Double Shock

「壊れたものは直るけど欠けたものは直らないんだよ」

『クビシメロマンチスト』

"You can fix something that's broken, but you can't fix something that was missing from the beginning"

"Strangulation Romanticist"

And I still remember that sight like it was yesterday. There I was, sitting behind my computer, ready to write the first proper review in weeks. It was nine o' clock. The book in question besides me, I had already made notes about the things I liked, nothing standing between me and a review. And that sight was in fact not yesterday, but this morning (it's afternoon as I am writing this). I haven't written anything between then and now. I am very good at not being productive.

Which also explains why it took me about three weeks to finish Anthoney Berkeley's Jumping Jenny. Not because of the book itself though, certainly not that. But these things just happen. Anyway, Jumping Jenny. A much praised book by Berkeley and I can certainly understand why. Mystery writer and amateur detective Roger Sheringham is at a party where the guests are all dressed up as famous murderers. Amongst the guests is a Mrs Stratton, who is nothing more than a total nuisance to everyone (but her husband is probably the biggest sufferer). So nobody was really sad when they found her dead body hanging from one of the fake gallows erected for the party. Roger is convinced that the victim's husband is the guilty party, but because he believes the world is definitely better off without her, he tries to fix the evidence so it seems like Mrs. Stratton commited suicide.

The joke however is that this novel is (in principle) an inverted mystery and the reader knows what caused the death of Mrs. Stratton. And it is definitely not what Sheringham is thinking. Jumping Jenny is actually a double inverted mystery that manages to play wonderfully with the format: we first see the events that lead up to Mrs. Stratton in classic inverted style. In a normal mystery, we would see a detective arrive at the scene and have him solve the case. The fun we usually derive from such inverted mysteries, like Columbo and Furuhata Ninzaburou, is usually one of two types: usually you will be cheering for the detective, and enjoyment is derived from seeing the detective slowly, but surely closing in on his target. Sometimes you root for the murderer, because the victim was someone who really had it coming to him/her. For both types, the intellectual battles between murderer and detective are usually the highlight of such stories.

The way I read Jumping Jenny however, didn't fit any of these types. I wasn't rooting for the murderer, nor for the detective. I was hoping the detective would fail. Not because I thought the murderer should have gone free: but Roger Sheringham is portrayed as a character you want to see fail. He is the self-concious Amateur Detective: he comes up with grand theories and notices small things no other people would notice. He is the Thinking Machine of the story. It however also places him in a state of mind other detectives occasionally seem to visit too: he thinks he is always right, and that he has the right to judge. In Jumping Jenny, Sheringham is a) convinced that Mr. Stratton is the murderer and b) convinced that he should try to help him, even if it means perjury and having to fix fake evidence.

So here we have the initial murder, told in an inverted style and then an on-going inverted story where Sheringham is commiting the crime of faking evidence and inputting witnesses with fake memories! And it is told in such a way, that the Detective is the Criminal. In the end, I ended up rooting for the Proper Authorities, which is something you don't often do in novels with amateur detectives.

Considering Berkeley wrote early inverted mystery novel Malice Afterthought (as Francis Iles), the way this novel plays with the inverted mystery is wonderfully meta-concious. In a way, you might consider this an anti-mystery, or at least a critique (and loving parody at the same time) of the flawless amateur detective who can act freely from the proper authorities. It works here great (at the expense of Sheringham), and it makes Jumping Jenny a recommended read.

And somewhat off-topic, but I do think that is kinda ridiculous that the Japanese translated version of this novel is actually a lot cheaper (even though translations are relatively expensive) than the current English version in print.

「フィルムの中のアリバイ」その２

「そりゃ確かに暇だけど、だからぼくって退屈は嫌いじゃないんだって」

『クビシメロマンチスト』

"Yeah, I have a lot of time to spare. But I don't dislike being bored"

"Strangling Romanticist"

Where I once again pretend I am making a meaningful post by showing a picture of my current backlog.

