The Devouring

"Foaf is a word I invented to stand for 'friend of a friend,' the person to whom so many of these dreadful things I am about to recount happens." 

"It's True, It Happened to a Friend" (Dale, R. 1984)

Not the last review of the year, but probably the last game review!

Following her involvement in the horrifying incident with the serial killer Blindman from urban myths, police detective Houjou Saki was transferred to the police headquarters of G Prefecture in return for her silence on the case. There she was joined by her new partner Sena, a former biker delinquent with a love for urban legend, and the two of them were put in a special unit under direct control of the station's chief. Their task: to investigate and solve murder cases that are related to the supernatural and urban legends. G Prefecture has become the center for the weird and it requires a dedicated unit, with people with an open mind to handle these cases. After the events in the previous game, Saki and Sena were joined by Koutetsu and Shintarou, two elite homicide detectives who are less prone to believe in the supernatural, but through their encounters with Saki and Sena have learned there's definitely *something* lurking in the shadows sometimes. Shin Hayarigami 3 (2021), released on Switch and PS4, picks up where the previous game left us: Saki, Sena, Koutetsu and Shintarou once again tackle five different, bloody cases of mysterious deaths related to urban legends occuring in G Prefecture, from women being strangled by what appears to be the hands of a baby, creepy French antique dolls appearing in spirit photographs, a woman starving to death, but with strands of hair in her stomach and even... people being turned into human stew after dying in bathtubs with reheaters. The question that Saki, and the player, has to ask themselves always is: should we approach this case from a scientific angle, or an occult angle?

Huh, has it been two years already since I reviewed the first two Shin Hayarigami games and the novel? Hayarigami was originally a horror mystery visual novel series released on PSP and PS2, but after a few years of hiatus, the series returned with the reboot Shin Hayarigami in 2014. While it was enjoyable enough as a horror game with an urban legend theme, it didn't feel at all like the original Hayarigami series though. What made the original three games so fun was each episode you could choose what to believe or what to focus on in your investigation, and based on those choices, you'd end up either finding a scientific answer to the happenings, or an occult one. Both routes were worth exploring, answering elements of the mystery not explored in the other route, and even the supernatural routes did have elements of proper mystery fiction, like figuring out supernatural rules etc. Shin Hayarigami however focused much more on the horror aspect of the story, and even the talk about urban legends wasn't as interesting as the earlier games. Shin Hayarigami 2 (2016) was an improvement, returning mostly to the old formula. The way it tried to ignore the events in the first game was almost comical, but the first half of the game was really good, presenting interesting cases based on well known scary urban legends. The second half however was very occult-focused (even in the "scientific" routes), making it feel like there was no split in the scientific and occult routes at all. So Shin Hayarigami 2 felt like it took two steps in the right direction, but at the same time it put one foot back again, as if it was about to retrace it steps. Shin Hayarigami 3 was released this summer, and for the longest time I was slightly hesitant: would it really be able to take the necessary step forward to make it feel like Hayarigami, and not just any horror mystery game?

Luckily, Shin Hayarigami 3 on the whole does feel like another step in the right direction, and it also has a very interesting story choices that tie the three Shin Hayarigami games together more tightly and at the same time, more closely to the original trilogy, but it's not always succesful. That said, if you liked the original Hayarigami games, or Shin Hayarigami 2, I think you'll find a lot to like in Shin Hayarigami 3. The game features an omnibus format, offering five unrelated episodes (+ one bonus episode) where Saki has to investigate very gruesome deaths that invoke certain famous urban legends. In the first episode for example, Saki and Sena are investigating the death of a woman who was found dead in her apartment, but for some reason every single gap in her apartment had been taped off. She was literally in a locked room, but there are definite signs she didn't die of her own will, and other little weird findings like long strands of hair inside the victim's stomach suggest this is exactly the kind of case for Saki and Sena. Other episodes feature murders apparently committed by killer French antique dolls, while the episode about men being found turned into human stew because they died in their bathtub with the reheat function on (meaning the bath will keep on reheating the water at a set temperature) is a deliciously inspired case based on urban legend! It's here where Shin Hayarigami 3 shines, as it not only takes motifs and themes from familiar urban legends to craft alluring cases, but the game also discusses these urban legends in detail. Sena for example is an urban legend geek, and he often retells the urban legends related to their cases, and the player will probably have heard about a few of them from a friend of a friend. Meanwhile, other characters like Kisaragi, head of the Forensic Research Institute, also analyzes these urban myths from a folklore perspective. If you're familiar with the works of Brunvand on urban legends, you have an idea what you can see in Shin Hayarigami 3: not just the retelling of urban legends, but also analyzing where these myths come from or how new variants are born. The way Shin Hayarigami 3 uses urban legends not just as a graphical skin, but really delves into the topic and shows you research is what makes this game so entertaining. Oh, and talking about graphical skins, the game is definitely gory horror at times. The human stew episode even starts with a warning not to play it right after a meal!

Shin Hayarigami 3 follows the same gameplay flow as we saw in Shin Hayarigami 2 and the old series: as you follow the story, you are occasionally presented with "Self-Question" segments, where you ponder about the direction of your investigation. Eventually, each episode will split in either the scientific route or the occult route. That usually means that Saki will focus on one specific aspect of the case in order to solve it. In the human stew case for example, Saki will focus more on the practical "how was it done" question in the scientific route, while in the occult route, Saki decides to focus on certain foreshadowing dreams all the victims had before they died. Both routes usually lead to different conclusions to the case, but you are always encouraged to play through both sides: both sides usually answer questions not answered/glossed over in the other route. That does mean that even in the "scientific" routes, the supernatural will play some role in the events, and vice-versa. Some might not be a fan of this, but I think it works in the context of this series: the supernatural does exist in this world, but it doesn't mean that Saki and Sena can't investigate these cases and for example figure out logically what the rules are behind a certain curse to prevent new victim to die, or some crimes do involve the supernatural, but still need an acting human to actually commit the murders. It is a shame however that the "scientific" route in Shin Hayarigami 3 is often better described as the "science-fiction" route, with pretty out-of-there events being the "logical" explanation for the events. Sometimes it feels like the difference between the scientific route and the occult route is like "it was a ghost, and the ghost used its supernatural powers to kill someone directly" and "it was a ghost, and the ghost used its supernatural powers in a semi-scifi manner to kill someone". But on the other hand, it does result in a few interesting locked room murder situations in this game that, granted, feature absolutely ridiculous solutions, but they do manage to get that sense of "it's definitely silly, but also slightly convincing" that make urban legends so fun to begin with in general, so it works in that context.

