuki Jiroukichi's special safe, but it seems clear that the real KID will appear too.

Movie 13: The Raven Chaser
Release: April 18, 2009
Police: Police Inspector Yamamura Misao (Gunma; promotion)
Black Organisation: Irish

Being the first Conan movie I actually saw in the theatre, I particularly like this movie, but with a plot that heavily features the Black Organisation, you really can't go wrong. The trailers promoted this movie as a battle mystery, which it clearly is. Taking cues from Captured in her Eyes, this movie features a big police investigation across several prefectures (enter many guest appearances, including a recently promoted Yamamura Misao). The movie also features an internal affairs investigations, as Satou and Takagi (and Conan) fear someone (the Organisation) might have infiltrated the investigation. Other cues are actually taken from volume 64 (released just days before the movie), but to mention them would be a bit spoiler-ish. But I have to say, it's pretty cool to have the manga and movie work together so well) And of course, the new Organisation member Irish, who actually discovers Conan's identity. This movie just has everything: an internal affairs investigation, the Organisation, a great confrontation scene. One of the must-see movies (but please watch it only if you're up-to-date; being familiar with all the characters is especially with an internal investigations story quite important).

Volume 65
Keyhole: Morofushi Takaaki (Koumei)
Cases: Kaitou KID vs. The Strongest Safe; Detective Boys vs. Robbery Gang (Turmoil/Silence); The Dangerous Duo; Mansion of Death, the Red Wall  [Three Visits/Within My Grasp/Koumei Dies/Empty Fort Strategy]
Police: Police Inspector Morifushi Takaaki (Nagano (local))
Plot: Man resembling Akai Shuuichi appears, is seen by Jodie;

Suzuki Jiroukichi's safe is actually a safe designed by Samizu Kichiemon, a name first mentioned in volume 46. Samizu was a trick artist in the Edo period, specializing in building houses with secret hallways and stuff. Jiroukichi's safe is also loaded with death-traps and other tricks to scare away thieves. Samizu adds something I'm not sure I like or not. Samizu's inventions are a bit unrealistic, but then again, I accept Shinichi being a kid and Agasa's inventions. Detective Boys vs. Robbery Gang (Turmoil/Silence) is very much like The Mysterious Passenger (volume 29); both stories feature a hostage situation, both stories have Jodie in a semi-active role and finally, both stories Akai Shuuichi. Or do they? A man resembling Akai (with a burn scar on his face) appears in the bank, but disappears after the hostage situation. As he should be dead, Jodie is quite confused. The plan the bank robbers have is interesting, but I have the feeling I have seen it somewhere else before. Or did I read it here and forgot where I got it from? The Dangerous Duo is just a misdirection story (that mimicks volume 39's Contact with the Black Organisation - Chase) that leads into the second 'grand' story in this set of volumes: Mansion of Death, the Red Wall. The story introduces us to the highly intelligent Police Inspector Morofushi Takaaki, nicknamed Koumei. The story actually features a fantastic dying message, a really original way of leaving a message to point to a murderer. I'm almost sad I read this story in the manga first, 'cause some elements of the trick aren't conveyed that well in this medium. This is also the second story to feature references to Romance of the Three Kingdoms, after The Red Horse in the Blaze (volume 39). I also suspect some influence of Arisugawa Alice's Soutou no Akuma, as both stories feature a bohemian heaven for artists.

Volume 66
Keyhole: Uehara Yui
Cases: Mansion of Death, the Red Wall [Empty Fort Strategy]; Police Inspector Shiratori, Memory of the Cherry Blossom; Treasure Battle in the Haunted Storehouse; The Whereabouts of the Embarrassing Omamori; Alibi of a Black Dress
Plot: Shiratori tells about his first love

Using a police officer in an alibi trick can be smart, but it's seldom so in Conan. The trick used by a woman to fool the Detective Boys and Shiratori is a bit unrealistic and is only memorable, as a story, because of Shiratori's confession why he's in love with Satou (or so he thinks). Treasure Battle in the Haunted Storehouse features another of trick inventor Samizu Kichiemon's buildings and is a story I don't particular like. Most hints are easy enough to get and seeing the Detective Boys outsmarting Conan is fun too, but it's just... Samizu's buildings are just too fantastic. Even in Conan. The Whereabouts of the Embarrassing Omamori is a short Hattori story, with the gang trying to find out why one of Kazuha's neighbours (who accidently took her omamori with him) was attacked in a sports bar. A standard which-of-the-three story, but a bit too easy. It sorta depends on jargon, but this jargon is widely spread it's a bit too easy (except for children, maybe).

Volume 67
Keyhole: Kir
Cases: Alibi of a Black Dress; The Danger Envoked by the Red Omen; Suggestion of the Black 13/The Nearing Black Time Limit/The Shaking Red Target; Teacher Kobayashi's Love/Police Inspector Shiratori's Lost Love/Cherry Blossom's Love Transcending Time
Plot: Camel also sees the Akai look-a-like; the Organisation is aware of the Akai look-a-like; Okiya is looking for the Akai look-a-like; Shiratori finds out Kobayashi is his first love

Alibi of a Black Dress is a short, rather easy story involving gothic lolita's. The main problem is very easy and the final problem to be solved by the police is a bit easy to if you know a bit about these kinds of styles. Or if you're forced to read about at university courses. The following story is a very short, yet fun enough Detective Boys story who meet up with a nice elderly man whose actions seem a bit contradictory. Saying more would spoil the ending. Suggestion of the Black 13 is a strange story: it features the Black Organisation, the Akai Shuuichi look-a-like, Okiya and the FBI, but it's not really about them. Akai look-a-like, Okiya and Conan, Ran and Kogorou just happen to get caught up in a bomb hostage situation. And it just happens that the Organisation was hunting for the Akai look-a-like. The bomb hostage situation is resolved rather quickly and not particularly exciting IMHO, but it might be important to note that Gin states that nobody actually knows what Bourbon's plans are, even though (s)he has infiltrated the cast by now. The organisation probably doesn't even know who (s)he is at the moment. Thus heavily suggesting that Bourbon is actually Akai look-a-like IMHO, but anyway... Teacher Kobayashi's Love/Police Inspector Shiratori's Lost Love/Cherry Blossom's Love Transcending Time as a love story is cute and all, but the puzzle plot is way too easy. If you make a pick-out-the-odd-one-out-of-three story, you shouldn't create a story with a character who is obviously the odd one. It makes for a story that moves rather slow and actually feels boring at times.

