Face to Face

「人生は仮面舞踏会みたいなもんだ。男も女もみんな仮面をかぶっ​て生きている」

『仮面舞踏会』（横溝正史）

"Life is like a masked ball. All men and women live their lives wearing masks."

"The Masked Ball" (Yokomizo Seishi)

And again, a disclosure message just to be sure: I translated the English version of Ayatsuji Yukito's The Decagon House Murders last year, which is part of the same series as the book I'm discussing today.

Yakata series (Author: Ayatsuji Yukito)
Jukkakukan no Satsujin (The Decagon House Murders) [1987]
Suishakan no Satsujin (The Water Mill House Murders) [1988]
Meirokan no Satsujin (The Labyrinth House Murders) [1988]
Ningyoukan no Satsujin (The Puppet House Murders) [1989]
Tokeikan no Satsjin (The Clock House Murders) [1991]
Kuronekokan no Satsujin (The Black Cat House Murders) [1992]
Ankokukan no Satsujin (The Darkness House Murders) [2004]
Bikkurikan no Satsujin (The Surprise House Murders) [2006]
Kimenkan no Satsujin (The Strange Masks House Murders) [2012]

The first time mystery writer Shishiya Kadomi met horror writer Hyuuga Kyousuke, he thought he had finally found his doppelgänger. Their resemblance becomes useful when Hyuuga is invited by the wealthy Kageyama Itsushi to attend a secret meeting. The monetary reward for his time is something Hyuuga can't refuse, but a sudden illness prevents him from going. Hyuuga therefore asks Shishiya to go in his place (pretending to be Hyuuga), so they can share the money. Shishiyai doesn't feel much for the scheme, until he learns that the meeting is to be held in the Strange Masks House, one of the creations of architect Nakamura Seiji. From his own experience, Shishiya knows that each of Nakamura's houses becomes the scene of some grotesque murder, and hoping to confront the evil, Shishiya accepts Hyuuga's request. And as expected, the meeting at the Strange Masks House turns into a bloody tragedy, when the house is cut-off from the outside world due to a sudden snow storm in April, the master of the house is found murdered and decapitated in his room and masks have been put on, and locked on the faces of all the guests, including Shishiya, during their sleep (think The Man in the Iron Mask). With no way of escape or even seeing whom they are talking to, can the party make it out alive from Ayatsuji Yukito's Kimenkan no Satsujin ("The Strange Masks House Murder", 2012).

Kimenkan no Satsujin is the ninth novel in Ayatsuji's Yakata (mansion, house) series, which first started in 1987 with The Decagon House Murders (for a series overview, see this post). Shishiya had not acted in very prominent roles in the previous couple of volumes (from Kuronekokan no Satsujin on), but here he is back in the main role, in a rather classic format of the series, with him locked up together with some other people in one of Nakamura's devilish creations. The theme this time is masks, which is a motif for a lot of mystery fiction actually. "Everyone wears a mask, whether over their faces or over their hearts," one famous quote from the Ace Attorney series says and that's especially true in detectve stories, where practically everybody has something to hide, criminal or not. And how often have we not seen stories where people turned out not to be the persons they claimed to be? Sometimes, we have characters wearing actual masks, like the infamous Sukekiyo in Yokomizo Seishi's The Inugami Clan, who instantly attract all attention, and suspicion of those around them.

Ayatsuji brings this theme to the extreme in Kimenkan no Satsujin, as it's a rule inside the Strange Masks House for the host and guests to wear face-covering masks most of the time, and after the murder nobody is able to take of their masks anymore because they have all been locked. It's because of the actual masks that the reader will suddenly start to have suspicions about the identity of each of the characters, as you simply can't be sure anymore if the man in the mask is indeed who he claims to be. This plot device is used in interesting ways to work out several problems revolving around identity in mystery fiction, including obvious ones like suspicions about the identity of the decapitated victim and others. The face=identity theme comes back several times and I'd say that for the most part, this is done quite well: the problem of why everyone is made to wear their masks, as well as the reason for the decapitation work quite well in the context of the story.

