The Moai Island Puzzle

Egami Jiro #2

by Alice Arisugawa, Ho-Ling Wong (Translator)

In his introduction, Soji Shimada, the doyen of the Japanese form of Golden Age detective fiction known as shin honkaku, calls this novel a masterpiece and Publisher’s Weekly gives it a starred review.
Three students from Eito University in Kyoto travel to a remote island populated with moai statues in order to find a hidden treasure, but several murders—including one impossible--occur before it can be located.

Don't be fooled by the bland description. The locked room murder is brilliant and worthy of John Dickson Carr at his best, and the dying message and chain of deduction leading to the killer rival anything written by Ellery Queen. And neither Carr nor Queen ever combined both in one novel.

Locked Room International discovers and publishes impossible crime mysteries from all over the world, and by authors past and present..

Genres: Mystery, Fiction, Japanese Literature, Japan, Crime, Mystery Thriller, Thriller

232 pages, Paperback

First published July 1, 1989

About the author

Also See 有栖川 有栖.

Reviews

[Jokoloyo · Rating 2 out of 5]

I got from other review and book introduction that the author want to continue the tradition of Ellery Queen. After reaching the near-end, I found it: the author challenges readers to guess the culprit. This is the strong point of this book, a fair intellectual challenge to readers as in shin honkaku movement.

Maybe my rating affected with other expectations that not fulfilled regarding continuing the tradition of Ellery Queen.
First, I was hoping the POV character, Alice Arisugawa himself, would solve the case. Alas, Alice role in the story is similar with Watson or Hastings. The detective is Egami Jiro.
PS: I just knew this is the second novel of Egami Jiro series.
Second, I was expecting a faster pace story. Maybe you disagree with me, I found Ellery Queen pace is faster than Agatha Christie or John Dickson Carr. This novel storytelling resemblance more Carr or Christie than Queen..

[Obsidian · Rating 1 out of 5]

Wow. So this was not interesting at all. I finished this morning and was bored senseless. There are elements that remind me a bit of the "The Tokyo Zodiac Murders" with the author throwing down a gauntlet asking the reader to solve, but I had no idea who did it and the resolution at the end was way too "talky." It didn't help that the author, Alice Arisugawa, put himself in this book as a character. Way too surreal for me and I just got glad to be done with it.

"The Maoi Island Puzzle" follows three students (Alice, Maria, and Jiro) from Eito University that travel to a remote island that is populated by moai statues. Alice and Jiro are hoping to solve a puzzle that leads to treasure that was left by Maria's grandfather. However, two murders happen almost right away and are then followed by other murders.

Alice is a main character in this book and is part of his university's mystery club. This was brought up in "The Decagon House Murders" with Japanese students putting together mystery clubs that read and discussed British golden age mystery novelists like Christie, Doyle, and others. Alice isn't developed very well. He really is there just to be a Watson to a character who is pretty much the Holmes (Jiro) who needs Alice around to tell him how he is wrong about aspects of the murders. I don't know why I can read Sherlock Holmes novels and not get annoyed by this, but this was just aggravating to read. Alice being a Watson just didn't work for me.

The other members of the club who appear in this one are a student named Maria and then another member named Jiro. Maria is the one that invites the members to the island since her family has a villa there. I can't say much about either of them, because they are not developed very well.

The writing wasn't that great and the dialogue was very stilted I found. I am sure part of this is a translation issue. The writing just felt very fake at times. I also have to say I guessed the murder right away because there was no way it could be anyone else. There are some maps that are included, but I just didn't even care at that point. The flow was awful because the author chose to focus on details that didn't really matter. I was just so bored.

I usually like locked room mysteries but this was just not my favorite.

[Jeanette · Rating 3 out of 5]

This is a very formal Japanese "closed room" mystery. It takes place completely on a island during a 5 day summer holiday- no transportation "off" possible. There are 11 characters and its wording, nuance to meaning, clue giving and asides and references to other mystery writers of the last 150 plus years are prime to the "knowledge" that the reader needs to assume a guess. And you are actually asked to guess at a point that is 80% into the copy. I guessed wrong.

It's first half was a 4 star, but the second half become so much location information detail- Japanese repetitive for "apology" and/ or possible nuance or inference toward minutia of manners and witness, that I had a hard time finishing this short piece. In fact for me that propensity nearly eliminated all tensions "to know". And I was sorry about that because the set ups were excellent. It could have been so much better in the long reasoning to where the one "bicycle" was located as "unseen" by any witnesses- and when- that especially. But there were other times too, when it became tedious to read such long passages upon the reasoning and deduction involved to form a "proof".

