A locked-room murder, red-ochre-painted walls and the sound of the koto. Can you solve the murder mystery faster than private detective Kosuke Kindaichi?
The Honjin Murders synopsis
In the winter of 1937, the village of Okamura is abuzz with excitement over the forthcoming wedding of a daughter of the grand Ichiyanagi family. But amid the gossip over the approaching festivities, there is also a worrying rumour – it seems a sinister masked man has been asking questions about the Ichiyanagis around the village.
Then, on the night of the wedding, the Ichiniyagi family are woken by a terrible scream, followed by the sound of eerie music – death has come to Okamura, leaving no trace but a bloody samurai sword, thrust into the pristine snow outside the house. The murder seems impossible, but amateur detective Kosuke Kindaichi is determined to get to the bottom of it.
Book review
The Honjin Murders takes place in the Okayama prefecture in Japan with Kyoto and Osaka as the nearest big cities. It is the first of 77 books featuring private detective Kosuke Kindaichi by Japanese mystery novelist Seishi Yokomizo. Regardless of this impressive track record, this is the first book that has been translated in English.
This locked-room mystery novel was written in 1946 and it shows through the writing style and portrayal of characters. There is a long and boring description of the premises and the characters feel empty: it is not about them, but rather about the deductive skills of the detective. Who is gonna figure it out first, you or him? You become an active participant in the murder investigation, yet you will probably need to read until the end to get all the information you need. Challenge accepted.
A writer living today probably wouldn’t have been able to describe a 1937 setting this well. You can learn much about Japanese culture around the 1930s by reading this book. From what a Honjin is (an inn where Edo period nobility would stay) to the musical instrument called koto. You will read about marriage ceremonies and the relationship between landowners and their (former) tenants. Family lineage is everything and the dialogues read like those in Victorian novels.
The narrator of the book is a writer of detectives. He is a smug narrator, pointing out how he is smarter than his readers, which I don’t mind at all. He solved the murder mystery whereas I wouldn’t have. He did have more information though and didn’t tell the reader everything he saw. There is a Japanese movie based on The Honjin Murders (Honjin Satsujin Jiken) that I have yet to see. I would love to see the reenactment of the murder on screen as I had a hard time visualizing it completely.
I didn’t like the writing style in this book as it made me feel bored at times when too much information was shared at the same time. I am sure many of you will like this book though as it gives off the same feeling as last centuries’ most popular crime and mystery novels. If you like those, then you will like this book.
Despite all that I am tempted to read The Inugami Curse (English translation of #6 of the Kosuke Kindaichi novels) because I want to know if the murder case in that book is as interesting as the one in The Honjin Murders. That’s how good the execution of this locked-room murder mystery was. A challenging mystery that will keep your mind busy.
Translated from Japanese by Louise Heal Kawai.
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