I think one of the more interesting episodes was the one about Ryoumen Sukuna. No, not the character from Jujutsu Kaisen. The mythological person mentioned in the Nihon Shoki, the man with two heads and four arms and legs. It's here where we have a story that isn't just about (modern) urban legend, but also about older mythology and the folklore discussed here is really fascinating, while the case itself is also great: Saki and Sena are asked to investigate a threatening note sent to an archeologist who has recently found he mummy of Ryoumen Sukuna with his team inside a series of abandoned mining tunnels. Saki and Sena, as well as other guests have only just arrived inside the tunnels when the entrance caves-in, trapping all of them inside the mining tunnels. Meanwhile, the mummy of Ryoumen Sukuna disappears, and then people start getting killed... The real-time, closed circle environment of this story is pretty new for this series, but the way this story ties back to the original PSP/PS2 games is also fun. The way it weaves old myths from centuries ago with more modern urban legends is also memorable, making for perhaps the highlight of the game, tied together with the human stew story.

The final episode is where the game trips up, as it tries too much in too little time. Whereas the previous game did its best to pretend the first Shin Hayarigami didn't happen, this episode suddenly tries to make meaningful references to it, while at the same time also telling a story about sightings of the dead rising from their graves and also even making links to the old trilogy, but it falls flat in both routes because everything feels rushed. As a mystery story, the final episode doesn't satisfy at all in both routes, and the things it tries to do hardly succeed. It works, at best, as a sequel hook as we are told a few things that are likely to come back in a potential Shin Hayarigami 4, but at lot of these ideas should've been explored in the direct sequel to the first Shin Hayarigami, not in the third installment! And talking about things I didn't like... the new artstyle doesn't work for me. It's a bit cleaner than the previous games, but it simply doesn't feel as unsettling as the previous style. In the previous two Shin Hayarigami games, the art style and character designs managed to convey a feeling of... oppressing dread, but it's a bit too clean now, and doesn't really support the dark, uncanny atmosphere of the game.

But despite my lukewarm reception of the ending, I still enjoyed playing Shin Hayarigami 3 overall, as up to the last episode, it manages to present entertaining cases. As a pure mystery story, the Hayarigami franchise has never been super impressive perhaps, but the way it delves so deep into the theme of urban legends, even from an academic viewpoint, and uses motifs from well-known stories to present alluring murder cases is quite unique and it serves a type of horror mystery you don't really see elsewhere. Shin Hayarigami 3 has a lot of blatant sequel hooks, so I sure hope Shin Hayarigami 4 will be developed in the future, and I hope they managed to keep up the trend of improving on the previous game. Perhaps the next time, I'll even be satisfied with the final episode!

Original (Japanese) title:『真流行り神3』

Trick and Magic

"You're a wizard, Harry."

"Harry Potter and the Sorcerer's Stone"

The cover art kinda reminds me of Vampire Hunter D even though the art style is completely different.

Most knowlege of magic was lost after the medieval witch hunts, and it was only about a century ago when Aleister Crowley and other magicians started conducting serious research on witchcraft in order to recover all the magic that was lost. Magic is a talent you're born with and very few of these natural magicians exist: all of them are members of, and observed by the international organization the Order of Zenith, and at this moment, only six magicians are known to live. But the fundamentals to the workings of magic, research methods regarding magic and many more topics can be studied by anyone, and in the century that has passed since the renewed interest in magic, witchcraft has developed into a proper academic field, with people across the world studying it, even if they can't conduct magic themselves, similar to how not all Literature students actually go on to write books. The existence of magic is undeniable, but not every culture and country has a proper history of magic due the relatively young age of the field and because magicians themselves are very rare. Japan in particular has very little affinity with magic.

Which is why it became big news when it was announced that Jousui University would be opening the very first Magic Faculty of Japan, and not only that, they even managed to rope in one of the six living magicians as a teacher! Narrator Amane is one of the students in the first class of the Magic Faculty, and is placed in a small seminar class with Ririko, Hio, Imina, Rie and Chisato, five girls and best of friends who have been in the same class ever since elementary, going from Jousui Elementary to Jousui Secondary and now all together in the Magic Faculty of Jousui University. The six students are especially lucky, as they are placed in the seminar class taught by Sakyou Shiina himself, one of the six magicians on this world. Shiina can be a bit of a trickster, but he takes things more seriously after a strange threatening message is broadcast during the opening ceremony of the academic year, where a voice calling themselves Aleister Crowley announces that someone here will be chosen as a sacrifice and they are challenged to deduce who the victim will be, and who the culprit is. At first, it sounds like a bad prank, but one day, Ririko fails to appear in class, and when Shiina uses the magic spell Search, they learn she's on the roof of the building. But when they find her there, she's lying unconsciously on the floor, her face horribly mutilated. Luckily, Ririko will survive the attack and Shiina even declares Ririko's face can be saved, but the police are facing a riddle: the staircase security camera shows that Ririko had been the only person to go up the rooftop that day until she was discovered by Shiina and the others, and there are no other ways to reach or leave the rooftop. For a second, suspicion falls on magic, but that is impossible too. Not only is Shiina the only magician around, current knowledge of magic is still nowhere the level of medieval magicians, and many magic spells are currently "Lost Tasks": spells we know once existed, but of which knowledge is gone. Spells that could make this attack on Ririko possible, like levitation or psycho-kinesis, simply don't exist now. So if it is not magic and not a human act, what made this impossible attack possible in Kuzumi Shiki's Tricksters (2005)?

Tricksters is a six-part light novel series from the mid 2000s and as you will have realized by now, it's one of those mystery novels that feature supernatural story elements and people who have been following this blog for a longer time now I absolutely love it when fair-play puzzlers make use of supernatural elements, as many of my favorite reads these last few years have done exactly that. The initial setting might remind you a bit of Harry Potter, because it's about a school setting and magic, but fortunately, you won't be thinking of Harry Potter all the time because ultimately, the concepts are very different here: not only are there only six magicians in this world (who are all being watched by the Order of Zenith), knowledge of magic too is still relatively shallow, with known spells being fairly limited in their range and power. This helps keep the mystery plot fair of course, as you can't get away just by saying a magician did it. The explanation that magic, as an academic field, is similar to Literature and that people can study the topic without actually practicing it themselves, is pretty easy to understand too.  

And it's also clear right from the start this isn't going to be a normal detective story, as the book basically opens with a Challenge to the Reader, albeit an unusual one. "A Challenge from a Magician" tells the reader that in the following six chapters, people will be deceived and tricked in seven different ways, and it's up to the reader to figure out all seven acts of deception. Interestingly, the challenge is about finding out that there's deception going on, and is not explicitly asking you to solve it. Some are pretty easy to identify, like the reader instantly realizes *some trickery* is going on regarding the impossible attack on Ririko even if you might not figure out how it was done immediately, but some of the other deceptions are well... very deviously hidden, and it did add a fun extra layer to the book. Obviously, this focus on trickery is what gave this book its title.