Movie 14: Lost Ship in the Sky
Release: April 17, 2010

And the other Conan movie I saw in the theaters. As this movie isn't a pure detective, but a hostage movie (and includes Kaitou KID), it's kinda hard to compare to the other Conan movies. As a action movie, it totally works, with some crazy stunts by both Conan and KID. As a mystery movie... the movie doesn't work. Depending on what you like, you either like it or not. My companions loved the movie, while for me, the only thing that saved the movie was KID. And some of the action scenes. Strangely enough, Lost Ship in the Sky also reminded me a lot of the movie One Piece: Strong World, which I had seen in the winter. Both movies also obviously action-oriented movies with a hostage situation and they also feature the sky as a background, with the main characters being forced to the ground and needing to find a way to get back up again. Yes, I analyze Detective Conan movies using One Piece movies as a reference point. The way my head works.

Volume 68
Keyhole: Samizu Kichiemon
Cases: Cherry Blossom's Love Transcending Time; The Worst Birthday; The Kirin's Horn That Disappeared into the Darkness/KID vs. the Four Divine Detective Boys; Detective Memoir of a Monkey and a Rake

The Worst Birthday parallels Suspect Mouri Kogorou (volume 27): both stories feature a hotel setting with people moving around and the discovery of a dead body inside a locked room. Suspect Mouri Kogorou obviously had Mouri Kogorou as the main suspect in the story (being inside the same room as the dead body), The Worst Birthday features Eri. This main trick used by the murderer is unveiled rather quickly, changing to main problem to who was able to pull off the trick. The Kirin's Horn That Disappeared into the Darkness/KID vs. the Four Divine Detective Boys is a KID story, so I should like it, but it also features the Detective Boys and one of Samizu Kichiemon's inventions, so I'm not too big a fan of this story. Interesting is how Conan seems to be quite famous in the media nowadays as KID's rival: you'd think he needs to keep a low profile as he's still on the run for the Organisation. At least Haibara is sensible enough to keep a hat on her head. While this is not the first story with both KID and the Detective Boys, it is the first story that actually sets these forces against each other. Detective Memoir of a Monkey and a Rake is a which-of-the-three story featuring a dying message by a man stabbed by a purse-snatcher, but the message is way too obscure to be any fun.

Volume 69
Keyhole: Akagi Hideo
Cases: A Request from the Swamp; Scenario of a Locked Steam Room; White Day of Betrayal; The Secret the Diary Plays

A Request from the Swamp is a spooky story, with a man seemingly drowned by a kappa in his own home. The trick is rather easy to see through, but the story-telling makes up for it. Yamamura Misao's promotion in The Raven Chaser is also maintained here, and he is still having trouble getting Mouri to call him by the title of police inspector. Scenario of a Locked Steam Room is a great little locked room story at an onsen resort. The resort is being used for a movie shooting by a famous movie director, who had filmed one of his earlier movies (a locked room mystery!) at the same place. He is found dead in the women's bath one morning, but he was the only person to have entered the building. The solution is good and the set-up and execution of the whole plot is great. White Day of Betrayal is more like a Kuitan story, with its strange emphasis on the workings of food. And like Kuitan, it's kinda hard to solve completely without some specific food-related knowledge. The Secret the Diary Plays is a Detective Boys-in-a-haunted-house story with a lot of misdirection. I don't like the story at all, but I have it a lot with this type of stories.

Volume 70
Keyhole: Chaki Shintarou
Cases: The Secret the Diary Plays; Conan vs. KID - Ryouma's Treasures; The Victim is Kudou Shinichi/Inubushi Castle - The Flaming Demon Dog
Characters: Kaitou Shukujo Phantom Lady

I actually discussed this volume in a seperate post, but to keep up continuity: Conan vs. KID - Ryouma's Treasures is a great story, with Kaitou KID saying he'll return some items of Sakamoto Ryouma, stolen many years ago by the female thief Phantom Lady (and it's heavily implied at the end that Phantom Lady is actually the current KID's mother, which makes things really weird). Changing the problem from 'how's KID going to get away with the loot' to 'how's KID going to enter with the loot' makes for a very interesting story. The Victim is Kudou Shinichi/Inubushi Castle - The Flaming Demon Dog is a fairly long Hattori story, that begins very strong: Conan and Hattori encounter a locked room murder and solve it practically instantly. The problem is that this murder is probably just the first in a series, as an inheritence dispute and a legend of a flaming demon dog are the standard ingredients for a juicy and long serial murder story. The story, naturally, reminds of The Hound of the Baskervilles, but features loads of original elements (actually, only the demon dog reminds of the Hound). I'm sorry for the one who'd have to translate/localize this story though. The plan of the murderer is pretty complex and reminds of Ellery Queen. Though Queen novels don't really feature demon dogs and legends and stuff.

Compared to the previous sets of volumes, these 10 volumes are kinda tame. Not boring or anything at all though. This set has some excellent stories like Kaitou KID's Teleportation Magic (volume 61), Murderer Kudou Shinichi / Shinichi's Real Identity and Ran's Tears/What I Really Want to Ask (volume 62-63), Mansion of Death, the Red Wall (volume 65-66) and The Victim is Kudou Shinichi/Inubushi Castle - The Flaming Demon Dog (volume 70), which rank among the best of Conan stories. But the overall storyline with the Black Organisation is certainly not as strong as in the previous sets of volumes. Volumes 40 ~ 60 featured great Black Organisation stories, but there is only one Black Organisation story here and even then it's not really interesting. The whole Okiya/Akai Shuuichi look-a-like/Bourbon storyline is moving rather slow (and a bit too much like the Vermouth storyline), so it's hard to see where that's going.

As for the movies, The Raven Chaser deserves a special mention being a movie featuring the Organisation in a way that fits the Organisation as it's been been portrayed in the last couple of years. Countdown to Heaven also featured the Organisation, but its presence was never so intense as in The Raven Chaser. For Conan fans, The Raven Chaser is a must-see.

Going through 70 volumes in a relatively short time period was kinda exhausting, but never boring. It's almost 10 years since I first started reading Conan (and despite that, Conan is still in the first grade), but re-reading this series from the beginning again confirmed it: this is an awesome series. Conan's body may have shrunk, but the mysteries he solves are still those worthy of a Great Detective.