Whereas Knox might lament the use of secret passages in detective stories, it's actually a vital element of the Yakata series: the series revolves around the houses designed by Nakamura Seiji, who loved weird gimmicks like secret hallways and hidden cabinets. Every time there is something resembling a locked room in the series, you can bet there's a secret hallway somewhere. But isn't that cheap, you might think? No, actually, it isn't. For one, it's always assumed that there is something going in Nakamura's creations and two, the existence of a secret hallway itself is not the mystery. They are always used as fair elements in the deduction process, so you have to look at these gimmicks in the light of questions as "who could have known about this secret hallway", or "who could have used this secret passage". In that respect, secret hallways are just as fair an element in mystery fiction as the bloody knife. Kimenkan no Satsujin too is bursting with secret gimmicks, but their use in the deduction process is completely fair.

I did find Kimenkan no Satsujin quite lacking in the 'wow' department. Up until now, all the books featured a big surprise twist, a trick that turned everything around and explained everything. For each book, I can explain in one sentence what the trick was. Kimenkan no Satsujin on the other hand feels more like it's a collection of smaller tricks that admittedly work together, but miss the big impact of earlier novels. Most of the mystery revolves around the decapitated corpse, issues of identity because of the masks and Nakamura's gimmicks mentioned above. True, there is one big twist at the end of the story that also ties in nicely with a very neat piece of misdirection, but it is not a plot device that can explain most of the mystery behind the novel, as featured in previous novels. Again, it's an element that ties in well with the face=identity thing, but it is not nearly as strong as that one thing from The Decagon House Murders or that what was pulled off in Tokeikan no Satsujin (people who have read those books probably instantly know what kind of twist I'm talking about). In comparison, the thing from Kimenkan no Satsujin? Oh, that, in combination with that other thing and don't forget this.

Overall, Kimenkan no Satsujin is a fairly solid entry in the series, with the more classical tone similar to earlier books in the series. For people who have been following the whole series, I think this one won't really disappoint. For people who haven't read the series yet; start somewhere else, because while fun, Kimenkan no Satsujin is nowhere being the best of the series and there are quite a lot of references to earlier books. The big question is however: what will happen next? Ayatsuji has said that he plans to end the series with the tenth volume, and while there is nothing like a grand narrative between the books (except for the focus on the protagonists and the houses created by Nakamura Seiji), I do suspect that the last volume will have something to connect all the books together more strongly and serve as a proper conclusion.

Original Japanese title(s): 綾辻行人 『奇面館の殺人』

The Masque of the Red Death

"Red...White...Blue..."

Phoenix Wright: Ace Attorney

Whenever I see covers of Japanese detective novels where the characters of the title make 'a corner', I always wonder whether it's the infuence of Ichikawa Kon's Kindaichi Kousuke films, which all featured stylized credits with similar 'cornering' in the names.

Sekishibyou no Yakata no Satsujin ("The Murder in the Mansion of the Red Death", 2001) is a short story collection by Ashibe Taku, starring his series detective Morie Shunsaku. He is supposed to be a defense attorney, but at least in the four stories collected in his volume, we see very little of his legal performances, and a lot more of him as a celebrated amateur detective specializing in locked room murders and other impossible crime mysteries. He is joined by his assistant Niijima Tomoka, as well as other acquaintances with the police, the news and even a mystery writer called Ashibe Taku, as he solves one baffling case after another. This particular volume is the eleventh entry in the long-running Attorney Morie Shunsaku series (which started in 1990), so it jumps right in the action without any (deep) introduction of the principal players.

The title story Sekishibyou no Yakata no Satsujin ("The Murder in the Red Death Mansion") is the longest story in the volume, closer to a novelette than a short story. Niijima Tomoka's hiking trip during a short holiday turns into a nightmare when she gets lost in the mountains and winds up in a strange mansion with rooms connected to each other in a zig-zag pattern, all decorated in different colors from black to green and blue, which reminds of Edgar Allan Poe's The Masque of the Red Death. After a bit of confusion, Tomoka learns that the building is owned by Koshimizu Tatsuma, who can't get out of his bed anymore and probably has't long to live anymore. His granddaughter, Saya, also happens to be visiting her grandfather that night, and she confides in Tomoka that she suspects something isn't right and that the building's caretaker (who also takes care of her grandfather) might be a bit suspicious. Tomoka and Saya are each given the use of one of the colored room. In the middle of the night, Tomoka sees a suspicious black figure making his way through her room to the next room, and Tomoka decides to follow the figure. The figure however manages first to conjure Saya away from her room, then disappear himself before he knocks Tomoka out. When Tomoka awakens, she finds that the caretaker has been killed, and that grandfather Tatsuma and Saya have been spirited away from the building.