Actually, it's a bit less than what's on the picture: I have seperated my bookcase in an 'unread' shelf and 'finished' shelf, but the finished shelf is already full. I should sell something or send something back one of these days. So it ain't that bad.

But yes, the reason I haven't posted anything in two weeks is simply because I have not finished one single book in these two weeks. Which is really rare. I have been juggling between two books that should result in interesting reviews, but it might take another week at this rate. Also because the Mystery Club is busy with the annual publication that is to be sold at Kyoto University's November Festival.

(Oh, and I did write my very first mystery-esque story. In Japanese. Of only one page long. Because there is also a part in the publication where every member has to write something very short according to a common theme. It doesn't have to be a mystery, but I tried. As far as I could get within one page and not writing in my native tongue. In fact, it isn't that good a story. If you can call a one page thingy a story.) 

And to sum up the last few weeks in fairly random sentences nobody will understand: I have been following a course on manga that has surprisingly become helpful for my thesis on Japanese detective fiction. The karaage from the ramen restaurant Takayasu (of which the interior is way too fancy) are the size of half a chicken (why didn't the cook warn us?). The expensive strawberry icecream and the cheaper one are reverse versions of each other. Having a girl explain enthusiastically about TokiMemo is funny. Lost Dutch tourists still think I'm not a native Dutch speaker when I explain the way back to them in perfectly fine Dutch. Pineapple cakes from Taiwan arrive at the best moment possible. And I have been walking up and down the post office way too often the last few days.

But yeah, maybe I should go read a book.

Puzzle for Puppets

「誰よりずっと傷付きやすい君の

そばにいたい今度はきっと」

『Time after Time ～花舞う町で～』 (倉木麻衣)

You are more easily hurt than anyone else

I want to be at your side, this time forever

"Time after Time ~ In the City of the Dancing Flowers~" (Kuraki Mai)

I am pretty sure that I have mentioned before that I have a totally rational fear of clowns. Because we all know they are inherently evil. Not sure though whether I ever mentioned that I also have a rational fear of puppets/dolls/evil incarnate/you choose the word. There is probably some psychological explanation for it, seeing as both beings are distorted images of the human body and such, but that still doesn't change the fact I don't like dolls and clowns.

Which might have been the subconcious reason I had been pushing Ayatsuji Yukito's Ningyoukan no Satsujin ("The Mannequin House Murders") back in my reading pile for so long. I bought almost half a year ago and I actually got it signed by Ayatsuji himself then (I happened to have it with me then, meaning I had meant to read it in May already), but somehow it got pushed back. A lot. And often. The titular Mannequin House is a nickname one of its room tenants has for a large mansion in a residential area of Kyoto. Hiryuu Souichi has recently moved into the mansion as its new owner and landlord, having inherited from his recently deceased father. The nickname derives from the fact that several faceless mannequin dolls are placed around the mansion, which are not to be moved following Souichi's father's will. But mysterious events like threatening letters, strange sounds at night and rumors about the mansion worry Souichi and when it all culminates into the death of his mother, he seeks out the help of his old friend Shimada Kiyoshi.

Ningyoukan no Satsujin is the fourth novel in Ayatsuji's Yakata series and this novel marks a turning point for the series. The previous novels had all featured very tense closed circle situations surrounding the sinister buildings designed by architect Nakamura Seiji. This time however, the setting is actually an open one, with the story taking place over the course of several months. Compare the students on a lonely island, a mansion in the depths of a forest and a locked underground maze to... a mansion in a residential area. With the protagonist going out for coffee occasionally. Right from the start the reader is aware that this is a very different novel from the previous novels. Which can be a good thing of course. Ayatsuji obviously started to see the limits of his own series and thus changed things a bit (in fact, Ningyoukan was supposed to be the last book in the series initially, which might also explain the big changes, wanting to make it more distinct).