If you love puzzles, every kind (there are even jigsaw puzzles in this one)- then you will probably enjoy it more than I did. Loving logic puzzles as I do, this one was far more about hubris quotients than about proving a lie.

Knocking off a good bit of the candy read aspect to this book (entertaining factor/enjoyment for a wit etc. beach read aspect) was the translation. I doubt it was a thorough translation to any exact Japanese context. And the fact that the entire narration was the one "set of eyes" of a college sophomore? Meh on that completely. I got sick of hearing his thoughts on how stupid and dumb he himself was. The young people (the 3 under 22) in this one were not believable in their jaunts to me, either. If you just saw 2 dead bodies of people you knew well the day before- you would never go out sailing alone the very next night. Not in the way that they did and under the surrounds between two houses of questionable involvement. Only two dwellings on the entire island and they across the bay from each other. No easy way on land between.

Plot, good. Dialogs, not.

[Irfan Nurhadi · Rating 5 out of 5]

Okay, now where to begin?

Cerita dimulai dari pertemuan klub misteri di Universitas Eito, Kyoto. Maria Arima, salah satu anggota klub (dan satu-satunya cewe di klub tsb) mengundang Egami Jiro (ketua klub), dan Alice Arisugawa untuk berlibur di villa pamannya, di sebuah pulau terpencil (bisa dibilang pulau pribadi). Alasan Maria mengajak berlibur ternyata adalah untuk meminta bantuan rekan klubnya memecahkan misteri harta karun yang ditinggalkan oleh kakeknya sebelum meninggal. Kakek Maria, yang gila teka-teki, meninggalkan koleksi permata dan perhiasan yang ia kumpulkan semasa hidup di suatu tempat di pulau itu. Satu-satunya petunjuk untuk lokasi harta karun itu adalah patung moai yang tersebar di tiap sudut pulau (hence the title).

Alice, Maria, dan Egami pun berangkat ke pulau tersebut. Namun ternyata misi pencarian harta karun mereka terganggu oleh adanya tiga pembunuhan terhadap beberapa tamu yang juga hadir di pulau.

***

The Moai Island Puzzle adalah novel detektif yang bercita rasa seperti novel-novel "Ellery Queen" yang terkenal dengan Challenge to the Reader dan metode pemecahan kasus dengan chain-of-deduction (deduksi berantai, atau saya lebih suka menyebutnya rantaian deduksi).

Alice Arisugawa, sang penulis, dari awal debut novelnya memang berniat untuk meneruskan jejak Ellery Queen (Frederick Dannay dan Manfred Lee). Bahkan d blogger sang penerjemah, Ho-Ling Wong, dikatakan bahwa novel ini mengalahkan Ellery Queen dalam hal rantaian deduksi, di mana rantaian deduksi di novel ini sangatlah elegan. Sang tokoh detektif, Egami Jiro, tiba di kesimpulan X adalah pelakunya dengan penalaran yang hanya didasari oleh satu potong bukti saja. Dan membaca penalaran (rantaian deduksi) dari Egami Jiro sangatlah memuaskan.

Tak hanya itu, cerita ini dibumbui oleh misteri pencarian harta karun dan satu pembunuhan ruang tertutup. Semua aspek misteri saling berkaitan, namun nilai plus yang sangat mengena di benak saya adalah rantaian deduksi Egami yang sangat elegan. That is just awesome!

It's an amazing book for every fan of mystery-detective novel. 5 Stars!

[M. · Rating 4 out of 5]

A private family holiday on the little island of Kashikajima, in the days before the internet and cell phones (when true isolation was still possible). Two students in a mystery club join the trip at the invitation of another member, hoping to solve rumors of a hidden treasure. They get much more adventure than they bargained for as a murder shatters the calm. It won't be the first.

Part of the shin honkaku "fair play" revival in Japan, The Moai Island Puzzle provides the reader with all of the clues needed to deduce who, how and why (including quite a few maps and sketches, which I always appreciate). The mysteries are supplemented by detailed descriptions of the island (the concept would be a great place for a group vacation, minus the murders of course), some background on its characters and a bit of unrequited love.