A lot happens in this novelette, from an impossible disappearance from the colorful rooms and a murder to just the mystery of where Saya and her grandfather have gone off too, as well as the purpose of the strange building and even more. Yet the story is almost strangely straightforward and clear and never feels too convoluted. The solution has both ingenious ideas as well as some points that seem a bit unlikely. The way the story connects to The Masque of the Red Death is definitely good: I love detective stories that can give new (logical) interpretations to classic horror and ghost stories. The basic idea behind the disappearance from the rooms is good, but I really, really wonder whether the trick can be performed as described in the story. Finally, there's another important part of the mystery related to the actual murder that seems a bit hard to swallow, even if I have to admit there were some hints pointing to it. It's a trick that always seems a bit hard to believe in general, so it's not a problem specific to this story. Overall a good story, even if a bit long.

Oh, Edogawa Rampo's Ougon Kamen funnily enough also featured an impossible disappearance in a setting inspired by The Masque of the Red Death.

Shikku Suru Joker ("The Running Joker") on the other hand is a short, but powerful story, about a murder commited in a holiday villa. The only witness had been standing guard in the main hall of the villa (because the inhabitants had good reason for wanting security), but nevertheless a murderer dressed up as a joker made his way inside the building and inside one of the bedrooms completely unseen, killed one person and then disappeared into another room after crossing over the main hall (knocking the witness out in the process). The solution is simple, and elegant and with just enough hints around in really short, no-nonsense impossible crime story.

Fukatu Keibu no Fukitsu na Funin ("The Unfortunate Appointment of Inspector Fukatsu") has a local rural police station in an uproar because of the arrival of a fast-track police inspector who is appointed to their station for the necessary "experience", leaving Morie Shunsaku unable to get the information he needs as an attorney. A corpse found at the bottom of a cliff discovered right after Inspector Fukatsu's arrival means he can get right to work and Morie sticks around to see how things work out. The solution is rather clever: I quickly saw through the first layer of the solution, but definitely had not expected that Ashibe would double-up me there. Again a fun short story that also includes quite a lot of satire on rural police stations and how careers within the police are planned.

Misshitsu no Oni ("The Monster of the Locked Room") is my least favorite story of the volume. A professor is threatened with death on a specific day, and the police naturally keeps an eye on him. The professor retreats to his study in the garden, with the only entrance to the garden locked from the outside by his brother-in-law and the house being observed from a room above the garden and the entrance from a restaurant across the street. And yet the man is found stabbed to death, with no signs of any intruders (or escapees). While not a bad story, it just lacks something really catchy (especially compared to the other stories in the volume). There's something like a robot in the room that is supposed to make the story a bit more interesting, but that plot device isn't really used to its full extent, and gives a 'oh, by the way' vibe.

Overall though, Sekishibyou no Yakata no Satsujin is a good short story collection featuring impossible crimes. The start is a bit more impressive than the ending, but good nonetheless. There are also quite a lot of references to other entries in the Attorney Morie Shunsaku series and this volume certainly made me interested in reading more of Ashibe, so you can expect more of this series in the future on the blog.

Original Japanese title(s): 芦辺拓　『赤死病の館の殺人』：　「赤死病の館の殺人」 / 「疾駆するジョーカー」 / 「深津警部の不吉な赴任」 / 「密室の鬼」

The Game Is On

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

A Highland Fling with a Monstrous Thing

flying fall down 

羽ばたきながら墜ちてゆくの

君の傍へ 

「flying」（Garnet Crow）

flying fall down

I spread my wings as I come falling down

To your side

"flying" (Garnet Crow)

There is a negative relation between the number of posts I write on a day, and the quality of the review and especially the introduction. Sorry. I really shouldn't write more than two reviews back-to-back.