But, did he succeed? Yes and no. Sure, he got rid of the closed circle situation trope, the dense story-telling of many events in a very short period of time. The focus on the buildings is therefore also weakened, this time presenting us with lively descriptions of Kyoto. This obtained freedom allows Ayatsuji to slowly, but surely build up the suspense surrounding Souichi and I would say that it works. There is also little to no meta-discussion about the genre, which makes it more accessible to 'normal' readers, as compared to the more blatantly mystery-fan oriented Jukkakukan no Satsujin and Meirokan no Satusjin.

And while there is no meta-discussion on the genre, Ayatsuji actually managed to sneak in a meta-discussion about the Yakata series and himself as a writer in general. Through the words of Shimada Kiyoshi, it becomes clear where Ayatsuji felt the series was heading to if he didn't change the formula and he makes it a wonderful point of the story, without rubbing it into the reader's face. One should read the series in order though to really appreciate this point.

On the other hand though, Ayatsuji still uses the same type of tricks he had used in the previous novels. The exterior might be different (with the closed circle trope gone), but it is still built around something that is nothing more than another (no pun intended) variation of the same main trick. It is also fairly weakly disguised here, making it by far the easiest-to-solve mystery by Ayatsuji I have read until now. As a writer, I think Ayatsuji pays more attention to the story itself, rather than the puzzle plot, which would explain why the formula changes were mostly centered on the storytelling tropes, rather than on the trick tropes, but I find it a bit disappointing. I had personally no problems with the closed circle settings, so I had rather seen the reverse: changes focused on the trick tropes, rather than on the storytelling tropes.

Though I have to admit, I did like the descriptions of Kyoto in this novel. The K- University mentioned in the novel is obviously Kyoto University (where Ayatsuji studied, and where I am studying now) and the area where Hiryou lives, north of the campus, around Kita-Shirakawa street, is actually where I live at the moment (my room is actually facing the street), so it was quite recognizable. Which usually means sneaky bonus points for me. Marutamachi Revoir is also set in Kyoto (though mostly in a courtroom), but it was set in another part of town, so it didn't really feel close.

This is definitely a change from the formula up until now. I myself am not too big a fan of this change actually, but I can see why the changes were made and why readers would like it. But with these fundamental changes done, I really have no idea how the consequent books in the Yakata series are going to be (and then I realized that I am not even halfway through the series...).

Original Japanese title(s): 綾辻行人　『人形館の殺人』

The Long Goodbye

「ぼくの初恋にまつわる話をしましょうか」

『丸太町ルヴォワール』

"Shall I tell you about my first love?"

"Marutamachi Revoir"

After posting the AKB48 Satsujin Jiken review, I remembered I hadn't even reviewed the newest Conan yet (which I had already read almost two weeks earlier)! But three manga reviews in a row is a bit too skewed for my taste, so back to books for the moment!

Revoir series
Marutamachi Revoir
Karasuma Revoir
Imadegawa Revoir
Kawaramachi Revoir 

And as I hardly read any books the last few weeks, the only option is to go to Marutamachi Revoir, which I finished just yesterday. To the outside world, Shirosaka Jion, the head of a big hospital, died of natural causes. But to the persons close to him, there was always the possibility that his fifteen year old grandson Rongo killed the man. He had the motive: Jion wanted Rongo to study medicine to take over the firm against his will. He had the opportunity: he was Jion's mansion at the time of the murder. And he had the means: Rongo's cellphone was found in Jion's room, which could have been used to mess up Jion's pacemaker, resulting in his death. Rongo's uncle quickly secured the evidence pointing at Rongo, but promised not to do anything with them as long as Rongo would not take up medicine, which would leave the hospital to himself. And as Rongo didn't want to study medicine anyway, all was well.

Until three years later. Rongo suddenly decides to study medicine anyway, breaking the promise. With all bets off, Rongo is now to be trialed at the Gathering of the Twin Dragons, a private trial that has been a secret tradition in Kyoto for ages. Acting as the Yellow Dragon (prosecution) is the infamous Tatsuki family, whereas Mikaga Mitsuru (nicknamed the Red Karasuma), assisted by Midou Tatsuya (the Universal Collector), is to act as the Blue Dragon (defense). There is only one way to prove Rongo's innocence: three years ago, on that fatal day, a mysterious woman calling herself Rouge had been in Jion's mansion, who definitely showed signs of wanting to kill Jion. The only problem, she destroyed all evidence of her existence. Will the Blue Dragon be able to pull off a miracle and what will the outcome of the Gathering of the Twin Dragons be?