I'm surprised to say I figured out the "who" and the "why" by the time I reached the Challenge to the Reader near the end (that so rarely happens). I didn't have all of the "how", and there are some surprises in that regard (I deduced the solution to the locked room mystery, but I still received a bit of a shock in that aspect). This is a set of entertaining puzzles, made all the better by the time and care the author took at establishing his setting. A must for classic mystery fans!

[RyeCather · Rating 4 out of 5]

Took a while for the book to get going, but it absolutely won me over the moment shit went down. It was a solid (not to mention very well-written) read with an intriguing premise, an unconventional detective and an ending which was executed almost perfectly.

[Andrew · Rating 5 out of 5]

"Honkaku" is a genre of Japanese mystery novel meaning "fair play." In the tradition of Agatha Christie and John Dickson Carr, you are meant to solve the book like a puzzle. Of the three honkaku I have read, this is the best one: it has the character emotions and atmospheric descriptions that the others seem less interested in along with a very complex murder mystery that brings plenty of surprises. These books tend to take their time setting up events before getting to the crime, so don't expect much in the way of action, but you'll almost always find the puzzle at hand worthwhile to assemble and be in for plenty of twists and turns.

[Raks Walker · Rating 3 out of 5]

Out of all the Japanese mystery books I have read till now, this is my least favorite.
This book was quite a drag in the beginning and did not become interested until the first murder occurs.
Also all the characters are so stati and you don't feel for even one.
I was able to figure out the murderer beforehand which I obviously don't like to.
So only read this book if you just want to explore a different kind of mystery.
Else you can ignore this.

[John Lee · Rating 3 out of 5]

As I started reading I was a little confused as to who the target audience was because its phrasing and style reminded me of the Famous Five books of Enid Blyton. I rechecked its classification and as it wasn't 'Young Adult' I carried on. The style was either the original Japanese or the translation. I have come across it before and although it is a bit different, one soon gets used to it.

The book was set out for the Armchair Detective with a couple of useful maps and a 'dramatis personae' from which I decided to construct a family tree for easy reference.

The story is all about a family's journey to their island for a summer holiday. An island on which the grandfather had hidden a fortune in diamonds and clues as to the hiding place. (A recipe for murder and deceit if ever I heard one.) The granddaughter brings a couple of puzzle loving , murder mystery addicted fellow students from the University along to solve the family mystery.

The quest to find the treasure is interrupted by a couple of deaths at a time when the island is cut off by a typhoon and a smashed radio.

The Armchair Detective is helped along by frequent reassessments by the young sleuths and is even challenged to solve the case when all the clues have been given, before the great reveal at the end.

Did I solve it? Absolutely no. I totally missed the significance of the vital clue but nevertheless , enjoyed the read.

The three students' fondness for Murder Mystery revealed some interesting references to other authors who might be worth investigating as, unfortunately, no other books in this series have been translated yet.

[Pip · Rating 3 out of 5]

I like a formal mystery but this was a bit too cold and clinical for me…the characters felt more like puzzle pieces than fully formed people, and they didn’t seem to be affected by the steadily growing body count in any kind of realistic way.

[Laila · Rating 3 out of 5]

i guessed it :p

lowkey wasn’t even that intriguing but whatever

[gianna 🫂 · Rating 2 out of 5]

im always 2 steps ahead

[Cathy · Rating 3 out of 5]

3.5*

[Jameson · Rating 3 out of 5]

FIRST READING 2/19/20: 3 Stars

Subdued, almost dour, très japonais, very competent whodunit. If you like Ellery Queen, The Decagon House Murders, Zelda, Ten Little Expletives, Detective Conan, and locked rooms, you’ll like this.

I found The Moai Island Puzzle similar to another LRI re-issue, Come to Paddington Fair. Both are puzzle-heavy with solutions that live up to the problems, both drag in the second act, maybe because both lack interesting and exciting characters saying and doing interesting and exciting things.

SECOND READING 5/24/24: 4.5 Stars

I remember this one being a little boring, the first time I read it. I assume that had to do with the translation, maybe. Or maybe it’s just the style—a lot of Japanese mysteries do have very reserved, very staid prose. Not at all stylish. Workmanlike. Lacking in personality, kindaichi. But sometimes I find myself in the mood for just that.

Also, the first time I read this it was on a Kindle and for some reason digital books usually lose a star from me—it’s not even a conscious subtraction, I just enjoy ebooks less than their physical counterparts.