Original Japanese title(s): 青山剛昌　『名探偵コナン』第６１巻～７０巻 / 『名探偵コナン 戦慄の楽譜（フルスコア）』 /　『名探偵コナン　漆黒の追跡者（チェーサー）』 / 『名探偵コナン　天空の難破船（ロストシップ）』

『ＷＩＳＨ ＲＯＯＭ』

検死官はあくびをして体を動かした。「夜殺人をやるのいたしかたがない。そうする理由があると思う。しかし、死体を発見するのは、私が朝食をすましてからにしてもらいたいんだな」」

『エンジェル家の殺人』　（訳：大庭）

"The medical examiner yawned and moved his body.

"I can't complain about murders being commited at night. There are reasons for doing that. But it'd be nice if they would discover the stiff after I had my breakfast""

"Murder Among the Angells" (Ooba translation)

Even though most of my book purchases are made in second hand bookstores like the Book Off when I'm in Japan, I do go to 'normal' bookshops occasionally. But I only go there when I need to purchase specific books. While my purchasing habits in a Book Off are kinda chaotic (and bad for my wallet), my visits to Fukuoka's Junkudou were like well-planned military missions, purchasing only the books I had planned to buy before entering the building (or occasionally not buying anything at all, instead only acting as a guide as I knew all bookstores in the neighbourhood).

The single impulse purchase I made at Junkudou was that of Roger Scarlett's Murder Among the Angells (1932). Well, technically it's Enjeruke no Satsujin ("The Murder of the Angell Clan"), a translated version (by Ooba Tadao). The title had been in my head for a long time. Why? Well, the novel was mentioned in the very first pages of Yokomizo Seishi's Honjin Satsujin Jiken ("The Daimyou's Inn Murder Case") as one of the books that inspired Yokomizo in writing that novel. I also knew Murder Among the Angells was praised very much by Edogawa Rampo. In fact, Edogawa was so impressed by the book that he made his own adapted/localized version of the story, renamed as Sankakukan no Kyoufu ("The Terror of Triangle Mansion"). A book that inspired two of my favorite authors was simply a must-read.

The problem: it seems like nobody outside Japan knows about this book. Murder Among the Angells is sorta known among Japanese detective critics because of the reasons mentioned above, but a quick Google search for the book and author Roger Scarlett didn't give me any results. At least, I had quite some Japanese results, but practically nothing useful in English on neither the novel nor the author. Which was kinda surprising. So I did something I basically never do: read the commentary at the end of the pocket (Japanese pocket often include by commentaries by other writers. It seems in the West, introductions are used more often).

And commentator Togawa did write up a nice story. As Togawa also noticed this distinct lack of information on Roger Scarlett, he (with some help) dug through many old English crime writer magazines and guides, resulting in the following findings: Roger Scarlett was the pen name of the Americans Evelyn Page (1902~???) and Dorothy Blair (1903~???). Nothing is known about Blair, but Page seems to have written her own novel (The Chestnut Tree) and even made it to associate professor at several faculties at Connecticut College. Page & Blair's debut work as Roger Scarlett was The Beacon Hill Murders (1930), followed by The Back Bay Murders (1930), Cat's Paw (1931), Murder Among the Angells (1932) and finally In the First Degree (1933) (Of these novels, only The Back Bay Murders is not translated in Japanese). So in only a couple of years, this duo wrote five books.  But they stopped for some reason after that and the name Roger Scarlett seems to be totally forgotten nowadays. Except for in Japan, where a translation can purchased at any store for 900 yen + tax. Go figure.

Anyway, Murder Among the Angells. Like the title suggest, murder happens within the Angell clan. The Angell clan consists of two families: the family of elderly Darius Angell (two sons) and the family of his twin brother Carolus (son, daughter and son-in-law) (I'm totally guessing the spelling of the names by the way: Japanese is not particularly clear when spelling out Western names). The two families live under one roof, in a curious L-shaped mansion. The Angell mansion has been split in two, with a wall seperating the two sides. The brothers live their own lives in their own wings. The two wings are connected only by the front door (+ small hallway) and the elevator in the back of the house, which opens on both wings.

Darius and Carolus used to be best of buddies actually, until their father died, leaving a rather troublesome will. While they both receive quite some income from their father's fortune as long as they live, the whole fortune is to go unconditionally to the son who outlives his brother. Fast-forward many, many years later, with the brothers living in seperate wings and a heavily weakened Darius who might die any day. Fearing his sons will be left with nothing if he dies now (which would make his brother the only heir), he hopes to convince Carolus to sign an agreement that they'll split their father's fortune with both families, no matter who dies first. Carolus refuses though, and is found the same night dead, shot by an unknown assaillant. And more developments follow throughout the story, with a new will by Darius (who really seems to want to divide the fortune with his nephew and niece) and a murder happening inside a moving elevator!

Murder Among the Angells might be quite unknown outside of Japan, it's pretty clear why it has some fame in Japan. This is clearly a yakata-mono (a 'mansion' story; see also Jukkakukan no Satsujin), with the strangely divided mansion with an elevator in the middle of the building. With many maps throughout the story, rooms that have doors at the weirdest places and the way people have to move about to get from wing to another, this novel practically screams yakata-mono. The strange architecture practically functions as a silent extra character, not unlike the House of Usher and succeeds in providing a very entertaining location for the murders. The movements of the suspects inside the mansion also plays a big role within the story, with both murders being strongly connected with the way the mansion is built and the way the mansion has been divided into two wings. The Angell mansion is a very impressive force within the novel. Edogawa Rampo didn't rename his adaptation The Terror of Triangle Mansion for nothing.

And setting aside the mansion,  I have to say that the plot is, on the whole, pretty good. My major gripes are some of the lucky breaks of the criminal has and I have some doubts about the executability of the locked elevator murder (the trick is, fundamentally, good though). But I'm overall quite pleased with the novel, as it's a good example of what an orthodox detective should be. Edogawa Rampo said this about the book:

I have nothing but admiration for Angell (...) the way the plot develops, the way the mystery is solved, the level of suspense, this novel has these elements in a strange way no other novel has and it suits my humble taste perfectly (...) yes, this is it, this is it, this is the style of writing I like the best, that's what I think as I read every line.