As a relatively young 'graduate' from the Kyoto University Mystery Club, Van Madoy (or Madoi Ban, the former being his prefered romanization, it seems), is a writer who still has strong ties with the club, as there are still active members who used to be in the club at the same time as him. Which is how I first heard about him. Marutamachi Revoir is his debut novel and was originally published under the Kodansha Box label, mostly featuring adolescent fiction with a high pop-culture tone to them (NisiOisiN also has a series there). I admit that Marutamachi Revoir fits there, as it is also a sad story of Rongo's first love and the dialogues here at times remind of the amazing dialogues and wordplays found in NisiOisiN's Zaregoto series, but this novel could also have easily been published as a 'normal' mystery novel. I think a lot of people might have missed this book initially because of the publishing line, but that would be a shame, because Marutamachi Revoir is really worth a read (and released as a normal, cheaper paperback now, though this release doesn't has the awesome original cover art!).

The first impression I had after finishing the book was that fans of the Ace Attorney / Gyakuten Saiban series would definitely like this novel. The bulk of the story is made up by the Gathering of the Twin Dragons and the logical battle between the Blue and Yellow Dragons, trying to shoot down the other side's evidence and deductions is really exciting and reminiscent of the best scenes in the Ace Attorney games. The characters in Marutamachi Revoir are also slightly exaggerated, resulting in a somewhat manga-esque presentation. Which isn't bad at all. I for one love the notion of the Yellow Dragons having 'special attacks', like Tatsuki Rakka's Revival of the Fallen Blossoms (coming up with evidence that can't possibly exist), or Yamato's Dark Sword Killing (overwhelming the opponent with absolute evidence). It might be a bit flashy, but the whole atmosphere in the novel is just slightly unreal, a bit movie-like, which actually gives it a very unique flavour.

But one must not forget the fact that the Gathering of the Twin Dragons is a private trial. In the end, the law has nothing to do with this trial, and while there are still rules to the game, a lot more is allowed here than in an actual trial, making things a lot more difficult to predict, which in turn results in more excitement.

But, you would say, is the thrill in a courtroom drama not derived from having a person judged by law? The danger of being sent to prison, or worse? A mock trial negates the inherent importance of a trial, the sense of wanting to save someone's life, right? So how is Marutamachi Revoir going to keep up enough of a tempo for the reader to want to read until the end?

In fact, to be honest, while I really liked the Gathering of the Twin Dragons, at times you feel like the story is not moving towards the truth behind the case at all. With both Dragons shooting down the other side's evidence, it is like the story only moves sidewards or even backwards at time. There isn't an actual detective figure in the story either, with Rongo, Mitsuru and Tatsuya all acting as a kind of detective at one point in the story or another, leaving the reader without a character to really focus on. And while there are some great plot twists during the story, the main puzzle (Rouge) is actually quite easy to guess. Sure, Van Madoy has left some (great) hints for the reader to pick up for almost all of the plot twists actually, but the 'final truth' feels a bit light, a bit unimportant.

Which could be a really bad thing, but it isn't here. I actually had trouble getting this into words, but then I read Maya Yutaka's commentary to Marutamachi Revoir and I could only nod. So to quote Maya:

"In short, this author is purposely suggesting that the fun in orthodox mysteries does not lie in deductions that equal the truth, but in the deductions themselves, whether they are just hypothethical or the truth. That is why he weakened the importance of the truth itself. In orthodox mysteries, it isn't about truth that befits 'detection', but coming up with an interesting deduction. Detection is important, a detective is not crucial element."