And it's the seven-fold trickery going on that makes this a surprisingly fun read. You'll be through this book fairly swiftly, as it's not particularly long and most of the text consist of dialogue, but the story offers more mystery than just the initial attack on Ririko. After her attack, some other mysterious events follow, but these events still bring the reader (and narrator Amane and Shiina) back to the same questions: why and how was Ririko attacked on the rooftop, and how did the assaillant get away, because it would have been impossible with or without the use of magic. Because this is a detective story that goes through all the effort to introduce a magic setting, I assume very few readers will be surprised that magic is involved in the trickery in some manner, but figuring out how magic is used won't be easy, especially as the book does a good job at setting limitations on the known types of magic and their effective range. The solution to the locked room situation is therefore quite satisfying, as the book never feels like it's actually cheating you, even though it is called Tricksters. That combined with the fact the mystery plot unfolds beyond the initial locked room situation makes this an amusing to read overall. You'll be thinking of the "seven deceptions" all the time and try to figure out where something is not quite right and whether someone is being deceived in some way and these deceptions do intertwine well.

Tricksters is a fun, short read that makes good use of its magic setting to present an original mystery story, and the book also does justice to its title by really trying to deceive the reader in more than one way, having a much deeper mystery plot than you'd initially expect. I initially became interested in this series because I had heard good things about the third entry of this series (Tricksters D), but it was mentioned it was best to read these books in order (or at least one of the first two books), so I started with this one. It certainly got me interested in the rest of the short series, so expect more Tricksters in the future here.

Original Japanese title(s): 久住四季『トリックスターズ』

The Crimson Love Letter

「このわたくしがあなたを推理の迷路から救い出すー」

『欺瞞の殺意』

 

"That I will save you from the maze of deductions..."

"Deceptive Malice"

Come to think about it, I don't have many books with covers that are this... red.

As an accomplished politician and the boss of the Nire Law and Accounting Firm, Nire Iichirou had been used to controlling every aspect of his life, and that includes his family. He had always intended for his son Hisao to become his successor, but when Hisao died young, leaving behind a wife Hanako and child Yoshio, Iichirou's plans had to be changed. Yoshio, the son of his own son, was still far too young to become his direct successor, so Iichrou arranged for his oldest daughter Sawako to marry the talented attorney Harushige and have him take on the Nire family name, making him Iichirou's de-facto successor. But Iichirou also forced Sawako and Harushige to adopt Yoshio, ensuring that after Harushige, Yoshio would become the head of the Nire clan. Iichirou also arranged for his youngest daughter Touko to marry the attorney Youhei, a man who would function well as Harushige's support. Even Hanako, the widow of Hisao, was used in Iichirou's plans to solidfy his legacy, by matching her with the head accountant of his firm. So was it really a wonder that everything fell apart in the summer of 1966, when Iichirou himself suddenly died and all his children and in-laws realized they had been released from Iicihirou's shackles? 

But what nobody could have guessed, was the form this freedom would take. After one of the memorial services, the whole Nire clan gathers in the manor to have a break and something to eat, when Sawako suddenly takes ill after a sip of her coffee. She is quickly brought to the hospital. But while she's in the hospital, young Yoshio too suddenly becomes seriously ill, and not long after, both pass away. The police soon finds out that both of them have been poisoned with cyanide. The murders apparently revolve around the Nire legacy and basically all family members have a potential motive, but the method of how Sawako's coffee was poisoned remains unclear, until there's a sudden confession of the murderer! While the murderer doesn't give details on their exact motives, the case is more or less done, and the murderer is sentenced for life-time. After the double murder and the convinction of another family member, the Nire clan quickly fell apart and after divorces and early deaths, youngest daughter Touko remains the last-living Nire. However, in 2008, more than 40 years after the murder, the elderly Touko receives a letter from the person who had been convicted of the murders. They had been released from prison due to good behavior and serious health problems and in the letter, they explain that they had actually not been the murderer of Sawako and Yoshio, but that they had confessed to the murder because they realized the police was suspecting them and that the circumstances weren't good, and that if they hadn't made a voluntary confession to leave a good impression on the judges, they may had been convicted to a death sentence due to the very gruesome murders. But in the forty years they had been in prison, they had a long time to think about the murders, and in the letter, they carefully lay out a possible solution to the murders, pointing out who the real murderer probably was. Touko however notices a mistake in this theory, which allows her to propose a theory of her own and so the two start exchanging letters in an attempt to find the real murderer of the past in Miki Akiko's Giman no Satsui ("Deceptive Malice") 2020).

One of my favorite reads and biggest surprises of last year was Miki's Neko ni wa Suiri ga yoku Niau ("Deductions Suit Cats Well"), a book about Kaori, a secretary in a law office who'd chat and have deduction battles with... Scottie, the talking Scottish Fold cat kept at the office. Kaori and Scottie would secretly make up detective stories featuring the clients visiting the office and try to outsmart each other. It was a very cute premise, but the book was also surprisingly cunningly plotted book, reminiscent of Anthony Berkeley or Christianna Brand due to the many, cleverly set-up false solutions with great foreshadowing hidden within the amusing banter between Kaori and Scottie. The book also had a two-part structure, with Kaori confronted with a real crime happening at the law office, and the way this second half incorporated the hypothetical deduction battles of the first part for its clewing was really memorable. Anyway, I had bought the book on a whim originally, but had no regrets at all and knew I'd want to read more by Miki, and I eventually settled on today's book.

In a way, Giman no Satsui is quite similar in concept to Neko ni wa Suiri ga yoku Niau, though there's no talking cat here. But we have once again a story involving lawyers (the author worked at law offices apparently), there's the focus on false solutions by having characters firing hypotheses each other, which are rejected again only to lead to new theories and realizations etc. and the two-part structure, the first part being the set-up, but also hiding a lot of clues which are only picked up much later. The first part of Giman no Satsui however is really just a set-up of the crime scene, and doesn't really involve many deduction battles. We're presented a fairly dry summary of the core facts of the Nire clan murders, showing where everybody was and what they were doing in the hours leading up to the poisonings of Sawako and Yoshio, and the resulting events, ending with the confessing murderer being sent to prison. The narrative is rather business-like here, as this part is really focused on presenting an objective summary of what transpired on that day, but it's not very long, and the second part set in 2008 does really build very cleverly on this first part.

The second part is when Giman no Satsui becomes really entertaining, as we're treated to a series of letters written by an elderly Nire Touko and the recently released convicted murderer who claims they were not actually the murderer (something Touko was actually convinced of in the first place). They reminisence on the past forty years, but ultimately they of course end up writing about the murders. The first letter reveals the person convicted of the murder had given the matter a lot of thought while they were in prison and that they had arrived at a solution that would explain who could've poisoned both Sawako and Yoshio and why. But then Touko explains she knows something that counters that theory, but thanks to the first letter, she too got new knowledge which allows her to propose another theory, and thus the story starts building theory upon theory based on the core facts we saw in the first part, occassionally corrected by some new pieces of information we get in the letters. It's a fun parade of false solutions which very brilliantly build on seemingly insignificant clues to arrive at surprisingly convincing theories, and yet it never feels futile: each letter brings something new that shines a different light on facts you thought you already knew, and even with the rejection of each theory, you do feel you're approaching the truth. Giman no Satsui is exactly the kind of book for fans of Ellery Queen's work and the focus on building theories on the known evidence/knowledge brick by brick and adapting theories whenever a new fact is introduced. This makes this book feel different from other stories with multiple false solutions like The Poisoned Chocolate Case and Kyoumu he no Kumotsu as it's not presented as an anti-mystery.