I won't go as far with my admiration, but Edogawa is right about that that the plot develops at a nice pace. The puzzle plot is constructed very neatly, with enough clues to point to the murderer (the main hint pointing at the criminal is a nice one, reminding me of some stories in Conan and Furuhata Ninzaburou). Like I said, the murderer had some lucky breaks IMHO, but nothing game-breaking. The motive is done quite nicely well and in fact, besides the points mentioned at above, I have no real complaints about the plot of Murder Among the Angells. It's a nicely constructed mansion-story that is sure to entertain readers.
 
I had troubles getting through the Japanese though. Ignoring the spelling problem (I'm not sure whether the detective is called Kane, Caine, or Kain or some other spelling actually), prose in Japanese is very different from prose in English. While I've read plenty of Japanese translated in English, this is probably the first time I read a real translation of an English novel in Japanese (the Lupin novels don't count. Besides being originally French, the translation is clearly smoothed out to normal Japanese). But how tedious Murder Among the Angells was! Part of this tediousness might be blamed to the fact the original text is not contemporary, but even accounting for that... I had never felt this big a gap in writing styles across languages before, but this really caught me by surprise. I'm not talking about a bad translation or anything, but just the way people describe things, where the focus of the paragraphs is placed at and how paragraphs are structured... You just don't repeat a personal pronoun sentence after sentence normally, nor are long passages with only short pieces of dialogue (one or two sentences) pleasant to read. It's really different from a novel that was actually written in Japanese (as opposed to a translation). Like I said, I liked this book, but I'm not really looking forward to reading more of Scarlett in Japanese.

I'm actually quite surprised why nobody seems to know Scarlett outside of Japan. This encounter was pretty pleasant and they did write five books in total, so why did the Scarlett name disappear practically competely?  If I hadn't seen the name mentioned by Edogawa and Yokomizo, I doubt I'd ever found about this book, actually. Which is a shame, 'cause Murder Among the Angells is an entertaining mansion-story which I think doesn't deserve to be forgotten ... this extremely. As for the people interested in Japanese detective fiction, I think the mere mention by Edogawa and Yokomizo warrants a look at this novel

Original Japanese title(s): ロジャースカーレット　（訳：大庭忠男） 『エンジェル家の殺人』 (Roger Scarlett, Murder Among the Angells)

「恐らくこれで、明日からは《ご飯がおいしくない》などのワガママを吐かすことはなくなるだろう」

- Well, what would you order?

- A very simple crime. A crime with no complications... very unimpassioned, very intime.

- I can't see any excitement in that.

- No, because there are no curiously twisted daggers, no blackmail, no emerald that is the stolen eye of the god... you have a melodramatic soul, Hastings.

"The ABC Murders"

My previous encounters with Yokomizo Seishi's Kindaichi Kousuke short stories have not been very succesful. Kindaichi Kousuke no Shinbouken was very disappointing and while the stories in Nanatsu no Kamen weren't that bad, they were clearly not in the same league as Yokomizo's longer stories. One of Yokimizo's stronger points is that he's able to come up with a complex, multi-layered story, that is supported by a wide-variety of tricks. Even if not all tricks are original, the way Yokomizo strings them together with the other tricks and the plot is certainly impressive. The problem with his short stories is that while Yokomizo comes up with great premises, they always seem a bit disappointing because they miss the sense of scale found in the novels. The problem I have with Yokomizo's short stories is that I have too many short collections lying around; as I was expecting better stories when I purchased them.

So I started rather relunctantly in Kubi ("Head"). With only four stories, this is the shortest collection I have of Yokomizo, but to be honest: I liked this collection! Something I really hadn't thought possible. I really do hope it's because these stories are actually fun and not only because the previous stories were bad.  Anyway, the stories previously discussed were rather weak on the puzzle-structure side, but the four stories of this collection were done pretty well. The four stories are pretty similiar in set-up, sharing one important characteristic: in the stories, something is done to the victim's body. Always. Decapitation is the most normal act done to a dead body in the stories here. It gives these stories a distinct, disturbing vibe and yes, that's precisely when Yokomizo starts to shine.

Ikeru Shikamen ("The Living Death Mask") starts with a reference to the story of Aozukin ("Blue Hood") from the Ugetsu Monogatari. Fast-forward to the post-war period, where a similar incident happens: a patrolman happens to discover that an artist, who is known for his homo-sexual tendencies, was sleeping with the practically decayed dead body of a young man. As the artist had made a death mask, the police is able to identify the body, but with more body parts popping all over town and doubts about the body's identity, Kindaichi Kousuke is asked to solve the case. Which he does, of course. With a disturbing atmosphere and a properly clued story, Yokomizo finally delivers a story I feel satisfied with.

And he (mostly) continues this good trend with Hanazono no Akuma ("Demon of the Flower Garden"). The naked dead body of a young woman is found in a flower garden of a tourist resort. She is quickly identified as a nude model who had her picture taken in that same flower garden some time ago. To the police's surprise, it seems like the criminal raped the victim after the murder. The murderer luckily enough left enough clues for the police to quickly identify him and soon enough, the murderer's picture is in all the newspapers. However, nobody seems to have any clue to his whereabouts. It's Kindaichi Kousuke who reveals the horrible truth behind this strange murder. While the trick used by the murderer was OK, it's too bad that one part of the solution doesn't seem properly clued, making that deduction (which was important) seem rather forced. A good story nonetheless though.

I'm not sure whether this story was very advanced for its time or not, but Roubijin ("The Wax Beauty") is about forensic facial reconstruction. Which was kinda surprising. A professor claims he is able to reconstruct the face of the skull of an unidentified woman who committed suicide. To everyone's surprise, the reconstructed face is awfully like that of a murdereress who was thought to have fled overseas. Add in a second murder (of the professor who made the reconstruction), a man who says he has slept with the dead body (when she was not as decayed) and we have a very busy Kindaichi Kousuke who is investigating both the murder commited by the ower of the reconstructed face as well as the current murder. The story is not as well-polished as the previous two stories, with some hard to swallow coincidences and such, but amusing due to the subject matter.