(Maya Yutaka, 2012, Commentary to Marutamachi Revoir (paperback))

The journey to the truth, the Gathering of the Twin Dragons, is fantastic and that is what keeps you reading. The second part of the novel, where Tatsuya is investigating the case to prepare for the Gathering, is in hindsight full of hints, but really boring in comparison to the rest, because this is also the part where the reader isn't really presented with all kinds of deductions. Even in the first part, where Rongo tells about his meeting with Rouge, is full of excitement with Rongo and Rouge trying to deduce all kinds of information about each other.

In short, I really liked Marutamachi Revoir. I am hesitating now whether to buy the sequel right away, or wait some years for the paperback version. I would also want to recommend this novel to fans of the Ace Attorney series, but seeing as this novel is only out in Japanese at the moment and this is actually a difficult book to translate...

Original Japanese title(s): 円居挽　『丸太町ルヴォワール』

Too Many Suspects

「犯人はＡＫＢの中にいる！」

『ＡＫＢ殺人事件』 

"The murderer is amongst us AKB members!"

"The AKB Murder Case"

Reading Kindaichi Shounen no Jikenbo or something like Ayatsuji's Jukkakukan no Satsujin, would make you think that every Mystery Club summer camp ends up in a gruesome bloody serial murder case. So I was surprised I made it out in one piece last week. I also went on a trip to Seoul last week visiting friends. I can't read Korean, even though I've actually started studying it several times now: I just never seem to make it to the end. So I am not sure why I was so excited when I was browsing a bookstore. I made it to the mystery section and there were some interesting finds, like a bizarre flood of Sherlock Holmes novels (probably riding on popularity of the BBC series Sherlock and the Richie movies), a semi-rare novel like McCloy's Through a Glass, Darkly available new and my biggest find: a copy of Queen's The Tragedy of Y with a cover that practically spoils who the murderer is. It wouldn't be possible to portray that person more sinister, more evil, more murderer-like than there. Not sure what the publisher was thinking.

Anyway, I haven't read that much lately, so once again a review of a manga. Because they don't take that much time to read. But this is a somewhat special kind of manga. AKB48 Satsujin Jiken ("AKB48 Murder Case", English title: Detective AKB48) is a one-shot manga based on the widely popular idol girls group AKB48. It is impossible to get around the group in Japan, with members not only performing their musical acts, but also appearing in TV shows as regular guests and in commercials. Oh, and did I tell you that there are over 80 members in AKB48 alone (there are also 'spin-off' groups, which would bring the total to a number nearing infinity). The group also has its own manga series and anime, and in principle, AKB48 Satsujin Jiken is just a tie-in manga to accompany a series of commercials starrring AKB48 for Glico's Ice no Mi candy, where AKB members are getting killed off and member Maeda Atsuko tries her hand at solving the murders. The story in the manga is the same as in the four commercials ads, though naturally more detailed in its portrayal of the story and characters.

I am not particularly a fan of AKB, so why a review of this manga? Well. Conan's Aoyama wrote the story for both the commercials and the manga (and he made one promotional piece of art). Which was enough for me.

AKB48's most popular member, Maeda Atsuko is about to graduate (quit) from the group and she has already decided on her life after AKB: she is going to become a detective. But before that, she has to finish her last task as a member: a photo shoot at a private island together with the other 88 members. The photo shoot goes smoothly and the members are to stay for the night at the mansion on the island. During the night however, member Katou Rena is killed. Because the bridge connecting the island to the outside world has been burnt down and a storm was raging over the island, the murderer has to be one of the other AKB48 members on the island. But who and why? With the photo shoot finished and thus her last job as an AKB member over, Atsuko is now ready to take up her first job as a detective.

Well, for what is technically one big ad, AKB48 Satsujin Jiken is really not that bad. But you really need to have some basic knowledge about the group and the inner workings of the whole AKB world to get it. There are naturally loads of inside jokes and references that refer to the various members and the whole election-system (popularity rankings) that drives AKB48. This is definitely not an easily accessible work, especially because there are a lot of characters that are probably instantly recognizable to fans of the group, but to me it was quite confusing. Naturally, only a small amount of the 89 members actually do anything (because there are just too many of them!), but even still, it was a bit confusing at times to me. And just to give the reader a fair warning: the mystery of the murders (yes, more people die) is really only solvable through an expert knowledge of all things AKB.