In John Dickson Carr's The Case of the Constant Suicides (1941), a chance and comedic meeting between two academic rivals in a train coach leads to the discovery that they are both members of the Scottish Campbell family and that they were summoned to the family castle in connection to the recent death of Angus Campbell. Ol' Angus apparently threw himself of a high tower to a messy death, after having setting up no less than three life insurance policies with "no suicide" clauses. At one hand, the fact Angus' tower bedroom was locked from the inside seems to indicate it was indeed simply suicide (meaning no pay-out), on the other hand, items that should be in his bedroom, and items that shouldn't be in his bedroom seem to cast some doubt to the nature of Angus' death. Dr. Gideon Fell is asked to help the Campbell family with their not-suicide claim, but the Scottish tower doesn't seem content with just one victim, for another character throws himself off the tower.

I think I've mentioned it several times, but I never really got 'caught' by Carr (or Carter Dickson) like other people appear to be ( (I'm more a fan of Queen). While I've read some fantastically constructed mysteries written by him (The Judas Window), I just never managed to get really enthusiastic about Carr as a writer, actively searching out more of his books. Somehow, I am just totally overlooking the magic it seems to have for other people. Anyway, a quick look told me that The Case of the Constant Suicides's a fairly well-received locked room mystery by fans (of Carr), so how was the book in my eyes?

Well, as a mystery novel, I did not think it was really impressive. Even though I figured out the main trick quite early, it is the type of solution to a mystery I don't really like. The "gimmick requiring specialist knowledge" solution. Whether it's for a locked room mystery or any other type of mystery, it's a solution-type that should only be used sparingly and even then, it should only be used with proper hinting and set-up. Use of specialist knowledge and such can be asked and expected of the reader, as long it has been given proper attention in the main story, but this is seldom done. In The Case of the Constant Suicides, the solution is both boring, and not particularly enjoyable as a mystery plot. The identity of the mastermind also hinges on a plot device that seldom works in print, I think. Both Christie and Conan Doyle have done very similar things, but in my opinion, it's a plot device that is simply too vague to be really satisfying (and Carr's "psychological" hints are too open for various interpretations to be convincing).

I did enjoy the overall comedic tone of the story though, even if it was a bit too exaggerated at times (the Scottish jokes!). There's a fair amount of slapstick comedy too that I didn't think really funny (note that slapstick comedy can work wonderfully in mystery fiction, as shown by Higashigawa Tokuya). The bickering between Alan and Kathryn Campbell (academic rivals and second cousins) is quite fun, and while the romance subplot between them is both predictable and unbelievable, it has about the right amount of 'fiction fantasy' for the reader to just go with it.

Oh, I did sorta enjoy the thick Scottish accents in writing: I really had to read them out loud to have a good idea of what they were saying, but that did add to the experience. 

Overall, I thought The Case of the Constant Suicides was at best a mediocre mystery novel, mostly enjoyable for its non-mystery elements (the characters and the comedy). I might not be a big fan of Carr, but I've definitely read much better impossible crime mysteries by him that were much more satisfying in terms of originality, execution and pay-off. 

A Battle of Bibliophiles

「・・・東口。伝言板にXYZーもうあとがない助けてくれーそう書けば望みが叶うという」

「Angel Heart」

"The East Exit. They say that if you write down XYZ --There's no hope anymore. Save me--on the message board there, your wish will come true."

"Angel Heart"

Drury Lane's Last Review. Even though I posted only one review a week, I actually wrote all the Lane reviews in two days. Well, I wrote the XYZ reviews in one day and started reading Drury Lane's Last Case the same day; the following day I finished the book and wrote today's review.