Kubi ("Head") is like a Yokomizo novel, condensed into 60 pages. We have a) a story of a decapitated head placed on a cliff of a waterfall 300 years ago, b) the same crime repeated half a year ago and c) once again while Kindaichi Kousuke and police inspector Isokawa are in the neighbourhood. The latest victim is a film director and the circumstances of his death are precisely the same as of the incident half a year ago: three men sleep near the top of the waterfall, the next morning two of the men discover that the third man has disappeared and they finally discover his head on the cliff sticking out of the waterfall, with his body in the water at the end of the waterfall. The plot could have easily been used for a longer story and I do think that it might have been better, as some parts of the story seem rather short and under-used, but this is nonetheless a fairly good story. Two minor points: that one hint Kindaichi has that makes no sense at all. At least, why would the murderer leave that hint? And two: the trick itself wasn't too special anyway, but I got it literally the instant I read one sentence near the beginning of the story which was practically screaming "I'm a hint! I'm a hint!". Could have been hidden a bit better.

While I liked this collection, I'm afraid I can't be that positive about the remaining short collections I have. One is a collection of stories that have been rewritten at a later stage, while the other consists of stories that have been rewritten, but I didn't like them very much the first time, so I don't expect too much from them.

(Oh, and just to push myself; I will finally finish and write a review of Roger Scarlett's Murder among the Angells this week)

Original Japanese title(s): 横溝正史 『首』/ 「生ける死面」 / 「花園の悪魔」 / 「蝋美人」 / 「首」

『毒婦』

"There are two things that I consider inexcusable. Poisoning, and betrayal! Only a coward would hurt people using either of these tactics"

"Phoenix Wright Ace Attorney - Trials & Tribulations"

About halfway through Meitantei Conan - Kudou Shinichi e no Chousenjou ("Detective Conan - A Challenge Letter for Kudou Shinichi"), the show starts to have some really awful episodes. Never a good sign. I hope they come up with the stories based on the manga soon....

Meitantei Conan - Kudou Shinichi e no Chousenjou (Detective Conan - A Challenge Letter for Kudou Shinichi)
Episode 1 (July 7, 2011): Before he turned into Conan, the high school detective solved the mystery of the adultery murder!
Episode 2 (July 14, 2011): The locked room murder commited on air! Reveal the secret cursed by the psychic
Episode 3 (July 21, 2011): Murder Case in a Locked Courtroom! Reveal the Trick of the Hostess Murder
Episode 4 (July 28, 2011): Perfect Crime! Murder Notice at a Wedding, Reveal the Locked Room Poisoning Trick
Episode 5 (August 5, 2011): The Glamorous Murder Trick of the Actress who lost her Memory - Perfect Murder at the Summer House
Episode 6 (August 11, 2011): The Magnificent Murderous Kiss of Twenty Beauties! The Murderous Intent Hidden in the Murder Equation!
Episode 7 (August 18, 2011): Inheritance Murder Among Bloody Relatives! Reveal the Mystery of the Kidnapping Trick!
Episode 8 (August 25, 2011): A Woman's Determination, Revenge on the Molester! The Murder Trick hidden in the Security Camera
Episode 9 (September 01, 2011): Hattori Heiji and the Mystery of the Invisible Locked Room Murder Weapon! Deduction Battle between the Detectives of East and West
Episode 10 (September 08, 2011): The Mystery of the Body that Moved 200 KM Within An Instant! Reveal the Perfect Crime Scheme of the Evil Woman
Episode 11 (September 15, 2011): A Kiss Is the Reason for Murder, A Revenge Murder After 20 Years! The Mystery of the Perfect Alibi
Episode 12 (September 22, 2011): I Killed Her! 3 Single Murderers? Reveal the Mystery of the Fake Murder!
Episode 13 (September 29, 2011): Ran Dies! The Final Challenge of the True Criminal to the Genius Detective - Reveal the Mystery of the White Room

Like the previous episode, episode five ("The Glamorous Murder Trick of the Actress who lost her Memory - Perfect Murder at the Summer House") is a poisoning story. The murder victim is a famous film director who was working with Shinichi on a movie. The victim died after drinking his tea and everything seems to point to his wife as the main suspect (whose motive would be that her husband was having an affair). The problem? The wife lost her memory when she saw her husband die.

This was an awful episode. Really, really awful. I have seen my share of boring, bad stories, but this one ranks among the 'best' of them. The poisoning trick is like the very first trick that will come into your head when you see the scene, while the amnesia subplot is as bad as you would expect it to be. Though I have to admit that even that subplot was better plotted than the poisoning story. The trick used by the murderer could maybe fool the peole who were at the scene at the time of the crime, but never the police. And the way the murderer tried to wipe the evidence was awfully stupid. It's like screaming you're the murderer yourself. And seriously, visual hints in a visual media are alright and such, but this was a bit ridiculous. The only good point about the story is the somewhat downer-ending, which was quite darker than what you'd expect from Conan (which has its share of downer-endings).

I associate poisoning stories very strongly with Conan, as they occur very often in the manga. And they are often done quite well, with a good mix of (usually visual) hints and a sound foundation in 'the real world'. For example, last night I was re-reading Conan 63 (yes... the last Conan manga post is still coming), which has a story with a poisoning in a kaitenzushi. The location makes up for an interesting spot for a poisoning, with all the moving parts and etiquette involved and the trick was indeed well integrated in the location. The trick used in this week's episode of the Conan drama, is just boring and the most basic of basic tricks. The previous episode, while certainly not a perfect story, at least had a better trick.

On the slightly bright side: the overall storyline is finally moving. At the end of the episode, after they move into the next room, Ran gets hit by a poison arrow, and Shinichi and Kogorou have five minutes to figure out the next password. Still not sure what's going to happen, but as we enter the last half of the series, we should see more of the overall storyline. I hope. Of course, if they stay at the quality of this episode, they might do all the main storyline-things in just the last 10 minutes of the final episode...

Original Japanese title(s): 『名探偵コナン　工藤新一への挑戦状』　サブタイトル「記憶を消した女優の華麗なる殺人トリック 避暑地での完全犯罪」
Date & Password: 2010.08.12; ジョユウ

「See You in Next Trouble」

『赤い蝶』という詩がある。

光に誘われて飛ぶ蝶の群れ。

その先にあるのは業火・・・・しかし、蝶たちはそれを知らない。

その時、一匹の蝶が群れを離れる

蝶は危険を察し、業火の正体に挑むため果敢に炎の中に飛び込む

その羽は炎に焼かれ、その身は焦がされる

しかし、蝶は羽ばたきをやめない

やがて、その姿は業火の中に消える・・・

そんな情景を詠んだ詩だ。

『探偵神宮寺三郎ＤＳ：　赤い蝶』

There is a poem called "The Red Butterfly"

A group of butterflies, flying towards the light.