The Moai Island Puzzle does feel a little long-winded at times but there is certainly enough action to justify the page count. And it isn’t humorless or heartless, though it is a bit cool and bloodless. Like a lot of honkaku, the characters are on the thin side, but I don’t mind that in this kind of puzzle book.

I’ll happily read this again someday. If Alice Arisugawa has written any more impossible mysteries like The Moai Island Puzzle then I hope someone sees fit to publish them in English. I would like to read the further adventures of the detective trio, if they exist.

[Little Miss-Tery · Rating 1 out of 5]

I don’t often go to the effort of writing reviews, unless a book is truly exceptional. This book was certainly exceptional, but not in a good way. I have read many, many, many mystery novels, and yet I can say definitively that this is the most painfully boring mystery I have ever read. EVER. I don’t think I could write a plot this boring or a narrative this dry even if I tried. I’ve read some dry mysteries before but in comparison this novel was as dry as a fossilized cactus in the middle of the Sahara. There is no build up to the murders whatsoever, not a smidgen of intrigue. I’ve read the back of cereal boxes that are more climatic than this mystery. There is nothing even remotely clever about this mystery. None of the characters are fleshed out enough to even come within range of possibly being relatable or likeable. It’s impossible to care that characters are being murdered off as a result, they don’t seem human. There isn’t an ounce of emotion (fear, sadness, anger) that is conveyed by characters’ reactions to the murder. If they don’t care, how is the reader supposed to be expected to care?! I only finished reading this “mystery” bc I paid $10 for the ebook. Dear god, I want my money and my time back. And before anyone accuses me of disliking Japanese mystery novels, my favourite author is Keigo Higashino, I’ve read Edogawa Ranpo’s stories repeatedly, and I loved Yukito Ayatsuji’s Decagon House Murders.

[LG (A Library Girl's Familiar Diversions) · Rating 1 out of 5]

Alice Arisugawa is the third Honkaku Mystery Writers Club of Japan author I’ve tried. I thought Arisugawa would also be my first female honkaku mystery author, but I didn’t bother to research that and, as it turns out, the author is actually male.

He also wrote a male character named after his pseudonym into The Moai Island Puzzle. I don’t like when authors write themselves into their own books, even if all they and their character have in common is their names, so this was a bit of a red flag for me, but I figured I’d let it pass. I was really hoping this book would be as good as the one that led me to it, Soji Shimada’s The Tokyo Zodiac Murders. Or even Yukito Ayatsuji’s The Decagon House Murders, which had some issues but was still decent.

The Moai Island Puzzle starts by introducing readers to the members of the Eito University Mystery Club. The club’s only female member, Maria Arima, invites the other members to take a week-long holiday at her uncle’s villa on a tiny island. Only Alice Arisugawa (the narrator) and Jiro Egami are able to join her, but that doesn’t mean they’re alone: ten of Maria’s family members and family friends also take a holiday on the island at around this time every three years or so.

Alice and Egami arrive at the island with every intention of having fun. In particular, they’d like to solve the puzzle that Maria’s grandfather left behind. Before he died, Maria’s grandfather had several wooden moais, statues similar to the ones on Easter Island but much smaller, installed all over the island, each facing in a different direction. These statues are somehow the key to finding a treasure that Maria’s grandfather left behind.

Hideto, Maria's beloved cousin, was supposedly close to solving the puzzle three years ago but drowned before he could locate the treasure. Maria would like to finish what he started. Unfortunately, just as a typhoon is about to reach the island, a couple people are found shot to death inside a locked room. Was it suicide, or murder?

First off, I would like to say that I was frustrated with how determined these characters were to believe that a double suicide was a possibility in this situation. One of the victims was shot in the chest, one of them in the thigh, and there was a blood trail across the entire room. The window was closed, and the door was locked with an overly tight latch. Both victims were shot by a rifle, which was nowhere to be found in the room. Several characters kept theorizing that one of the victims shot the other victim, then themselves, and then somehow threw the rifle out the window and then shut the window. It took ages for someone to finally ask whether the rifle was even outside somewhere - no one had bothered to look. Granted, it was raining and a typhoon was coming, but I doubt a dying person would have been able to throw the rifle very far.

I suppose you could argue that they all clung to the “it was a double suicide or murder-suicide” theory so hard because they didn’t want to believe they were on the island with a murderer, but so many of the facts just didn’t fit. And I just shook my head at the characters’ behavior. Even past the point they should’ve started keeping a better eye on each other, they were busy getting drunk or spending time on their own. That was one of the book’s weaknesses: too many characters had no alibi.