Drury Lane series
The Tragedy of X (1932)
The Tragedy of Y (1932)
The Tragedy of Z (1933) 
Drury Lane's Last Case (1933)

Even though Inspector Thumm doesn't work at the NY Police Department anymore, some things don't change. For one, he certainly doesn't mind if people still call him Inspector. Two, he still remembers all the people who worked for him during his years at the force. So when he is told that Donoghue, an ex-policeman who is now working for the Brittanic Museum, has gone missing, Thumm and his daughter Patience naturally accept the job. During their investigation of the Brittanic, they also discover an utterly strange theft: one of the three known copies of a 1599 Jaggard edition of The Passionate Pilgrim, a poem collection attributed to William Shakespeare, has been replaced with a 1606 edition of the same book, an edition of which nobody knew the existence and therefore much more valuable. What makes the case even more kooky is that the Brittanic's copy of the book is also sent back to the museum, although with a cut through its binding and a hundred dollar bill to cover costs of repair. Thus the Britannic is left with their own, damaged copy of the book and a more valuable edition of the book. Nobody knows what's going on, but as the whole case is linked with William Shakespeare, it's no surprise that Drury Lane, distinguished Shakespeare actor and amateur detective, is called one last time to appear on stage in Ellery Queen's Drury Lane's Last Case (1933).

The last of the Drury Lane novels, and the only one not to have be titled The Tragedy of..., even though the foreword does mention the subtitle The Tragedy of 1599. Like with The Tragedy of Z, Patience Thumm is the heroine of the story, though this time she isn't narrating. This was also the first Drury Lane novel I read. Heck, it's actually one of the very first Queen novels I ever read. As such, I have a sweet spot for it. Especially because I have a funny story to attach to it. Many, many years before I ever heard about Ellery Queen or Drury Lane, I was quite fond of a certain Mickey Mouse comic. With the power of Internet, I know now it was an Italian 1991 story titled Topolino e il segreto di William Topespeare (story code:  I TL 1872-B), but I knew it as Mickey en het geheim van William Mousespeare ("Mickey and the Secret of William Mousespeare"). Imagine my surprise when I first read Drury Lane's Last Case, and I discovered that the neat Mickey Mouse story about rare Mousespeare books being stolen only to be returned to their owners again with a slash through its cover wasn't completely original.

Drury Lane's Last Case is fairly different from the three previous Drury Lane novels though. For one, for most of the book, the plot revolves around the mysterious book-swapping in the museum. In short, this book is mostly a bibliomystery and murder only becomes a part of the play at the very end of the story. This is quite different from the three Tragedies, which basically all started with a mysterious death. For Queen fans, the bibliophilical angle shouldn't come as a surprise: it's a background the Queen cousins used very often in their books. And as there's a Shakespeare link, it's obvious why Drury Lane appears in this novel.

While the main mystery might be a bit tame compared to the previous books, I definitely like Drury Lane's Last Case a lot. For people who love books and historical mysteries, the plot about the stolen (and returned) books is more than just interesting. There's just something magic about hidden secrets about Shakespeare. What helps is that Queen never allows the plot to slow down: surprises are thrown at the reader all the time and it's hard to guess where the story is going because of all the revelations on the way. It'd say this is the most active book of the four Drury Lane novels, with even an Exciting Chase somewhere.Yet it never becomes too chaotic and the high-paced mystery about a book theft is miraculously exciting all the way to the end. After the somewhat slow The Tragedy of Z, this is certainly a welcome change in pacing. Also: the book is great fun because for the longest time, you have no idea what's going on. The Tragedy of X and Z were quite straightforward with their murders. The Tragedy of Y was also clear-cut, but also added a hint of insanity because of the odd murder, as well as the whole "Mad Hatter" household. Drury Lane's Last Case however is crazy from the start, with events happening that seemingly make no sense at all. It takes a while before things take shape though, and some might find that less appealing. I however love the crazy atmosphere.

The investigation eventually does turn into a murder investigation, but that's very late. What's interesting that here Drury Lane's Last Case turns back into the type of mystery you expect it to be. The line of reasoning that eventually leads to the identity of the murderer is as always focused on physical objects as clues, and deductions surrounding how the objects were used and such. As I noted in my review of The Tragedy of Y, a lot of the clues are actually recyled within the story, having multiple uses in the deduction chain, which is quite impressive and fun. For while a reader might notice one correct use of a clue, it might be a lot more difficult for someone to identify all necessary uses of a clue. The most significant clue in the book for example is used in two different ways.That said, Drury Lane's Last Case never comes even close to the logical reasonings laid out in the three Tragedies and is definitely the weakest one in terms of how impressive the final deduction chain is.