Towards the fires of hell.... But the butterflies are unaware of that.

And then a single butterfly separates itself from the group

The butterfly realizes the danger and challenging the fires of hell, dives courageously in the blaze

His wings catch fire, his body burns

But the butterly keeps on flying

Until his body disappears into the fires of hell....

The poem has such a scene.

"Detective Jinguuji Saburou DS: The Red Butterfly" 

I don't know about other writers, but I need background music to write. Preferably vocal-less (or else I'll sing along). And so music from the Tantei Jinguuji Saburou ("Detective Jinguuji Saburou") series is often the companion to the sound of my fingers running over the keyboard. And it certainly isn't a bad companion. Jazz is of course the prefered choice for hardboiled detective fiction / noir fiction and Tantei Jinguuji Saburou luckily has great jazzy soundtracks (though PC classic Grim Fandango has some outrageously fantastic tracks too).

Tantei Jinguuji Saburou DS: Akai Chou ("Detective Jinguuji Saburou DS: The Red Butterfly") is the latest entry in the long, long running detective adventure game series. I'll won't go into too much detail here about the basic settings etcetera, as I already wrote about it earlier. I do want to make a point about that Tantei Jinguuji Saburou is in fact one of the longest running game series ever, having started in 1987. It's really one of the big names and even though the format has changed a lot in all these years (with a considerable amount of Jinguuji games appearing for mobile phones nowadays), the basic premise is still intact: a hard-boiled detective adventure game (with hints of puzzle plots), often strongly connected with social phenomena in the Japanese society. Hai to Diamond ("Ashes and Diamonds") for example featured the problem of city renewal and the involvement of yakuza, while Shiroi Kage no Shoujo ("The White Shadow of the Girl") was strongly connected with coin-locker babies. The game series may have had a very long run, but the stories are often comtemporary and a joy to work through.

Like the previous iterations for the Nintendo DS,  Tantei Jinguuji Saburou DS: Akai Chou consists of five scenerios that were originally released for mobile phones (mobile phone series 16 ~ 20) and one original scenario (15th entry in the main series). As always, the mobile phone games are relatively short, but are often surprisingly interesting, filled with contemporary problems. In Tsubaki no Yukue ("The Whereabouts of Tsubaki"), Jinguuji is asked to find a net-friend of a boy. The boy had been refusing to go to school because of bullying, but this net-friend had slowly been encouraging him to go back to school. The net-friend has suddenly disappeared though and now Jinguuji has to find a person whose name or face he doesn't know. Akenai Yoru ni ("On a Never-Ending Night") is strongly connected with foreign workers in Japan and the way they try to make money to send back to their home countries. The story switches between Jinguuji and inspector Kumano of the Yodobashi police station, a narrative trick first used in the series in the fourth game Toki no sugiyuku mama ni ("As time passes..."), but is still very effective when used with the right story. Kadan no Itte ("The Decisive Move") is more straight-forward story, with a shougi player being blackmailed to lose an important game. His daughter's life is at stake, but the player has one big character flaw: whenever he starts playing shougi, he forgets everything outside the board. When he starts playing, he only thinks of winning. Rensa suru Noroi ("The Linked Curse") was actually the first game I had bought on my mobile phone in Japan and is a pretty neat story where Jinguuji is hired to investigate the death of a young occult reporter. Minutes before he died in a motor-accident, he had called his girlfriend saying it seems he was cursed. Finally, Nakiko no Shouzou ("Portrait of a Deceased Child") starts with a very strange request: Jinguuji is asked to take care of a little boy, but the boy should't be alive actually as his funeral was on TV just a few days ago.

The original scenario is Akai Chou ("The Red Butterfly") probably about twice as long as the mobile phone games and features more 'advanced' game mechanics like the Search sequences (where you have to look for evidence) and the Talk Profile sequences (where you have to try to get information from a witness, not unlike the Logic Chess system from Gyakuten Kenji 2). The titular Red Butterfly was a bomb-terrorist from 20 years ago who fought against the development plans of a city. He was never caught and nowadays has quite a fandom who admire his fight against the corrupt companies. Skip to the present, where the politician Saeki running his election campaign has received a threat call by someone calling himself the Red Butterfly. The only thing the Red Butterfly asks: "reveal the truth". Jinguuji is asked by Saeki's daughter (who is also his secretary) to investigate the case and uncovers a plot that is connected to the events of 20 years ago.

While the Jinguuji stories are at the core lineair hardboiled detective stories, the writers somehow never forget to insert elements in the story that remind more of orthodox detective plots. Akai Chou for example could, with minor rewriting, could have easily been made a classic whodunnit. Kadan no Itte also contains a normal whodunnit plot. Nakiko no Shouzou has an amazing premise and a very strange motive to the whole incident. Is it because the hardboiled detective isn't as big a staple in Japan as the great detective that Jinguuji has both these elements? I don't know, but I know I like the Jinguuji games because they always remain relatively close to the classic puzzle plots despite the hardboiled setting. Combine it with the distinct Japanese setting and you have a game series that always manages to please me, despite it having changed quite a lot in the many years since detective Jinguuji first started roaming the streets of Shinjuku.

I really should look for the novels one of these days....

Original Japanese title(s): 『探偵神宮寺三郎ＤＳ：　赤い蝶』 / 　「椿のゆくえ」 /　「明けない夜に」　/ 「果断の一手」 / 「連鎖する呪い」 / 「亡き子の肖像」 / 「赤い蝶」

『棠陰比事』

春には春の生き方があり

夏には夏の風が吹きます

秋には秋の実りがあって

冬には冬の厳しさがある

『籟・来・也』 (Garnet Crow)

Spring brings a spring lifestyle

Summer brings a blowing summer wind

Autumn brings autumn fruits

Winter brings a winter's harsness

"Rai Rai Ya" (Garnet Crow)

And this time a Chinese post-title. Just to keep everybody on their toes.