You’d think that should have helped muddy the waters, but it was combined with the fact that there were also few clear motives. All I had to do was think about a likely motive that Arisugawa (the author) was very carefully not bringing up, and I basically figured out the identity of the murderer. I had hoped that I was wrong and that the motive I suspected was actually a red herring. Unfortunately this wasn’t the case.

I wasn’t able to figure out how the murders were committed on my own, but part of the problem was that I didn’t care. I didn’t care about the characters, I had trouble caring about their family/relationship drama, and their conversations bored me. The final revelations didn’t change my mind about any of that.

The second part of the moai puzzle made sense to me, but the stuff the characters had to do to get to that part seemed like a stretch. And I didn’t buy that Egami was able to figure out everything about the murders the way he did, all on his own. His explanation for the locked room portion of the mystery, in particular, angered me more than shocked me. Without including spoilers, all I can say is that I had trouble believing the character would have done something like that, especially considering the way their relationships had been described.

All in all, this wasn’t worth the effort it took to read it. Very disappointing.

Additional Comments:

I noticed a few editing errors in the first 50 or so pages - sloppy verb tenses, and an instance of “peak” instead of “peek.”

The thing that bugged me the most, though, was the book’s very first illustration, a map of the island. I had thought it was the same map the characters had received, but they kept referencing marks on the map that indicated the locations of the moais, and the book’s illustration had no such marks. I still don’t know whether this was an error or whether it was deliberate on the author’s part. In the end, the marks wouldn’t have helped any (they were included later, albeit separate from the map), but the fact that they weren’t there made it feel like the author was keeping basic information from readers, and it was annoying.

Oh, and unrelated to all of that: I’m pretty sure that a normal, living snake wouldn’t feel sticky to the touch.

(Original review posted on A Library Girl's Familiar Diversions.)

[Kelvin · Rating 4 out of 5]

A late 1980s Japanese locked room mystery in the shin honkaku style with a mystery puzzle plot. The book has a very good introduction and history of the development of different schools of Japanese mystery writers. Thirteen people were to spend five days on a remote island with no contact with the outside world (yes, the only wireless set for communication was destroyed by the murderer). A few murders ensured. Three amateur detectives from a university mystery club happened to be visitors on the island and their leader (Jiro Egami) was able to work through the complex alibi timeline to identify the murderer. The alibi timeline is kind of complicated but overall I find he story interesting and is well written and translated.

[Francine Chu · Rating 4 out of 5]

You can’t get a more typical Japanese locked room mystery than this:

High schoolers going to an isolated island by ferry. Predictably, there’s a storm and/ or all communication with the outside world is gone. The ferry will only come a few days after the first murder. The radio transmitters are spoilt. A dying message (or rather a die-Ing massegu). An eccentric owner plus his strange guests. The island will be in a weird shape to ensure the killer could never have done it...but they did. Enjoy!

*btw, Alice is a guy here

[Jean Snow · Rating 4 out of 5]

This is one of my wife’s favorite Japanese mystery authors (and one of her favorite novels), and I’ll say that I enjoyed it immensely as well. Highly recommended if you like “closed room” mysteries — and I also enjoy the strong meta feel of the book (lots of references to the genre). One of the best mystery novels I’ve read.

[Richard Janzen · Rating 4 out of 5]

A murder mystery / treasure hunt that is meticulously created on an island with a specific cast, limited and set transportation, no alibis, and multiple motives. A Japanese-style Agatha Christie- type mystery.

[Puzzle Doctor · Rating 3 out of 5]

Well constructed but somewhat uninvolving. Full review at classicmystery.wordpress.com

[Nikhil "Nerd" Nair · Rating 4 out of 5]

The mystery element was okay.
What worked is how brilliant Alice Arisugawa sets up the atmosphere!