Which I could have guessed beforehand, as this is still something aimed at AKB fans, even if it is written by Aoyama. There were some missed chances too: the puzzle plot would for example have been more fair to the reader if every member had been properly introduced to the reader (instead of just a handful, and the other girls just being there  'for the atmosphere'). As it is now, Aoyama did come up with a logical elimination plot that allows the reader to cross out most of the members on the suspect list if they pick up on the hints, but as the list becomes shorter, you really need specific maniacal knowledge if you want to get to the end of the elimination process. Which can be presented fairly, if all the data is available within the story, but it is not the case here. Aoyama just expected all readers to be super AKB fans. Which probably most of the readers are. For the fans, this is probably really fun. I was at a loss.

And for the Conan fans, there are some little references here and there that are cute enough. But still, not recommended for those not into AKB48.

I should start going back to good old books again one of these days...

Original Japanese title(s): 秋元康（案）、青山剛昌 （原）、梧桐柾木（画）　『ＡＫＢ４８殺人事件』

"The curious incident of the dog in the night-time"

"The dog did nothing in the night-time."

"That was the curious incident," remarked Sherlock Holmes.

"Silver Blaze"

Doyle (Holmes) didn't make it on my circle's top ten list of best non-Japanese mystery novels ever, but to be honest, I too didn't vote for Doyle either (despite me being the one who nominated him in the first place). Partly because other people from other circles will probably nominate something out of the Holmes canon, partly also because I am not sure whether I can truly claim that I don't know of ten other detective novels that I would deem better than any work in the Holmes canon. I am not talking about historic importance, just as a work on its own. But enough of small talk.

Both the editor of Kindaichi Shounen no Jikenbo and Amagi Seimaru (who actually writes this series under a different pen name) have been promoting Sherdock the Detective Dog on their Twitter accounts lately, so I tried the first volume, despite the description on the back. I am fairly sure I would never ever had bought it otherwise. For the premise is: Sherlock Holmes is for some reason reincarnated as a dog. Called Sherdock (Sherlock + Dog). In Japan. And his owner is a young teenager called Wajima Takeru, who is also the only person who can actually communicate Sherdock. Because Takeru also happens to be the reincarnation of Watson (in fact, the name Wajima Takeru can be read as Watson thanks to the complexities of the Japanese language). In Japan. And together, they fight crime!

And nobody in their right mind would have picked this up without some pushing, right?

But to be honest: this is a surprisingly fun series! Of course, you really have to accept first that Sherdock is not even remotely similar to the real Holmes, only spouting misquotes like 'Elementary, my dear Watson'. And imagine you being a teenager, only to have Holmes teasing you about a classmate by saying the following: I can see you're in love with her. And it's one-sided too. No, not likely. But it is funny though. Just imagine Holmes being all smug about it. Anyway, accept the premise of a talking, detective dog who might or might not be Holmes, and you will actually have a fun time.

The series consists of semi-inverted stories. At least, in the first volume. You don't actually see the murderers commit their crimes, but it usually quite clear who the guilty party is: the problem is to prove how he did. It's like when you tune in on an episode of Columbo just after the murderer has commited his crime (which for some reason, is something that happened to me quite often). Unlike Reizouko Tantei, the hints are fairly available to the reader (and they don't rely on specialist knowledge like Kuitan). The stories aren't what I would call classics, but they are not bad and I did like the emphasis on visual hints, an element that is usually not present at all in books.

Visual hints are definitely a reason why I like detective manga. I already sorta mentioned it in a review of an audio drama, but there are a wide variety of hints that rely on the human senses, that just don't translate well in written words. If one reads manga like Conan and Kindaichi Shounen, you'll see that the authors make great use of the visual element of their stories, burying hints in the art. And unlike video, you can easily go back a few pages to confirm things (like normal books), which removes the problem of visual hints in video that are either to hard to detect (short screen-time, too small to see at one glance), or too obvious (with the director trying too hard to convey the fact that something is a hint).