Giman no Satsui even adds another twist about 2/3 in the book, when the exchange in letters lead to a new incident occuring, which make you look at the original 1966 murders in a completely different manner once agan. This part is done really well, with some deliciously devilishly hidden clues that hint at what really happened this time and a great conclusion to a book that's been constantly about recalibrating your thoughts on what appears to be a fixed scene, while still building on actual physical clues that have been there waiting all that time for you to finally notice them. 

So I enjoyed Giman no Satsui a lot too, even if it loses cuteness points for not featuring a talking cat. Fans of Ellery Queen, Christianna Brand and Anthony Berkeley will probably like this one, due to its focus on building logical chains of deductions and the many false solutions, but it'd be a disservice to Miki if I'd only say that it's just those elements that made this book: it's the actual plotting of Giman no Satsui and the way the clues are laid out and then picked up to propose the theories that make this a fun book to read. Luckily, Miki has still many books I haven't read yet, so you'll definitely see more of her work on the blog in the future.

Original Japanese title(s): 深木章子『欺瞞の殺意』

番外編：Death of the Living Dead Released

Considering my other new translation released this year was Death Among the Undead, you'd almost think this was planned...

One month ago, on Halloween, publisher Ammo announced they'd be publishing my English translation of YAMAGUCHI Masaya's seminal mystery novel Death of the Living Dead soon.  And soon it was, as I can announce now that the book has been released now, both as an e-book as well as in physical form! I already wrote an announcement post last month, so I guess I'm just repeating myself here, but I was asked by Yamaguchi to work on a translation a few years ago, but a revised Japanese edition was released after I had worked on the translation. I was informed that translation advisors/editors worked on my initial translation afterwards to incorporate the revisions, so while the base is my work, I am very grateful to all the other people who worked on the text! I have to admit I haven't seen the final product myself yet, and due to the long timeline behind the project and the extra revisions that had to be made due to the newer Japanese version, I'm pretty excited to have a look at the book myself too finally. It's been quite some time since I last worked on Death of the Living Dead, so I reckon it'd feel fresh even to me!

For those who missed the original announcement post,Yamaguchi's debut novel originally released in 1989 and is one of earliest and definitely one of the best Japanese mystery stories that utilized a supernatural setting to present a fair play puzzle plot detective. It has won several awards for mystery fiction, both during its original release as well as many decades after the release, proving its relevance even now. Set in the United States, this lengthy tale follows Francis "Grin" Barleycorn, a rock punk who after a turbulent time in the old country, returns to his family home: the famous Smile Cemetery in New England. Grandfather Smiley Barleycorn, the person who brought the Barleycorn funeral directing family business to the States and built the empire that is the Smile Cemetery, doesn't have long to live anymore, giving Grin a reason to finally meet his grandfather and his uncles for the first time in his life. Smiley's been in bad health for some time, and his sons are running the company now in his place, but Grin's uncles all have different ideas what to do with the business once Smiley is really  gone. Meanwhile, a strange phenomenom has been plaguing the world: the dead have started to rise. The scientists haven't figure out why yet, there have been several cases across the world where people simply "wake up" from their death and are still able to think, speak and act basically as if they were alive. The only problem: their body is still decomposing. It's amidst these circumstances that mysterious deaths occur at the Smile Cemetery, and it's up to young Grin to solve these deaths, but what's a detective going to do in a world where death isn't as decisive as it used to be?

I read the book for the first time back in 2014, and I was sold immediately. Going through the book again for the translation only rekindled my love for the book. The way the novel makes use of the supernatural element is brilliant, especially considering that this was first released in 1989. Long-time readers of this blog will have noticed that I have developed a love for mystery novels with supernatural elements these last few years, and the concept itself has become very popular in Japanese mystery ficton, but Death of the Living Dead still ranks among the best of the genre. This is also due to the surprising deep way in which the book tackles the theme of death. Sure, mystery novels usually revolve around death, but Death of the Living Dead really delves into the question of what death means for us humans, and there's a lot of discourse and discussion going on the theme of death across the centuries. You'd be surprised how well-researched this book is on the theme of thanatology, without burdening the brilliant puzzler that is at the core of this novel. The book is basically twice the length most books I've translated until now, and it makes good use of the extra page count to present a very tricky plot, but also to talk about everything death.

Anyway, I basically just repeated every single point I already made in my announcement a month ago, so I'll stop right here. Be sure to visit the official website of Death of the Living Dead as I can really recommend this book to any fan of the genre. Death of the Living Dead is funny, dramatic and poignant, but best of all a really clever mystery novel that has been a well-regarded classic in Japan for three decades, and hopefully it'll appeal to the English-reading audience too!

The Greek Symbol Mystery

"この地上すべてを覆うロジックは存在しない"

『或るギリシア棺の謎』

 

"There exists no logic that can cover all in this world." 

"A Greek Coffin Mystery"

Never visited Greece myself. In high school, the classes that took Latin and/or Ancient Greek went to Rome on a school trip, which was awesome, but I would've loved Athens too...

In Tsukatou Hajime's 2019 short story collection Aru Egypt Juujika no Nazo ("An Egyptian Cross Mystery"), professional photographer/amateur detective Minami Mikikaze became a guide for his friend, the prominent forensic investigator Elizabeth Kittridge, who is visiting Japan for an international symposium and workshop program on criminal forensic investigation. When Mikikaze was a young, he suffered from a very weak heart, and basically always lived on the brink of death. Beth's father was the surgeon who successfully conducted Mikikaze's heart transplantant some years back however, and they have kept in touch ever since, which is how Mikikaze became friends with Beth too. Both Beth and her father Ronald are also involved with various international NPOs that support children's organ transplantations across the world and while she's in Japan, she plans to visit a few of the important Japanese sponsors they have been working with all these years. After the events of the short story Aru Holland-Gutsu no Nazo ("A Dutch Shoe Mystery") however, Mikikaze and Beth learn that one of the people they wanted to visit has passed away: the elderly Andou Akemi had headed an important NPO that had helped children all over the world, and while they may be too late to meet her personally, Mikikaze and Beth hurry to Akemi's home so they can at least pay their final respects. The Andou clan is an old family with interesting roots: some centuries ago, a Greek sailor washed up on the shores of Japan and while he always longed to return to Greece, he never managed to return home. Centuries later, the Andou's still pride themselves on their Greek origin. One of the more interesting relics the wealthy family has are wooden coffin made of the wood of the ship that brought their ancestor to Japan. When Mikikaze and Beth arrive at the Andou home, they learn the wake has been postponed, because there are serious suspicions whether Akemi really died of natural causes: a torn-up last will was found in a waste basket in the kitchen and when the male members of the family went down to the crypt to carry out the wooden coffin to lay Akemi inside, a note was found that indicated that Akemi's death wasn't natural. A link is made to the murder on her granddaughter Natsumi, who disappeared four years ago on her way to work and whose body was found last August buried in a grove nearby, suggesting that Akemi's death isn't natural either. Mikikaze and Beth, as experts on criminology, stick around to investigate whether Akemi's death was really a murder in Tsukatou Hajime's novel Aru Girishia Hitsugi no Nazo ("A Greek Coffin Mystery", 2021).