[Gabriele Crescenzi · Rating 5 out of 5]

Sono sempre stato un grande amante del giallo classico/deduttivo, meglio se presenta una situazione impossibile o una camera chiusa. Aggiungendo inoltre che vado matto per le atmosfere orientaleggianti, non potevo non prendere questo romanzo, che fonde insieme queste mie due passioni.
"The moai island puzzle" è un mystery classico (o meglio uno "shin honkaku", appartenente cioè al periodo di rinascita del giallo deduttivo in Giappone intorno agli anni '80) in cui si fondono tutti gli elementi più peculiari di questo genere: ci sono delle persone riunite su un'isola al di fuori del mondo, una caccia al tesoro con tanto di mappe e indovinelli, molti delitti, tra cui uno in camera chiusa. Insomma tutto ciò che più m'intriga e incuriosisce.
Ed infatti non mi ha proprio deluso.
L'autore, come afferma la prefazione iniziale del grande giallista nipponico Soji Shimada, s'ispira esplicitamente ad Ellery Queen per il metodo investigativo del suo Jiro Egami: infatti sarà attraverso una logica irreprensibile e ad una catena impeccanile di deduzioni che egli riuscirà a capire quale mano si cela dietro questi orrendi delitti. La soluzione è impeccabile, davvero degna di nota e a cui non sarei sicuramente mai arrivato. La camera chiusa è buona visto il contesto (anche se avevo intuito di che tipo di camera chiusa si trattasse, essendo ormai avvezzo a questo sottofilone del giallo). Tutto sommato un grande romanzo, degno del massimo voto.

[Warren Fretwell · Rating 3 out of 5]

Soji Shimada called this book a "mystery masterpiece" and, accordingly, I had high hopes. However, I found the story a little confusing and I am not sure the clues really added up to the final conclusion. But, it was interesting, although I have read better crime stories.

Several vacationers, including three college students, arrive on a small island, some of whom have returned to this island many times before. There is a tale that diamonds are buried somewhere on the island and that the Maoi statues that populate the island may hold the clue.

Already, the search for the treasure has taken one life three years before. One wonders if the drowning was, indeed, an accident.

The treasure hunters press on, but suddenly two people are murdered in a locked bedroom. No weapon can be found. The window is closed. All others seem to be accounted for. Who did it and how? And, why was communication beyond the island cut off?

So, in addition to trying to find the treasure, the parties investigate the murder and while doing so another member of the vacation party is killed.

Yikes!

The resolution to the locked-door mystery was rather ho-hum, although the untangling of the treasure hunt and necessity for the killings holds ones interest, after all, we do wish to learn who committed these crimes and what was their rationale!

But, I felt there was something missing: perhaps any sympathy for the characters! I just did not connect with them.

Soji Shimada's "The Tokyo Zodiac Murders" is a better choice.

[Cameron Trost · Rating 4 out of 5]

An entertaining fair-play (honkaku) mystery set on a strangely-shaped island (the shape itself will have the armchair detective asking questions from the get-go) and featuring a treasure hunt, several murders - including a locked-room scenario, and a scattering of little mysteries along the way. I found the cast of characters a bit underwhelming and by the end of the book I didn't really care who the killer was... and I have to admit I didn't put my finger on the culprit. The proof against the killer was rather underwhelming as well. That, along with a solution to the locked-room mystery that wasn't entirely convincing, held me back from giving The Moai Island Puzzle a fifth star. What I did enjoy was the setting (remote island, stormy weather puzzle - real mystery meat-and-potatoes... or rice and nori... kind of stuff) and the puzzles; both that of the statues and the role of jigsaw puzzles in the story. In a way, this is more of a howdunnit than a whodunnit, and I liked figuring the how of it out. With a stronger cast of characters and more of a clincher in terms of nailing the culprit, this would have been a truly legendary mystery. Who can recommend other honkaku mysteries to me?

[Darius Ostrowski · Rating 3 out of 5]

A solid, not great, honkaku take on the locked room puzzle set on a remote island.

When Maria, a college student and member of the Detective's Club, invites her fellow student detectives Alice Arisugawa (the author) and Egami Jiro (the genius) to her family's retreat on a remote island where her grandfather hid a treasure of diamonds many years ago, the two jump at the chance to solve the mystery.

And off we go. Mysterious clues. Family members with hidden pasts. A cousin who mysteriously drowned several years before. Moai statues across the island each pointing in different directions. One murder, than another, and another still. A raging storm cutting off help from the outside world. A sabotaged radio. A missing rifle. Puzzles, both cerebral and literal. We go through all of this before Jiro and friends are able to piece together what happened years ago, and how that led to what is happening now.

A fine story, the translation isn't great, and the ending has a lot of explaining. Not great, but pretty entertaining for those who love honkaku and puzzles.