And of course, one of Sherdock the Detective Dog's charm points, or at least, that's what the writer probably aims at, is that Sherdock has the problem of being a dog and not being able to do everything he would like to do himself, thus needing Takeru to act as his human proxy. As of the first volume, this dynamic mimics that of the main dynamic in Conan by the way: Conan has at one hand the freedom to do a lot because he is an 'innocent' child, on the other hand there is a lot he isn't allowed to do himself, thus needing an adult partner to do things for him. The same holds for Sherdock, with the difference that he can just ask Takeru to do things for him, while Conan usually has to act and slyly lead adults to do the things he wants to have done.

Sherdock the Detective Dog is still running, with the fourth volume recently released. For some reason I never really got into Q.E.D. Shoumei Shuuryou (and I haven't even read the spin-off  C.M.B.), but I might follow this series because a focus on inverted stories does make it feel different (even though they are also present in both Conan and Kindaichi Shounen).  I have no idea how this series is going to develop further though. At least with Conan, there is the whole Black Organisation storyline that keeps everything together. Are we going to find out more about why the heck Holmes is a dog? Is Moriarty going to appear as a dog too? I think I am more afraid than curious to how this series is going to develop in the future, but there is only one way to find out. At least, only one that doesn't involve driving in DeLoreans, blue police boxes and other machinery that might mess up the space-time continuum.

Original Japanese title(s): 安童夕馬（原）、佐藤友生　（画）　『探偵犬シャードック』第１巻

Zero Focus

"The record, therefore, which I am about to set down is the first complete and unedited history of the Greene holocaust. It is, I hope, unnecessary for me to state that I have received official permission for my task. I feel that now the truth should be known, for it is history, and one should not shrink from historical facts. Also, I believe that the credit for the solution of this case should go where it belongs"

"The Greene Murder Case"

Warning: there is a big chance that the next post to be published, will be about Sherlock Holmes reincarnated as a dog. You have been warned.

Man, I have postponing writing the review for 0 no Satsujin for so long, that I actually read the sequel in the meantime. Yes, I am good at postponing things. So let's just make this a double review to get it all over with: today, the last two novels in Abiko Takemaru's Hayami siblings series. I had already reviewed 8 no Satsujin a couple of months ago and this is one of those rare, very rare cases where I read the books in a series 1) in the right order and 2) complete the series within a relatively short space in time.  The first novel in the series (also Abiko Takemaru's debut) was really fun and a well-constructed, but not particularly surprising impossible crime novel I t was not bad in any way however and Abiko has a very easy to read writing style, which makes his novels ideal as 'filler' material between 'heavier' reading material.

Police detective Hayami Kyouzou is having another difficult case in 0 no Satsujin ("The 0 Murders"), surrouding the small family of wealthy (and old!) heiress Fujita Katsu. Her only living relatives are her younger brother Genji and her nephew and niece Kushida Tatsuo and Hiroko. In fact, these people don't have any family of their own either, so these four people are all they have in the world. And someone is killing them, one by one, starting with the poisoning murder on not the old Katsu, but instead her young niece Hiroko! Why kill someone with no money? Who has any reason for killing off a small family with almost no ties to the outside world? Kyouzou has no idea, so he calls in the help of two experts on family holocausts in fiction: his younger brother and sister Shinji and Ichio, who happen to be huge fans of detective fiction.

The novel starts quite surprising with not a Challenge to the Reader, but a Notice of the Writer, where Abiko sorta tells the reader he left enough clues for the reader to deduce who the murderer is, and he is even so nice as to give you a list of suspects, saying that all other characters are definitely not involved with the murders. The tone of the Notice might not be very aggressive, but yes, this is just a nicer written Challenge to the Reader. I thought it pretty interesting as most novels don't feature a Challenge to the Reader until the point where all hints are given, which can also make a Challenge to the Reader come as a surprise. If you are not expecting it to be such a detective novel, your 'reading mode' might be totally different. In that sense, it is more fair to include such a Challenge at the beginning and I think it might also be a remnant of Abiko's time at the Kyoto University Mystery Club, where Guess the Criminal scripts are technically all stories feature a Challenge to the Reader.