I'm pretty sure I've mentioned Mitani Kouki's (writer of Furuhata Ninzaburou) movie Rajio no Jikan ("Radio Time"; also known as "Welcome Back Mr. McDonald")  here multiple times. But it's such an awesome movie that I'll always keep refering to it. The movie is a comedy about a radio play that is broadcast live on air, but stuff happens. It starts rather innocently with one actor asking for a name change for her character, but things explode from there. It's really a wonderful movie about the world of radio-plays and a must-see.

And this was my bridge to go to Ellery Queen's Calendar of Crime. This short story collection contains twelve stories, each representing a different month in the year. These stories are in fact rewritten radio-plays by Ellery Queen. The stories here are actually written as prose though; unlike the radio scripts found in The Adventure of the Murdered Moths and other radio mysteries. Because of these origins, the character of Nikki Porter, Ellery's secretary who originated from the radio plays, also a prominent character in the Calendar of Crime stories, even though she hardly appears in the 'normal' Queen stories.The stories here do different from the 'normal' Queen short stories though: they miss the complexity of the stories found in the Adventure series, while they aren't of the brief-brilliancy type found in Q.B.I.

The Inner Circle (January) and  The Gettysburg Bugle (May) are both about that not-so-brilliant investment scheme, the tontine. Queen also used the tontine motive in other stories, for example The Last Man Club, but the catch in The Inner Circle is that it's pretty clear that someone in the tontine scheme is killing the others, it's not clear who the members are (random information: the first time I heard of a tontine, was not in a detective, but in a Simpsons episode). The solution is kinda hard to get for non-Americans though. The Gettysburg Bugle is a more classic approach to the tontine. The three surviving soldiers that fought in the Civil War died on the same day of the last three years and it appears that these men had a tontine running. A rather straight-forward story that is a bit on the easy side.

The President's Half Disme (February) and The Dead Cat (October) both remind me strongly of other Queen short stories. In The President's Half Disme, Ellery solves a historical mystery surrounding George Washington. Abraham Lincoln's Clue (Q.E.D. Queen's Experiments in Deduction) kinda replicates the setting / idea of this story, both being a historical mystery featuring an US president. In The Dead Cat, a Hallowe'en party ends in murder, which was commited in total darkness, not unlike that The New Adventures of Ellery Queen story, The House of Darkness. Aoyama Goushou also made a variation on this story, which I prefer actually.

The Ides of Michael Magoon (March) and The Dauphin's Doll (December) are both robbery stories. The Ides of Michael Magoon is about the robbery of a private detective's tax income forms and makes up for a pretty interesting story. The Dauphin's Doll is a rather surprising story. Inspector Queen (and Ellery) are asked to protect the Dauphin's Doll, a doll with a diamond embedded in it that is to be shown at a department store the whole day. The problem: professional thief Comus has announced he's going to steal the doll. Yes, it's Ellery vs. a phantom thief like Lupin. And it's awesome. As the Lupin stories are usually written from Lupin's perspective, it is probably best to compare The Dauphin's Doll to the Conan vs. Kaitou KID heist stories in Meitantei Conan. I wish there were more Comus stories!

The Emperor's Dice (April) and The Three R's (September) are pretty much the same stories, with the same solution and similiar clues. They are both entertaining stories on their own, with Ellery investigating a murder case (?) among some friends of Inspector Queen in The Emperor's Dice, while The Three R's is about the disppearance of a teacher at an university. But having the (basically) the same story twice in one collection is a bit disappointing.

The Medical Finger (June) and The Fallen Angel (July) are both stories that didn't really interest me, but they are also both stories wherein Ellery is initially asked to prevent murder (and fails). The Medical Finger has a fairly disappointing solution for a poisoning problem (we've seen better from Queen). Structurally, The Fallen Angel does resemble an Ellery Queen with a whole heap of elements (focus on the order of events, disappearing people and items), but for some reason doesn't really appeal to me.

The Needle's Eye (August) and The Telltale Bottle (November) are alike because both stories start out rather vague and with murders happening rather late. In The Needle's Eye, Ellery is invited to an island. His real goal is to protect a girl from possible attempts on her life by her husband and father-in-law, but his cover is a treasure hunt on the island. And in fact: much of the story is devoted to this treasure hunt, which makes a murder late in the story feel somewhat unnecessary. Which is actually rather like The Treasure Hunt (The New Adventures of Ellery Queen). The same with The Telltale Bottle, where Ellery and Nikki (accidently) discover a drug-trafficking ring, which also rather arbitrary ends in murder. It's a rather fast-paced adventure story, which really shows it's radio-play origins.

All in all an entertaining short story collection. Queen's radio plays are usually a lot of fun and indeed, most stories are quite amusing. Nikki Porter is a pretty entertaining addition to the Queen novels too (better than that society columnnist love interest from The Four of Hearts whose name I've forgotten). I do feel that The Adventure of the Murdered Moths and other radio mysteries had a better selection of stories.

And this was the last of the Queen short stories, I guess? (Except for Wedding Anniversary in The Best of Ellery Queen, but I don't really want to buy a collection for just one new story).

『g@me.』

"No, I... it's just, I got confused..."

"And this is news?"

"Huh?"

"Just come out with both guns blazing... like you always do"

"Phoenix Wright: Ace Attorney"

Because I won't make special posts for news or other news: English translations of Edogawa Rampo's The Strange Tale of Panorama Island (a crime story with a distinct fantastic element to it),  Case of the Murder at D-Slope (the first original Japanse locked room story) and The Fiend with 20 Faces (and Ashibe Taku's Murder in The Red Chamber) are set to be released by good old Kurodahan. Who are situated in Fukuoka. Yeah. And there is a library beneath the attic nowadays. And I still post at Criminal Element. But enough idle talk.

One of the weirdest essays I wrote for university was one on problems concerning reading comprehension within detective fiction. It was just for a Japanese language course and everyone was free to choose his own theme and while most people rewrote other essays/researches in Japanese, I for some reason chose to write a new essay on the topic. At first, I was actually planning to write something about how people read detective fiction and the implementation of that in videogames, but I really couldn't see me pull it off in Japanese. Or any language at all actually.

But I've wanting to write something on deduction systems in videogames for a long time, so why not now? Note, this is mainly on how deductions of the player are integrated into videogames, so I'll not go into topics like pixel-hunting and such. I'll only go into games that actually do expect some deducing by the player, even if it's just a little, so a game like Tantei Famicom Club is not discussed. And I hardly play PC games, so I won't discuss them. And finally, this is precisely not at all what I had in mind at first for this post, but I've been postponing it for months now, so I just came up with something that at least touches the subject. 'Cause that's how I roll.