Another review of a book that is based on Ellery Queen this year? Anyway, I quite liked the stories found in Aru Egypt Juujika no Nazo ("An Egyptian Cross Mystery", 2019) when I read it last year, so when I learned a follow-up volume was released in February, and that it was a full-length novel, I became quite excited. While I am a fan of the short story format, I knew things could become interesting if Tsukatou would use the Queen-inspired plotting of the short story collection and apply those techniques to a full-length novel. Like the previous stories, you don't need actual knowledge of Ellery Queen's Nationality novels to read this book: there's no real link with The Greek Coffin Mystery, the book is just about a very big family (four generations!) with Greek origins and a Greek coffin, and the book doesn't even take cues from The Greek Coffin Mystery's famous story structure. 

What you do get is a novel that focuses strongly on logical deduction based on physical evidence, with long chains of reasoning that highlight the state and circumstances of how something is found and the logical implications of those line of thoughts. This is of course the (early Queen-style of deduction, where the reader is challenged to figure out some characteristics of the culprit by process of logical deduction: the state of an object can tell something about when the culprit did something, with what purpose they did something, which knowledge they had that allowed them to do something, etc., and these are all hints that can help identify the killer. And you get plenty of moments like these in  Aru Girishia Hitsugi no Nazo: from how the note was found when they carried the wooden coffin out of the crypt, to when and how the torn-up will found its way inside the waste basket in the kitchen to a security camera which has been sabotaged and more. Each of these clues don't seem to mean that much at first, so it's pretty exciting to see how every time Mikikaze manages to point out what these clues really mean and what they can tell us about the culprit. Even the most unimportant-looking action turns out to be a clue that helps identify the killer. The part with the camera is especially great, with a long chain that shows who could and would have sabotaged the camera that was aimed at a corridor that shouldn't be that significant in the first place. By the way, a little diagram of the house and where the camera was would have been useful: while spacial consciousness isn't really necessary to solve this part of the mystery, it does help visualize the situation much better and would allow the reader to come up with the necessary deductions more easily.

But while I did like these particular parts of the book, as a whole novel, I don't think Aru Girishia Hitsugi no Nazo was as entertaining as the short stories. This is partially because the inital premise of the story can feel a bit underwhelming. Beth and Mikikaze only stick around because there are suspicions about Akemi's death due to the discovery of the torn-up will and the vague threatening note found with the coffin, but it takes a looooooong time before the book presents even something remotely certain on whether a crime has really been committed. So for a long time, you'll see everyone talk and discuss issues which may not even be relevant in the first place if there's no crime happening anyway. Even in the later parts of the novel, a lot of the story as reconstructed by Mikikaze feels a bit uncertain despite the convincing ways in which he deduces the facts: the inital starting point of Akemi's death is just so mundane the rest of the plot feels less impressive/captivating, because while Mikikaze managed to construct a stable house of cards, it can all come down easily if the floor beneath it is moved around. Even to me, who likes these more 'theoretical' detective stories that focus on long chains of deductions and what-if scenarios, Aru Girishia Hitsugi no Nazo felt as a slow book because there was no clear crime to focus on. The way the various chains of deductions relate to each other is also a bit different from the usual Queen book: here we have a lot of seperate events with their own chains of events positioned one after another on a long timeline and these events stay mostly discrete , whereas in Queen-like novels, you usually have these different chains of deductions that ultimately come together at one point.

In my review of Aru Egypt Juujika no Nazo, I wrote I sometimes had trouble with the writing style, mentioning "It's hard to explain what it is, but Tsukatou often jumps a few minutes ahead and has the characters discuss all kinds of things that seem slightly vague to the reader and after that section, the narration catches up and explains how they got to that point (which explains the vague allusions in the earlier dialogue)." This is also absolutely the case in Aru Girishia Hitsugi no Nazo and while you'd think you'd get used to it after a while, I didn't. At one point, I accidentally started at the wrong section of the book, one section further than I actually was. When they started talking about something I had no recollection of, I didn't even think that was odd: the whole book had been written like that, so I assumed that after a few pages we'd jump back in time again and get the full details. Only that didn't happen, and it was only then I noticed I had actually skipped a part of the story. Normally, you'd realize this immediately, but the way this book is written you basically always have brief moments where you think you have missed something but it's only explained in detail a few pages later.

Aru Girishia Hitsugi no Nazo ultimately does reveal a very intricately structured plot with all kinds of puzzle pieces falling into place and more than a few surprises, but it takes a long time to set-up the finale and to be honest, I enjoyed this book more for its discrete moments, than as a total. It has some really interesting segments where the detective shows off his deductive skills by focusing on the state of the evidence and then following the trail to its logical conclusion, but because the binding elements between these moments is not as fun (Akemi's death is not a clear murder, very few of Akemi's relatives are actually nice characters to follow), the book as a whole doesn't feel as convincing as its finest moments. If you liked Aru Egypt Juujika no Nazo, I can recommend this book as it's a fine example of a Queen-like mystery, but I wouldn't start with this book if you want to follow Mikikaze and Beth's adventures: start with Aru Egypt Juujika no Nazo first to get an idea of the style, and then decide whether you like it enough or not.

Original Japanese title(s): 柄刀一『或るギリシア棺の謎』

The Case of the Constant Suicides

さくらさくら今、咲き誇る

刹那に散りゆく運命を知って

「さくら」(森山直太朗) 

Cherry blossoms, cherry blossoms, they bloom now

Knowing the destiny awaiting them is to fall

"Cherry Blossom" (Moriyama Naotarou)

I mentioned earlier how I always take ages to get pass the first sections of the books in this series. I think almost six months passed since I read the first pages of this book, and when I was finally finished...