The last part of the book also feels a bit detached from the first part (the 'straight' bibliomystery) though and the book overall feels less like "one" story, compared to the previous books. The last part does follow from the previous, but the non-murder part and the murder part feel quite different from each other. Not a bad thing per se, but the previous books were quite impressive because they always showed how a view on the complete case was necessary to figure out who the murderer was. That is less obvious in Drury Lane's Last Case.

But I do really like Drury Lane's Last Case though, because it's so weird. Logic-wise, it's not as impressive as the previous three books, but it makes up for that by just being a lot more unpredictable than those books.

The Z

「獠に依頼したぁ～いなんて思ってなぁい？　この頼れる俺にさ！　いいぜ。受けても・・・言えよ例のセリフを・・・さ！　・・・言えよ♡」

 「・・・X・・・Y・・・Z・・・」

「Angel Heart」

"Aren't you thinking about asking me for help? Trustworthy old me? Okay. I'll help you...just say it. You know what. Say it ♡"

"...X...Y...Z..."

"Angel Heart"

And today, the final letter of the alphabet! The next post will conclude this series of reviews.

Drury Lane series
The Tragedy of X (1932)
The Tragedy of Y (1932)
The Tragedy of Z (1933) 
Drury Lane's Last Case (1933)

It's been a decade since Mr. Drury Lane, retired Shakespeare actor and amateur detective, solved the Longstreet Murder and the Hatter Murder. Things have changed of course in those years. Inspector Thumm for example quit the force and started his own private detective agency. His bright and independent daughter Patience returned from Europe and started working as her father's assistant. District Attorney Bruno is now Governor Bruno. But crime never changes. Thumm and his daughter are hired by marble entrepeneur Elihu Clay, because he suspects his silent partner Dr. Fawcett might be involving their company with shady deals. During their stay in Tilden County, Senator Fawcett (brother and suspected accomplice of Dr. Fawcett) is murdered. A cut-up toy chest is discovered to be a major clue, linking the murder to a long-time guest of nearby Algonquin Prison.The local police inspector and district attorney think they have their man, but Patience is quite sure they are wrong and intends to prove her worth as a detective in Ellery Queen's The Tragedy of Z (1933).

The last Drury Lane book to carry the title "Tragedy", but also the first to star Patience Thumm, the daughter of Inspector Thumm who suddenly appeared in this book even though not one reference had ever been made to her in the earlier two adventures. She would also star in the last book, Drury Lane's Last Case. Patience is a weird character. I've seen her described as a crossdressing Ellery Queen once, which isn't that far off actually. Writing a convincing female narrator was definitely not a forte of the Queen cousins. Patience has an interesting function though: she is a very intelligent girl, but unlike Drury Lane, she is also more directly involved with the investigation and is less likely to keep quiet (thus driving the plot forward). Because of that, we have two detectives running around in this novel: while it's Drury Lane who saves the day at the end, there is no doubt that Patience did more than her share of the deductions necessary to capture the murderer. As a female detective following the Queen school of logical reasoning, she is interesting, but still, she really does feel like Ellery with a wig on.

The Tragedy of Z is also perhaps the most boring of the three Tragedies. It is quite a bit shorter than the previous two books, but feels just as long, not because it's so exciting, but because the middle part drags a bit. Both The Tragedy of X and The Tragedy of Y start right off with a mysterious death and the plot basically does not stop until the very end when Drury Lane explains everything. The Tragedy of Z feels a lot slower, with crime scenes that never become as memorable as the street car murder in The Tragedy of X or the mandolin murder in The Tragedy of Y. For most part, it's definitely a step down compared to the previous two letters.

That the first couple of deduction chains of Patience feel a bit... dodgy isn't helping either. Sure, at a later point Drury Lane proves that Patience is indeed right, but even so, it feels a bit arbitrary and not completely convincing. Of course, mystery fiction is always something of the imagination and therefore 'unreal', but that's why it has to be written convincingly. And we know Ellery Queen was capable of coming up with much more solid deductions, so it was not a lack of talent that was at the core of this problem. Especially as Patience's deductions revolve around that what Queen does best: deduce certain characteristics of the murderer by focusing on objects as clues. How they were used, in what state they were found, who could've used them, all of that is Queen's M.O., so it's a bit disappointing when the result is not as good as we usually see from him. When the book is a bit slow and the first couple of deductions aren't really convincing, than you have a battle uphill.

