See also 宮部 みゆき (Japanese language profile) and 宮部美幸 (Chinese language profile).
Miyuki Miyabe (宮部みゆき Miyabe Miyuki) is a popular contemporary Japanese author active in a number of genres including science fiction, mystery fiction, historical fiction, social commentary, and juvenile fiction. Miyabe started writing novels at the age of 23. She has been a prolific writer, publishing dozens of novels and winning many major literary prizes, including the Yamamoto Shūgorō Prize in 1993 for Kasha and the Naoki Prize in 1998 for Riyū [The Reason] (理由). A Japanese film adaptation of Riyû, directed by Nobuhiko Obayashi, was released in 2004.
As I had already thought while reading the first book, things slow down to a crawl on this second volume. Does this mean that the book is bad? Well, it is too slow and nothing really of interest happens. However, Miyabe is too good a writer to make things boring.
If just things could go faster... Let's hope the pace picks up in the next volume.
The best: the mystery is still compelling
The worst: too much plodding and loitering, making the characters a tiny bit annoying
Alternatives: Start with the first of the series, a more well rounded effort