[Samma Irtifa · Rating 3 out of 5]

▪️বই- দ্য মোওয়াই আইল্যান্ড পাজল
▪️লেখক- এলিস আরিসুগাওয়া
▪️অনুবাদক- সাবিকুন্নাহার রিয়া

◾শুরুর কথা-
কয়েকদিনের মধ্যেই অনির্বাণ প্রকাশনী থেকে প্রকাশ হতে যাচ্ছে জাপানিজ থ্রিলার "দ্য মোয়াই আইল্যান্ড পাজল"। বইটির লেখক এলিস আরিসুগাওয়া। সৌভাগ্যবশত বইটি বইটি বেটারিড করার সুযোগ হয়েছে আমার।

হনকাকু বা অর্থোডক্স ঘরানার বই এই দ্য মোওয়াই আইল্যান্ড পাজল। নতুন পাঠকদের মনে প্রশ্ন আসতে পারে "এই হনকাকু আবার কি জিনিস!"। মূল বইয়ে যাওয়ার আগে দুই-তিন লাইনে হনকাকু/অর্থোডক্স সম্পর্কে একটু বলে নেই তাহলে। হনকাকু হচ্ছে থ্রিলারের বিভিন্ন সাবজনরা গুলোর মধ্যে একটা। যেখানে পাজল, মার্ডার মিস্ট্রি, লকড রুম মিস্ট্রি ইত্যাদি নিয়ে একটা ধাঁধাময় থ্রিলার গল্প রচনা করা হয়। এতো কিছুর সমন্বয় শুনে ইন্টারেস্টিং লাগছে না?
মোয়াই আইল্যান্ড পাজল বইটাতে ঠিক এগুলোই আছে। পুরো বই জুড়ে মিস্ট্রি আর মিস্ট্রি। এই গল্পে মার্ডার থেকে লকড রুম রহস্য, কিংবা গুপ্তধন উদ্ধার- সবই পাবে পাঠক।

◾ গল্পের শুরু:
এখন আসি মূল গল্পের কথায়। কোনো স্পয়লার নাই নিশ্চিত থাকতে পারেন। ইগামি, এলিস আর মারিয়া একটা রহস্যভেদী ক্লাবের সদস্য। বন্ধু মারিয়ার আমন্ত্রণে ইগামি আর এলিস মারিয়ার চাচার দ্বীপ "মোওয়াই আইল্যান্ড" এ বেড়াতে যায়। তাদের মূল আগ্রহ হলো মারিয়ার দাদার লুকিয়ে রেখে যাওয়া গুপ্তধন উদ্ধার করা। মারিয়ার বন্ধুদের পাশাপাশি আরো কিছু আত্মীয় স্বজনও দ্বীপে বেড়াতে এসেছে। প্রথম রাত আনন্দের সাথে কাটলেও দ্বিতীয় রাত ‍ছিলো দু‍ঃস্বপ্নের মত। কারন সেদিন আমন্ত্রিত অতিথির মধ্যে খুন হন দুইজন। এখান থেকেই আসল রহস্যের শুরু...

◾পাঠ-প্রতিক্রিয়া:
লেয়ার বাই লেয়ার গল্প সাজানো হয়েছে। প্রথমে মনে হয়েছে যেন গুপ্তধন উদ্ধারের গল্প বুঝি। তারপর যখন খুন হলো পুরো গল্পটা যেন ঘুরে গেলো। একদিকে গুপ্তধন উদ্ধারের জন্য ধাঁধা মেলাতে হবে, আরেকদিকে আছে রহস্যময় খুনের তদন্ত।

ইগামি নামের ছেলেটা মূল গোয়েন্দা চরিত্রে অবতীর্ণ হয় গল্পে। সেখানে এলিস যেন ইগামির ওয়াটসন। ওয়াটসনের মত করেই সে নিজের জবানবন্দিতে গল্প বলে গেছে যারা আগাথা ক্রিস্টির পোয়ারো কিংবা কোনান ডয়েলের শার্লকের মত ক্লাসিক বইয়ের গল্পগুলো পড়ে অভ্যস্ত, তারা এই বইয়ের টোনটা সহজেই ধরতে পারবেন।

বইটির মোট চরিত্র সংখ্যা সীমিত। এটা ভালো দিক ধরে নিয়েছি। কারন আমাদের মত বাঙালি পাঠকদের জন্য জাপানি নাম মনে রাখা যে কতটা কঠিন তা আর বলার অপেক্ষা রাখে না। আমার মনে হয়েছে চাইলে চরিত্রগুলোর বৈশিষ্ট্য নিয়ে লেখক আরেকটু গভীরে যেতে পারতো। এতে বিভিন্ন সন্দেভাজনদের নিয়ে গল্পটা আরেকটু বেশী জমে উঠতো।
ইগামি, এলিস মূল চরিত্র ছাড়া হিরাকাওয়া, কাজুতো, জুনজি চরিত্রগুলোর উপস্থাপন ভালো লেগেছে। বিশেষ করে ডাক্তার সোনোবে'কে ভালো না লেগে উপায় নেই।