That said though, the final part of the book, when Drury Lane reveals who the murderer is, is fantastic. This is what I expect from Queen! Slowly building a prison around his suspect with bricks of logic! Identitfying the characteristics of the murderer, and comparing them to the suspects! The ending is really impressive, set in a memorable place with Drury Lane quickly, but convincingly proving who the murderer is. In fact, it's amazing howswift the conclusions are in Queen novels. I mean: the explanation of how the detective arrives at his list of characteristics is usually long, but once you have a list of five or six items, it's usually just crossing off suspects. You're out, you're out, you're it. The Tragedy of Z has one that is quick, convincing and satisfying.

There is a trial scene in The Tragedy of Z, which is actually also something you often see in Queen novels. The Tragedy of X had one too, but there's also Halfway House and Calamity Town for example. Trial scenes in Queen are never used as the conclusion of a book though, so usually, you can take a good guess at how those trials will end.

The Tragedy of Z is overall weaker than The Tragedy of X and The Tragedy of Y, there's no doubt to that in my mind. But the conclusion of Z is perhaps the strongest of the three Tragedies, providing a much better showcase of how clues and deductions are handled in Ellery Queen novels. The rest of the book isn't bad per se, but the star of the book is definitely the final chain of revelations made by Mr. Drury Lane.

The House of Mystery

「XYZだ・・・香！！年も離れててろくでもない男で・・・国籍なくて正式に結婚できなくて・・・だからこんな事言う資格ないかもしれんが・・・」

「ごちゃごちゃうるさい！」

「一緒になってくれ、香」

 『Angel Heart』

"XYZ! Kaori! I might be older than you and just a worthless bum...I don't have any nationality so I can't even marry you officially... perhaps I don't even have the right to ask you, but..."

"Stop talking around it!"

"Kaori. Let's be together."

"Angel Heart"

Part two of the Drury Lane review series!

Drury Lane series
The Tragedy of X (1932)
The Tragedy of Y (1932)
The Tragedy of Z (1933) 
Drury Lane's Last Case (1933)

The Mad Hatters, the newspapers called them, and mad, the Hatters were. Perhaps you could say they had a lot of "character". And even York Hatter, husband of family matriarch Emily Hatter couldn't cope any longer with his wife and his children and grandchildren and decided to take early leave from life. In retrospect. York's death was just the prologue to the tragedy which would happen in the Hatter house. The first act was an attempt at poisoning Louisa's egg-nogg, Emily's first daughter from a prior marriage who was blind, deaf and dumb. Luckily (?), one of Emily's naughty grandchildren had gulped down the egg-nogg before Louisa could and he was saved thanks to Emily's quick reaction. The other children from the Hatter marriage are not very fond of Louisa (who hogged all of mother Emily's attention because of her condition), but would any of them have stooped to poisoning their half-sister? But the mystery really starts to deepen when some months later, Emily Hatter is found murdered in her bedroom (which she shared with Louisa after the poisoning attempt), having been bashed on the head with a mandolin!  Was there someone trying to kill all the Hatters? The problem is one which troubled both Inspector Thumm and District Attorney Bruno, and the two once again ask Drury Lane, professional Shakespeare intepreter and amateur detective to help solve Ellery Queen's The Tragedy of Y (1932).

This is the second adventure of Drury Lane and like The Tragedy of X, this too is a very highly regarded mystery novel. In fact, in the most recent Tozai Mystery Best 100 ranking (of non-Japanese titles), the book ranked second place, behind Agatha Christie's And Then There Were None. This was the second Drury Lane book I read by the way, after Drury Lane's Last Case (which again shows I never read things in the right order). It's probably my favorite Drury Lane novel too, even though I think that in general, The Tragedy of X is regarded better than this one.