Toujou Genya series
1) Majimono no Gotoki Tsuku Mono ("Those Who Bewitch Like The Evil Spirits", 2006)
2) Magatori no Gotoki Imu Mono ("Those Who Are A Taboo Like The Malicious Bird", 2006)
3) Kubinashi no Gotoki Tataru Mono ("Those Who Cast A Curse Like The Headless", 2007) 
4) Yamanma no Gotoki Warau Mono ("Those Who Sneer Like The Mountain Fiend", 2008)
5) Himemuro no Gotoki Komoru Mono ("Those Who Stay Inside Like A Sealed Room", 2009)
6) Mizuchi no Gotoki Shizumu Mono ("Those Who Submerge Like The Water Spirit" 2009). 
7) Ikidama no Gotoki Daburu Mono ("Those Who Turn Double Like The Eidola", 2011)
8) Yuujo no Gotoki Uramu Mono ("Those Who Resent Like The Ghostly Courtesan", 2012)
9) Haedama no Gotoki Matsuru Mono (2018)

10) Maguu no Gotoki Motarasu Mono (2019) 

11) Ina no Gotoki Nieru Mono (2021)

Sakurako grew up in a poor, rural village but she was happy living with her parents, siblings and friends. She even became friends with Aya, a girl from a family with means living in the neighborhood, who taught her to read and write. But with ever-lasting poverty going on, Sakurako agrees to be sent off to the red light district Momozono so she can earn money for her family, even though she doesn't know what a courtesan is. She's brought the Kinpeibairou, a courtesan house, where the 13-year old girl receives education and taught skills she will need in the future by Granny, who keeps on an eye on the women working in the house. Sakurako becomes friends with Yuuko, the daughter of the owner of Kinpeibairou, but after a while Yuuko stops appearing at the house. Meanwhile, Sakurako also senses there's something wrong about the courtesan house, and there are multiple rumors of ghostly figures haunting the hallways at night or looking into the rooms through the windows. At first young Sakurako also doesn't really understand what the Kinpeibairou is, wondering why all the courtesans here get to wear such nice dresses and how they seem to be earning money just by spending time with men in a room, but it's at age 16 when Sakurako is old enough to be put to work when she's confronted with the hellish reality. Sakurako is given the courtesan name Hizakura and manages to attract quite a few customers early on due to her inexperience and Granny selling her "virginity" multiple times. One night, one courtesan throws herself from the window of the exclusive courtesan room on the third floor of the annex, but she miraculously survives the fall. However, two more courtesans follow in her footsteps, attempting to throw themselves from the same window, though luckily, they manage to be saved. Hizakura is also one of the persons who attempted to throw herself from the window, but she was luckily stopped just in time, but Hizakura doesn't actually know why she tried to jump out of the window, and suspects it has to do with the spectral presence roaming in the courtesan house. Afraid for her life, she plans to escape her nightmare and run away from the Kinpeibai.

A few years later, during World War II, Yuuko has taken over the house of pleasure from her mother, renaming it the Baiyuukirou. Circumstances are of course different now during the war, with the courtesan business being seen as a way to support the troops. It's hard to get hold of good new courtesans however, so when Granny brings in a new woman named Someko who reminds Yuuko of Sakurako, she decides to give Someko the courtesan name Hizakura. The idea is to create some gossip about the original Hizakura having returned, and they put Someko in the exclusive courtesan room on the third floor. Meanwhile, there's also a pregnant woman staying inside the courtesan house, a friend of Yuuko's mother who has to give birth discreetly. Half a year passes and the woman gives birth, but soon after throws herself out of the window of the exclusive courtesan room. And then another, and another... After the war, the courtesan house was bought by a third party, who renamed it the Baienrou, making it a restaurant with a special back-establishment where the waitresses sell their bodies. Sako Sousuke is the nephew of the new owner and a newly debuted writer of horror stories, and he has been looking into the case of the constant suicide leaps in the past. Interestingly, a new waitress has been hired who has been given the name Hizakura, which might have been tempting fates, for once again, a series of suicide leaps from that room starts. When mystery writer Toujou Genya comes into possession of the diaries and manuscripts of Sakurako, Yuuko and Sako respectivelly, he arrives at a startling conclusion regarding the haunted courtesan room in Mitsuda Shinzou's Yuujo no Gotoki Uramu Mono ("Those Who Resent Like The Ghostly Courtesan", 2012)

The sixth full-length novel and eight book overall in Mitsuda Shinzou's series about the horror-mystery writer Toujou Genya takes on a completely different form than the previous entries and while it's far from my favorite entry in the series, it's quite a unique and memorable experience, and as a mystery novel, it's one that has made a lot of impression on me in regards of the theme. The previous novels basically all followed the same basic premise of being set in a rural place, with an impossible happening occuring during an esotoric religious ceremony with a certain historical meaning, which in turn is interconnected with the motive and means of the how the trick was done. That is definitely not the case here. There's no clear crime committed in this long novel and folklore doesn't even play a big role in this novel. There's talk about a ghostly figure roaming the hallways of the courtesan house throughout the generations, but there's no elaborate analysis into it from a folklore point of view, no views and thoughts presented on it from historical, sociological, economical and religious angles. These eleemnts were a delight to read in the other novels, as Mitsuda always built these stories on actual folklore studies, but the religious angle and how it ties to folklore is next to non-existent here, making it very different from the other novels.

The four chapter structure is another notable change. Toujou Genya himself only makes a minor appearance at the very end of the novel, with the previous three parts making up the bulk of the novel, being the diary of Sakurako (the three leaps out of the window when the first Hizakura was at the courtesan house), an account written by Yuuko about the war period (the second series of leaps, during the second Hizakura's tenure) and a manuscript written by Sako (third series of leaps, during the third Hizakura's time). Throughout the three different accounts, you'll see how the courtesan house changes, and sometimes surprisingly doesn't change. Some courtesans like the first Hazakura disappear from the narrative, some courtesans stay working at the place despite all the owner and name changes, the time changes from pre-war, to during the war and after: it makes the courtesan house a character of its own and throughout the generations, the three narrators also comment on strange, mysterious happenings that occur in the establishment, from figures suddenly disappearing from hallways and footsteps being heard from floors where there's nobody, to of course the repeating series of leaps from the window of the exclusive room each time a courtesan is given the name Hizakura. There's no "clear" crime like a murder or impossible disappearance however, so the mystery of this story is more focused on the atmosphere of the place, which is quite different from the previous novels. I myself found it difficult to stay constantly focused on this book because of this, as it's a very slow book in a series that usually has very slow starts already.

While I said that this book doesn't look at some religious ceremony from various angles like previous books and tie it to the crime, it does look at the theme of courtesans from historical, sociological and economical angles and in that regard, it's like this book uses the method it usually utilizes to examine youkai, religious ceremonies and other folklore topics to examine and analyze the function of courtesans/prostitutes between 1930-1950. Even the setting of the closed-off entertainment district (to make sure no women escape) reminds of the secluded, rural communities with their own customs and rules like we see in the other books. In Yuujo no Gotoki Uramu Mono, you'll get a glimpse in the lives and customs of the women who lived in the courtesan houses, how they were viewed by society in contradicting ways, how their lives changes in and after the war. Mitsuda has clearly done his research and you'll learn a lot about this topic as you read this book, but while it's incredibly informative and interesting, it's obviously not an entertaining topic. The first part of this book, being the diary of the 13-year (and later 16-year) old Sakurako is absolutely horrifying, as you follow a young girl who doesn't even what a prostitute is and who dreams of helping her family by working in the city and slowly realizing what a nightmare her life is. It's incredibly heavy material, and it took me quite some time to get through this first part, because it's really effective at painting the life of young Sakurako and it honestly feels uncomfortable reading this part. The other accounts, being from completely different people, are luckily easier to go through. But in hindsight, I thought it was really a very informative and interesting angle this book focused on, as you're not likely to come across it any time soon elsewhere.