রহস্য সমাধানের আগে আগে হয়তো অনেকে ধারণা করতে পারবেন খুনী কে। আমি করতে পেরেছিলাম। তবে সেটা শেষের কিছু আগে। হনকাকুর একটা বৈশিষ্ট্য কি জানেন? গল্পটা শুধু পাঠক পড়ে এমন না, পাঠক নিজেও গল্পের অংশ হয়ে যায়। এটা কিন্তু একটা মজার বিষয়। তাই লেখক নিজেই এক জায়গায় এসে পাঠককে প্রশ্ন করেন, "খুনী কে সেটা কি আন্দাজ করতে পেরেছেন?"। এটাই লেখকের হনকাকু লেখার সার্থকতা। তিনি ক্ল্যু দিয়ে গেছেন পাঠকের জন্য, চেয়েছেন পাঠক নিজেই খুনী খুঁজে বের করুক। পাঠককেই গোয়েন্দা চরিত্রে আবির্ভূত করানোর চেষ্টা- এই বিষয়টা সাধারণ গোয়েন্দা গল্পে পাওয়া যায়না।

◾ অনুবাদ:
সাবিকুন্নাহার রিয়ার অনুবাদে আমার পড়া প্রথম বই এটা। অনুবাদ নিয়ে বলতে হলে প্রথমেই বলতে হবে বাক্যের গঠন নিয়ে। ছোট ছোট বাক্যে অনুবাদ করা হয়েছে। কোনো জড়তা নাই। অনুবাদের প্রিভিউ যখন প্রকাশ করা হয় অনেকে বলেছিলো কাঠিন্য আছে বাক্যে। প্রিভিউ প্রকাশের পর আরো তিন ধাপে বইটি সম্পাদনা করা হয়েছে। এরপর বইটি পড়তে আমার কাছে সুখপাঠ্যই লেগেছে।

◾পরিশেষে:
২১১ পেজের বইটি পড়তে আমার একটু বেশী সময় লেগেছে ব্যক্তিগত ব্যস্ততার কারনে। কিন্তু পাঠক যখন বইটি পড়া শুরু করবে, নিশ্চিত ভাবে একটানা পড়ে ফেলার জন্য অস্থির হবে। এই বইয়ের পরতে পরতে যে রহস্য দিয়েছেন লেখক তাতে হাত থেকে বই নামানো সহজ হবেনা।

[Kalpana · Rating 4 out of 5]

3.5 rounded up.

The story overall was intriguing; especially with the build-up of all the characters at the island and the multiple deaths. Several issues with this novel though. Our detective's character was never explained or developed. Even from the POV of others there was almost nothing we get to know about them. The 'locked room' explanation was pretty bs; I'm surprised that LRI picked this book for that reason. The explanation of the deaths were also not super convincing.
Overall a decent Japanese mystery with a weak ending. I liked Alica and Maya's interactions as well as their characters. But the above mentioned weak points only warrant this book a 3.5. ROunding up cuz we need more Japanese mystery (especially shin-honkaku ones) translations.

[Ron Kerrigan · Rating 4 out of 5]

What starts out as a week-long treasure hunting lark on an isolated island for three students who belong to a mystery club at school devolves into a real life murder mystery as guests on the island are killed. A storm prevents rescue and the elder of the students sets out to solve the murders. An enjoyable golden-age-type murder mystery, written (or translated from the Japanese) in a breezy manner. It has all the elements of the classic tale: a locked room, a map of the island, a diagram of the locked room, charts that help solve the treasure hunt, and a list of characters, which is very helpful if you are not familiar with Japanese names.

[Umer Abbas · Rating 4 out of 5]

As Paul Halter was being hailed as the new Carr Alice Arisugawa was being compared to the likes of Queen . I read this to see if the comparisons were justified. I would say a very good contender to the queenian logic and deductive methods although not up to Ellery's standards but a pretty solid attempt. The main deduction was wonderful even though knowing the killer relied on one lucky event . As for the impossibility that was not too surprising and not astounding.