Like I pointed out in my review of The Tragedy of X, that book is very obviously a book written by Ellery Queen. The Tragedy of Y on the other hand, not that obvious. At least, not in terms of tropes and setting. In fact, if there's one thing the book reminds me of, it's S.S. Van Dine's The Greene Murder Case (1929), which was no doubt a source of some inspiration for the Queen cousins for The Tragedy of Y. The book is mostly confined to one setting (the Hatter home) and revolves about the fate of a family with a fair number of not-so-nice members, which are probably the defining characteristics of The Greene Murder Case. As I already indicated in my review of The Greene Murder Case, the book has been an influence on Japanese detective fiction, but that's definitely in conjunction with The Tragedy of Y. The two of them are probably the most famous books in their specific type of setting (family murders in a mansion), and were major infuences on Oguri Mushitarou's infamous anti-mystery Kokushikan Satsujin Jiken (1934). Following this line further, we also have Yokomizo Seishi: many of his Kindaichi Kousuke novels revolve around family feuds in mansions. In a sort of branch-line we have Ayatsuji Yukito in more recent years, who focuses more on the buildings (mansions) themselves. While the setting is not typical Queen, we'd sometimes see it in some of his works, like The Siamese Twin Mystery (1933, an isolated mansion in the mountains, with fairly strange inhabitants) and The Player on the Other Side (1963, ghostwritten).

By the way, at a certain point in the story the will of Emily Hatter is presented, and the complexity of it (with all sort of clauses to protect one certain person) reminded me a lot of Yokomizo Seishi: especially The Inugami Clan, which had one of the most convoluted last wills ever (which was definitely a reason why all those murders were commited in that book). In general, complex wills usually result in murders in mystery fiction.

The story is mostly confined to the house, and with the attempted poisoning of Louisa and the bizarre murder on Emily Hatter  (a mandoline as weapon) hapening in quick succession (in terms of pages), The Tragedy of Y has a strange, pressing and somewhat creepy atmosphere. The Hatter home has quite the number of strange secrets and weird revelations hidden for the reader, one of them for example York Hatter's laboratory inside the house, which will prove to be of importance to the case in more ways than one. Now I think about it, a lot of the clues in this book are used in multiple ways (and not just "This points to X, and now you can throw this hint away"). Heh. Clue recycling. Anyway, The Tragedy of Y feels unreal, like a play, and that's why Drury Lane fits wonderfully in this story, because the whole case is just nuts. And that's why I like about it. For a very long time, nothing makes sense in this novel. And it's unsettling.

Louisa, as a blind, deaf and dumb person, is a very interesting character in this story. She is actually witness to the murder of her mother, but because of her special condition, her testimony has to rely on very different senses than the ones we usually associate with "witness". It's again an element that makes The Tragedy of Y feel bizarre and it is very effective.

In terms of mystery plot, The Tragedy of Y covers familiar ground: as in most Queen novels, figuring out the murderer is very well possible by applying logical reasoning based on the clues provided. As often in Queen novels, clues take the form of physical objects, though the deduction based on them can be about all kinds of things (for example, 'the state of an object', or 'who could've used the object' etc.). The Tragedy of Y can be a bit trickier than The Tragedy of X though; The Tragedy of X is fairly straightforward in its reasoning, but The Tragedy of Y is, as I said earlier, a bit nuts, and it is a lot more difficult to reconstruct the whole chain fo reasoning Drury Lane presents by yourself. In fact, there is one point in the chain that asks of some inspiration if you want to figure it out yourself, and that is not usually the case in Queen-like deductions. Also, at a certain point "a significant clue" is discovered by Drury Lane, which basically explains all, even though the story continues for a little while, as if it's still a mystery. It's a bit of a shame, because while the solution is shocking, it's as if the story forget they just showed you a clue that basically told you everything. That said though, the initial chain of reasoning that led Drury Lane to the murderer is still good, and The Tragedy of Y also has one of my favorite clues of all time (people who have read the book, can probably guess what it is).

And this is another thing for those who have read the book: I actually have a Korean version of The Tragedy of Y. The cover of it is almost too brilliant, as it....err, makes one certain character very very suspicious. I recommend you to only click this link if you already read The Tragedy of Y, but I think most will agree this cover might not've been the best choice.

As an experiment in deduction, The Tragedy of Y is not as neat as The Tragedy of X, even if it's still amazing for most standards. But it's the wacky and bizarre setting and characters that make this a favorite of mine and definitely the first Drury Lane novel I'd recommend anyone to read.