The puzzle of the holocaust of the family is rather easy to solve though and while the story is definitely fun to read (again, Abiko's writing style is very easy to read), I wouldn't recommend this novel that easily. I would definitely recommend it if you like Abiko's sense of humor (as seen in his other novels, or Kamaitachi no Yoru) and it is certainly not a bad detective novel (though it is sure to be seen with some disagreeing eyes by some mystery fans), but it is also I think the weakest of the three Hayami sibling novels, with actually little incentives that keep the reader attached to the text besides the easy-to-read style. The slapstick humor is also toned down a bit, which makes 0 no Satsujin a rather dry and short book, that at times feels more like an extended plot-outline than a fullfledged novel.

Möbius no Satsujin ("The Möbius Murders"), set just after the events in the previous novel, presents Kyouzou with a new partner (the female detective Kijima) and a new case: a mysterious series of murders in metropolitan Tokyo. The victims vary from little children to elderly men. The only thing that suggests a link between the seperate murders: notes left at the murder scenes with enigmatic number-sequences on them ("2-2", "3-1" etc.). What is the missing link that exists between the seemingly random murders and will Kyouzou be able to stop the murderer? Meanwhile, we also follow the 'adventures' of a teenager called Shiina Toshio, who together with an unknown partner has been going around killing people...

Möbius no Satsujin starts out as a serial murder case like The ABC Murders, then turns into a missing link story like Cat of Many Tails, interspersed with suspense elements where we follow the named murderer. Seems a bit chaotic, but it works and the first two-thirds of this story are very fun to read. It might feel a bit light for some readers too: Abiko's trademark easy writing and slapstick humor kinda undermines the gravity of a serial killer on the loose in the city, but if you can accept that, this should provide for a few hours of entertainment.

Some elements of the the missing link part of the story are good, some not so. The link between the murders is a pretty original one, but the concept behind the enigmatic number sequences left at the crime scenes is almost impossible to guess a priori. The missing link is also revealed halfway through the story, shifting the focus of the investigation towards finding the murderers, but that part is definitely the worst part of the story, with a really unbelievable identity of Toshio's partner. It might have worked if this story was written in a different tone, but it just doesn't work here. It feels so out of tone, that it leaves a somewhat bad aftertaste, despite the entertaining main body of the story.

Taking these two novels together with 8 no Satsujin, it becomes a bit more clear what Abiko did with this series though. 8 no Satsujin featured an impossible murder, 0 no Satsujin the holocaust of a family, Möbius no Satsujin serial murders and a missing link. With all three novels, Abiko used a famous trope of older detective fiction, which he examined using the characters of Shinji and Ichio. Shinji and Ichio constantly reference Golden Age novels when contemplating about the cases, effectively acting as proxies for the genre-savvy reader. Abiko also subverses the tropes in several ways in his novels (I won't go into details for fear of spoiling people). Of course, the detective genre is one that makes extensive use of tropes and subversing them, but there is a difference between coming up with a new solution for an existing trope in the genre, and actually starting kicking at the fundementals of said tropes. These novels make Abiko's place in the history of New Orthodox novels a bit clearer to me at least.

Taken apart, these novels are certainly amusing stories, but they are not what I'd first think of when talking about the New Orthodox writers. I would not advice people to not read them either though, as they are competently written mystery novels. Taken as a set, the three Hayami siblings novels becme a place Abiko manages to have a small discussion about Golden Age novels. Together, they form a better way to explain his position within New Orthodox detective fiction, but I think that in terms of pure originality, Abiko's influence in the genre of mystery gaming is far more important than his novels, so if you had to choose, I'd say you'd need to go play Kamaitachi no Yoru instead.

Original Japanese title(s): 我孫子武丸　『０の殺人』 『メビウスの殺人』