But back to the mystery plot. Yuujo no Gotoki Uramu Mono doesn't feature the same clearly-defined core mystery previous books had, though it still utilizes the method of offering a lot of minor mysteries too, that ultimately tie in together (no Genya making a list of 70 questions to be answered though!). The main mystery is of course the question why people keep throwing themselves out of the window of the exclusive courtesan room on the third floor throughout different periods of time. I really like the core idea behind this, even if it is slightly unbelievable and some parts rely perhaps too heavily on coincidence. But the core notion is one that really fits the unique setting of the red light district, and the concept is worked out quite well throughout the three different periods, but Mitsuda does rely on coincidence a few times to make it a clear three series of three jumps for this novel, so some elements don't feel as strong as others. Genya also addresses the various minor mysteries that pop up throughout the three accounts, like the disappearing figures in the hallways or the footsteps that come from nowhere, and most of them have convincing explanations, though not always hinted at as strongly and they don't always connect that well, so whereas in previous novels usually everything connected back to the main mystery, there are a lot more disconnected nodes in this tale, or nodes that are only connected to the main plot after multiple steps. Plot-wise, Yuujo no Gotoki Uramu Mono is definitely not the brilliant monsters of synergy previous novels were, where everything was connected and written to support other elements. This is anothe reason why this book feels so different from the other novels.

Yuujo no Gotoki Uramu Mono is a weird book to explain and recommend, as it's very different from the previous Toujou Genya novels. It feels like author Mitsuda Shinzou became interested in the topic of courtesans in the 1930-1950s, did tons of research in the topic and afterwards decided to use all that research for a Genya novel. The result is a book that tackles a topic that is quite unlike anything we've encountered before in the series, focusing on a plot quite unlike anything we've seen in the series, but I have to admit, I thought the setting and the theme of courtesans was really interesting, so ultimately, I think it was a worthwhile detour the series took. I wouldn't want all the novels in this series to be like this, but once a while, a book like this is also fun and I have to repeat I really liked the core idea of this book, which is complex in its simplicity, even if the execution isn't as brilliantly neat as we saw in the previous books (which were, to be honest, of an exceptional level in terms of mystery plotting). Don't read this as your first Toujou Genya novel, but if you're looking for a palate cleanser after reading three or four other books in the series...

Original Japanese title(s): 三津田信三『幽女の如き怨むもの』

Triple Jeopardy

" There must be something comforting about the number three. People always give up after three."

"Sherlock"

I have mentioned it before that in general, I like the short story format more than a full novel, but when it comes to reading them, I have to admit I usually read these short stories when they are collected in short story collections and published as a single book. And in my case, that's basically always a short story collection of the same author, and very seldom anthologies. So I usually consume short stories as part of a bigger release, and rarely do I read just one short story on its own. Today however, I'll be briefly discussing three stories that I have read exactly in that matter, as just a single short story release. And strangely enough, all three of them were released in rather different ways.

The first one some readers might have expected already: while not exactly planned, the last two years I have discussed the winners of the Mysteries! Newcomer Award around this time of the year (here (2020) and here (2019)). Simply put, the Mysteries! Newcomer Award is the sister award to the better-known Ayukawa Tetsuya Award, as both awards are organized by the same publisher and aimed at unpublished works of authors who haven't made their major debut yet as writers. The Mysteries! Newcomer Award is meant for short stories, while the Ayukawa Tetsuya Award accepts full-length novels/short story collections. Ayukawa Tetsuya Award winners are obviously published as standalone book releases, while in the case of the Mysteries! Newcomer Award, publication means being published on paper in the mystery magazine Mysteries!. This changed however this year, as the magazine Mysteries! was cancelled, but a new magazine came its place: Shimino Techo (lit: "A Notebook for Silverfish") started in October 2021 and is of course a mostly mystery fiction-focused bimonthly magazine. So the winner of the Mysteries! Newcomer Award of 2021 was published in the inaugural issue of Shimino Techo, which the publisher Tokyo Sogensha was kind enough to send me, so I guess I'll be discussing the winner this year too! Aaaaand, no, I don't know why the award is still called Mysteries!

Yanagawa Hajime's Sannin Shobou ("Three Men's Bookshop") is named after the used bookshop Edogawa Rampo, the father of the Japanese mystery story, ran with his two brothers before he became a professional writer and took on the name of Rampo. As you can guess, this story is about Rampo himself, or rather Hirai Tarou (his real name), though the story uses "Rampo" for convenience. The narrator of the story is Inoue Katsuki, a friend of the real Edogawa Rampo who is also mentioned in Rampo's essays. Rampo wrote that Inoue was staying with Rampo and his brothers in the bookshop for a while, and this story is set during that period. One day, when two frequent female visitors/friends are at the shop, Rampo and one of his brothers happen to going through a collection of used books they bought, when inside one of the books, they find a note signed by a Sumako, that appears to be a farewell or suicide letter of some kind to a lover. Based on the writing style and the name Sumako, they quickly realize that this note was written by Matsui Sumako, the actress who committed suicide a few months ago, following in the footsteps of a director with whom she was having an affair, who died because of a disease. But the note they found seems to indicate Sumako had another lover besides the director. Curious to the person who received this note, Rampo and his brothers start to look for the previous owner of the used books they bought, as they fear the note might shine a different light on Sumako's death. 

An interesting story, though not completely my cup of tea. The best part of this story is without a doubt the historical setting, based on the life of the father of the Japanese mystery story. The idea of having Rampo and his brothers solve cases while running their used bookshop is pretty fun, and having actual persons like narrator Inoue, but also the link with actual Japanese history is done really well: at first I didn't even know Matsui Sumako was a real person, so it was interesting learning what kind of news/scandals were on the mind of the people in Tokyo in the early 1920s. In that sense, the way this story uses some familiar Rampo tropes like letters/correspondence and the hidden meaning/messages in them in combination with Sumako is pretty inspired. As a mystery story however, the plot feels a bit too slow for me: there is no clearly defined mystery for the reader to solve, more like vague questions raised about the note and Sumako's suicide, as well as other characters' actions, and then the story moves to an interpretation of the situation that addresses these questions, but you never deal with a clear-cut problem to solve. That's just something I personally don't always like, though I think that if you like (well-researched) historical mysteries, and Rampo of course, you'll find a lot to like here. Personally I do think the mystery plot has some nice ideas, like how it reveals how a certain situation is mirrored elsewhere, but things move just a bit too slow for me.

The whole world had to adapt to a new situation last year and to cheer people up, playwright and film creator Mitani Kouki decided to bring back Furuhata Ninzaburou in his long-running been newspaper column Mitani Kouki's Mundane Life for the Asahi Shimbun. Furuhata Ninzaburou was a highly succesful comedic inverted detective television series that ran between 1994-2006, which followed the adventures of the somewhat eccentric Lieutenant Furuhata of the Tokyo police. Heavily inspired by Columbo, each episode would show the viewer how the culprit committed the crime and the mystery presented to the viewer was figuring out how Furuhata was going to solve the case. Inspiration was also taken from the Ellery Queen television series, as each episode, Furuhata would turn to the audience and challenge them to guess what put him on the trail. While the show had stopped long ago, Mitani decided to bring Furuhata back last year by serializing the very short story Isshun no Ayamachi ("A Moment's Mistake") across four installments of his column. While obviously there's only that much you can do in the space of four newspaper columns, the story was actually quite fun to read. Earlier this year however, Tamura Masakazu, the actor who played Furuhata Ninzaburou on television, passed away, and as far as Mitani is concerned that means Furuhata will never return on television again. However, on paper is a different story, so this year too, Mitani decided to use up his columns between September 30 - October 21 2021  to bring back Furuhata Ninzaburou for a special appearance.