Enough researches on reading comprehension in detective fiction indicate that readers of a (the same) detective story, often come up with a wide variety of deductions (see for example Kojima 1996, 1999 in the Attic). These differ in both width and depth; some ideas might have several layers of thought behind them, other just one. Some might be very original, some rather predictable.  And the same should happen with detective games, as long as we have (some kind of) puzzle plot. The problem is that while a book is pretty much a one-way trip that is pretty much automatic, games often give the player a certain range of freedom to move around. The same with detective games. Whereas the story in a book will always develop from point A to B to C, it's sometimes possible in games to move from point C to A to B. In fact, many gamers will find a game that's always lineair quite boring.

At certain points in the story (be it a book or a game), a check is made on the readers' deductions. In a novel it's often (though not exclusively) the ending, where the detective reveals his solution. The right solution. Compare it to your solution and you know whether you were succesful or not. In games however, this often results in a paradox. Game developer Takumi Shuu explains it in an article as follows:

"Mystery fiction and games.... at first sight, the two seem compatible, but they are actually very contradictive when you look at it from the position of a game creator. The theme of a detective is to 'unravel the mystery'. But on the other hand, you enjoy it the most when 'you're surprised when the mystery is unraveled at the end' ....  and this is actually the complete opposite. What you expect from a game is naturally 'to become a great detective and solve the mystery'. But if so, you neccesarily lose the enjoyment of being surprised at the end. A great detective can't explain his own deductions and get surprised by it... Just like that a magician can't get surprised by his own magic tricks. How can we overcome this contradiction? The key to mystery games lies precisely there...." (Takumi, 2010)

And indeed, most games don't cope with this paradox too well. Almost all games I know work with a model wherein the detective-character in the game lays out a deduction on his own and only allows input from the player at certain, select moments in the deduction. It's actually little more than a test of your deductions. As it would be quite impossible (@ the moment) to create a system that can react to every deduction possible made by man, they go the other extreme: they only check at certain points of the deduction to see if you have been paying attention. The problem with this model is that a lot of the deductions are done for you, you can only show your own ideas at certain select times, but the automatic part of the deduction often spoils a lot. Because the questions for the player have to be 'set up', the introducing sentences of the deduction often hint at a certain answer in advance. It's easier to look for the answer if you have a definite question. Say you think it was an alibi trick, but then you notice that all the questions are about strings and needles and bolts. It will probably influence your deduction.

In the Tantei Jinguuji Saburou (Nintendo Famicom/DS; Sony PSX/PS2/PSP) games, this is really reduced to the bare minimum, with many questions npothing more than mere tests of memory (questions like "who am I supposed to visit now?" are not rare).  Detective Conan - Rondo of the Blue Jewel (Nintendo DS) is also like this, with the character starting a deduction on his own and only checking with the player once in a while asking you to select the murderer, the murder weapon or something like that. A vaguer variant exists in Hayarigami (Sony PS2/PSP), a horror-adventure game that actually does allow the player some creative freedom. At certain points in the game, the player is asked to answer questions about the case. The player can answer with rational, realistic answers, or more supernatural answers. The story actually changes depending on the players' choices, resulting in either a rational explanation or a supernatural explanation for the stories. Here the questions are not so much testing (though they do test certain point that _have_ be filled in correctly), as much as giving the player the freedom to play around with the story.

Trick DS (Nintendo DS) works a bit different. The game basically also tests your deductions by comparing your ideas to crucial points in the automatic deduction, but the catch here is that you must select your answers beforehand. The player is forced to create in-game deductions. By combining cards (that represents things like possible weapons, crime scenes and other relevant information), deductions are made. The player has to pick out the deductions he thinks are right in advance before he can proceed into the automatic deduction sequence. The catch is that it's possible to make wrong deductions (thus possible to enter the deduction sequence with the wrong 'ammunition').

The system in Trick X Logic (Sony PSP) is probably the most like how people deduce while reading a real book. Here the player is also asked several (checking) questions, but just like with Trick DS, the player has to come up with possible answers on his own. This is done by selecting keywords from the text ("He can't read" and "He was seen reading a book"), in order to generate mysteries ("Why was the man reading a book if he can't read?"). This mysteries can be combined with other keywords to solve them, thus creating insights ("It was an imposter" or "He actually can read"). This can be done with contradicting pieces of text, but also with pieces of text confirming each other (creating 'facts'). Either way, by combining these texts, certain insights are made, which are used to answer the test questions.

In fact, the Trick X Logic system is IMHO the most natural, as this is exactly how people read detective fiction (at least people with some experience with puzzle plots). But even then it has to cope with that problem: you have the (leading) questions in advance, so you can work your way back to the answer. And that is something these games all have in common.

So what did Takumi Shuu (from the article) do? He turned it around in the Gyakuten Saiban / Ace Attorney (Nintendo GBA/DS/Wiiware) games. In those games, the player-character (and sometimes also the player) often has no idea what's going on. The player-character is just forced into situations wherein he is forced to strike back even though he has no deductions, no idea at all. He just looks for contradictions within a character's testimony and attacks him on those points, confident that by revealing one lie at the time, he will eventually arrive at the truth. Say a witness says he was watching TV while you have proof that there was an outage. You have a contradiction and you call your witness out on that, but you have no idea where this is going. In the beginning, the player-character (and the player) is just poking in the dark, hoping to find a weak spot.

And I really like this system for a game. The initial poking around is much more interactive than with other detective games, allowing the player to actually bumble around. The story often unfolds almost real-time, with the player-character getting new information every time he uncovers a lie and uses that to (immediately) alter his deductions. It's not like an exam like in the older deduction model. Which makes this system a lot more fun as a game.

Not to say that the old model is obsolete. The system used in Trick X Logic really holds a lot of potential, and if we would like... stick it into a multiple interactive storylines - structure like in 428 ~ Fuusa sareta Shibuya de (Wii/PS3/PSP), who knows what could happen? Deductions made by the player in one storyline that instantly change the development of the other (ongoing) storylines...

I really should finish some games one of these days. Like Glass Rose (PS2). Which is actually a Japanese adventure about a serial murder case in a 1920s mansion. I should like that game a lot more than I actually do....