Satsui no Yukemuri ("Steamy Intent to Kill") follows Mitani, who is enjoying a stay at a hot spring inn when a new guest arrives at the same inn: the actor Chateau Jirou (a thinly-disguised Satou Jirou) has worked on many productions of the great director Mitani Kouki, but there's one thing that has always bothered Mitani: Chateau Jirou improvises too much! Nothing is left of the original script whenever Chateau Jirou is in the scene, and it's about time Mitani finally confronts Jirou about this. Late at night, Mitani manages to corner Chateau Jirou in the outdoor hot spring and pleads with Chateau to finally stick to the script from now on, but the two get into an argument and a push and an unlucky landing on the head later, Chateau Jirou is dead. After fleeing the scene, Mitani is sure no clues have been left at the scene, but surprisingly, Furuhata Ninzaburou wants to have a talk the following day regarding the death of Chateau Jirou. But how did Furuhata figure out it was Mitani who did it? Like the story last year, Satsui no Yukemuri is incredibly short due to its publication format, but it's actually surprisingly well-plotted. Sure, it's kinda a one-trick pony because 4 columns worth of text is really, really little, and to be honest, the dying message featured in this story is really, really not interesting at all, but there's some good clewing going on regarding the fatal mistake Mitani made, and there's even a genuinely shocking conclusion to the case, when Furuhata reveals how he managed to connect all the seperate clues and immediately figure out it could only have been Mitani who did it. I would love to see this idea worked out into a more substantial story, but even as it is now, I have to say it was a very nice surprise. Definitely a must-read for fans of Furuhata Ninzaburou, or Mitani Kouki's work in general. I wonder if Mitani will be killing off another actor he often works with next year too!

The last story to be discussed today is also a "continuation" of  a post of last year, in a way. Ooyama Seiichirou's Alibi Kuzushi Uketamawarimasu ("Alibi Cracking, At Your Service") was a great short story collection that focused completely about perfect alibi stories. The unnamed narrator (a rookie police detective stationed in Nano Ciy, Nano Prefecture) is a very frequent visitor of Mitani Clockmakers, run by Mitani Tokino who inherited the shop from her grandfather. Tokino, a young woman in her twenties, does not only sell and repair clocks, but she also offers a special alibi cracking service. The concept of one single series on cracking alibis was not only fairly unique, but the quality of the stories was very high. Ooyama started working on the "second season" of this series soon after the first book was done, publishing a new story once every few months, which for some reason can all be read for free on the official site. The previous three I have already discussed, so I figured, I might as well discuss the fourth story too!

Tokeiya Tantei to Niritsu Haihan no Alibi ("The Clockmaker Detective and the Antinomic Alibi") starts in the familiar fashion, with the narrator needing Tokino's help to crack the alibi of the main suspect in a murder case. However, what is unique about this case is that Nakaishi Junichi is the suspect in two different murders committed in different places around the same time, even though it would only be physically possible to commit one of them! On the fifth of November, the narrator is forced to cancel a dinner date with Tokino due the discovery of the body of Nakaishi Satoko, who was found in her house by a friend with whom she had a lunch date earlier that day. The Nano Prefectural Police soon start to suspect her husband Junichi: the couple had been living seperately for a year now. They trace Satoko's last known movements on the night before, and find out she must have been killed on the fourth of November, after having dinner at a restaurant. Confronting the husband with his history of infidelity and the fact a neighbor saw someone like him leaving the house around the time of the murder, the husband claims he was alone in his home, but can not prove his story. The detectives of the Nano Prefectural Police are pretty sure Junichi's their man and hope to nab him after Satoko's funeral, when they run into homicide detectives of the Metropolitan Police Department, who reveal Nakaishi Junichi is the main suspect in the murder of Kawai Aki, Junichi's mistress who was slowly turning into a nuisance. It turns out that this Aki was also killed around eleven o'clock of the fourth of November in Tokyo, and the MPD too have enough evidence to at least bring Junichi along for questioning, but this leads to a problem: Both the local Nano detectives and the MPD detectives are sure Junichi is the culprit of their own case, but obviously, he can only have committed one of those crimes, because the murders were committed around the same time and whether you take public transport or the car, it's about ninety minutes between the two crime scenes. Both investigative parties refuse to admit they are wrong, but the harder the Nano police detectives try to prove they are right, they are just proving Junichi's innocence in the other case, while the work of the MPD detectives in turn weakens the Nano police's case, resulting in neither party being able to pin anything on Junichi!

A story with a very interesting premise: Junichi is the suspect in two different cases that occured at the same time, so proving his guilt in one case, would only provide him with an alibi for the other case! Considering this series is about perfect alibis, you can of course guess that Junichi is in fact involved with both murders, and that his trick naturally does not rely on him having hired an assassin to do the other murder. I have to admit that at first though, the story seemed a bit too obvious to me: one of the most important clues in this story is very similar to a (good!) idea from the first collection, so that allowed me to guess what Junichi must have done fairly easily, because the connection is quickly made in your head. But when Tokino explained the crime, I was pleasantly surprised by the way the story actually builds up to that solution. While I had correctly guessed the main trick behind the double murders, I had completely missed the two clever hints that serve as the first step towards the 'big' solution. They are very cunningly hidden in the story, and result in a mystery that really benefits from a well thought-out structure: it doesn't allow, or expect from Tokino, nor the reader, to just jump to Step 3: The Trick in one go, but you also have Step 1 and Step 2 to go through first in terms of clues, to have the proper build-up to the final reveal. It makes this a story that is more than "just a clever trick meant to surprise the reader", because it shifts the focus more to the logical process behind how to solve such a mystery, and it succeeds because of that.

Three completely unrelated short stories, published in three very different ways, being via a magazine, being serialized within a newspaper column and online. And contents-wise, they are really different too, now I think about it, from the historically grounded Sannin Shobou to the more comedic, single idea-focused Satsui no Yukemuri to the tricky puzzler Tokeiya Tantei to Niritsu Haihan no Alibi. As a matter of personal taste, it's of course the puzzler that I liked best of these three, but all three stories have interesting angles to them. And that about wraps things up for this post. The next time I'll be discussing individual, seperate short stories again outside of short story collections? I guess... next year, around this time of the year agan?

Original Japanese title(s):  柳川一「三人書房」/ 三谷幸喜「殺意の湯煙」/ 大山誠一郎「時計屋探偵と二律背反のアリバイ」