El misterio del Cisne Negro: El gran éxito del misterio japonés honkaku

Inspector Onitsura (English Translation) #1

by Tetsuya Ayukawa

當所有人視「天鵝是白色的」為定理而深信不疑時，只需一隻黑色天鵝的出現，便可反轉整個世界！

對於尋常概念中極不可能發生的事，我們總是視而不見，而犯罪者，往往就是利用這幾個盲點來達成完美犯罪。

東和紡織廠的工會為了爭取勞工權益，策劃了一場罷工行動。在抗爭即將面臨失敗之際，東和紡織廠的社長竟慘遭殺害，並被棄屍於行駛中的列車車頂。可能自凶殺事件中得利的工會成員、被社長掌握住不可告人的把柄的祕書、效命於宗教團體的激進分子……，擁有犯罪動機的嫌疑者為數眾多，卻個個握有牢不可破的不在場證明。經過警方的嚴密調查，終於鎖定了一位行蹤不明的最大嫌疑者，然而，他的屍體卻在數日後被發現……

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

400 pages, Paperback

First published January 1, 1959

About the author

Tetsuya Ayukawa (鮎川 哲也 Ayukawa Tetsuya) was the pen name of a Japanese literary critic and novelist. His real name was Toru Nakagawa. He is noted for his Detective Onitsura Series of mystery stories.

Reviews

[Alwynne · Rating 4 out of 5]

Secrets, lies and red herrings galore in Tetsuya Ayukawa’s award-winning, 1950s murder mystery. Ayukawa’s narrative’s labyrinthine but deeply engaging, laced with unexpected twists and turns. Its plot hinges on trains and railway timetables building on Ayukawa’s background as the child of a railway surveyor and his love for the work of Golden Age crime writer Freeman Wills Crofts. Unsurprisingly aspects of the style and the setting for the central crime – the first in a succession of suspicious deaths – have drawn comparisons with Ayukawa’s contemporary Seichō Matsumoto’s Tokyo Express. But where Matsumoto’s story suggested brooding black-and-white, I imagined this playing out in vintage technicolour, mostly because of Ayukawa’s compelling imagery and meticulous scene-setting - fashion, buildings, immediate surroundings are all richly represented.

Like Matsumoto, Ayukawa combines an intricate, puzzle-style plot with a socially-conscious sensibility; gradually constructing a remarkably vivid portrait of Japan with an emphasis on the lingering aftereffects of post-war deprivation – his approach sometimes reminded me of Sjöwall and Wahlöö writing about Sweden. Ayukawa’s Japan is rife with social inequalities and contradictions: burgeoning consumerism exists alongside worker exploitation and a struggling trade union movement; shamanistic cults take advantage of a pervasive, existential unease; wealthy corporate executives pay lip service to social proprieties but frequent red-light districts in their spare time.

Although it’s billed as the first of a series featuring Inspector Onitsura, he doesn’t turn up until the halfway mark. The actual investigation’s unusually collaborative in nature involving an array of police officers and even amateur, civilian detectives. The first half has a slightly restless, fragmented feel, possibly rooted in its original serialization, but settles down as it progresses. Ayukawa inserts numerous dense, technical elements but these are carefully interwoven with flashes of wry humour, complex characterisations, and moving psychological insights. All of which made this an incredibly satisfying read, Onitsura is a sympathetic, intriguing creation, I’m looking forward to meeting him again. Translated by Bryan Karetnyk.

Thanks to Netgalley and publisher Pushkin Vertigo for an ARC.

[Hannah · Rating 3 out of 5]

The Black Swan Mystery is your classic murder mystery novel, but it unfortunately didn't hit many high notes for me. To start with, the Black Swan has very little to do with the murder, and, with the amount of times this novel refers to trains, would've been better named after one of the poignant stations.

It seems this is the start of an 'Inspector Onitsura' series, yet this character doesn't actually come into play until half way through the book. When it comes to the characters, not one of them stood out to me as particularly entertaining or memorable. It seemed the author wanted Onitsura and Tanna to be a renewed version of Sherlock Holmes and Dr Watson, yet there were very few personable moments between them that built up the idea of a good friendship/partnership. I don't understand why the book started with two different detectives instead of spending time on building the foundation blocks of their partnership.

I found the story hard to follow at times, particularly because of the sheer amount of place names mentioned which felt unnecessary to the storyline. It felt like the characters went all over Japan and giving me the place names in a country I've never been to added absolutely nothing but confusion and boredom to me.

There is also a worrying amount of derogatory remarks made about almost all of the female characters. One detective would either be distracted by a woman's beauty, or, mostly, making negative remarks, such as one character being referred to as ugly because she wasn't wearing make up, and a couple of female maids were referred to as stupid and/or fat, with food joked as being her main priority.

The ending was anti-climatic, not that the book really built up to anything, with the murderer basically telling you everything that happened anyway, so it felt like it was all a waste of time.

Overall, this felt like an average read - nothing truly ground-breaking or exciting, but nothing horrendously bad either. Some people who enjoy all murder mysteries might enjoy this read, but personally, I'll go back to Sherlock Holmes!

I received a free copy of this book from Netgalley in exchange for an honest review.

[Kate O'Shea · Rating 3 out of 5]

The Black Swan Mystery is a murder mystery set in Japan. A body is found on the railway tracks, there's more blood on a bridge over the railway. Did the victim fall or was he pushed? Of course nothing in this mystery is simple. There are lots of red herrings and misdirection. Thankfully there are a few dedicated detectives who leave no stone unturned to find the culprit.

Black Swan Mystery started off well but I found it overlong and quite repetitive. Once the mystery has been solved we have one explanation of how the murder(s) were committed ( yes, there's more than one) and then the culprit repeats the explanation - there is a reason but it seems a little like overkill. And then there's another shorter summing up of the same explanation.

For me, the story was overlong and a little lacklustre. I normally love Japanese murders but this one was a little disappointing.

Thankyou to Netgalley and Pushkin Vertigo for the advance review copy.

[Julian Worker · Rating 5 out of 5]

This is wonderful murder / mystery where the Japanese rail system plays a prominent role.

In Tokyo, a wealthy industrialist is found shot dead by the train tracks. The murder scene is apparently found and the evidence suggests that the murder victim fell from a bridge onto the roof of a train at a specific time.

However, that is what the murderer wants the police to believe. The murderer has set up an alibi for this time. Two more murders indicate a ruthless killer who is prepared to journey a long way to settle a score. The local police inspectors don't get too far with the case, so the police chief calls in Inspector Onitsura and his assistant Tanna to provide impetus to the investigation.

Starting with a car number plate from a photograph torn in half, Onitsura slowly and surely follows a thread that leads to the killer, finding in the process that none of the initial evidence at the crime scene was accurate but had been faked by the killer. He travels as far south as Kyushu in order to track the killer's past.

Around ninety pages from the end, the reader knows who Onitsura believes the killer to be, he just has to prove it. Knowing the railways around Tokyo helps considerably with the deductions.

[yel ᰔ · Rating 4 out of 5]

➺ 3.5/5🌟

A classic Japanese murder mystery. I swear the case itself could have been one of Detective Conan's two to three-parter episodes because I can picture it clearly in my head, but with more complexities and details. This has multiple POVs, not just from the detectives themselves and the people that are considered within the circle of the case, but also some of them are from passersby, who are not entirely connected to the murder itself, but by some coincidences their involvement helped with the progression of the case, albeit slowly. Because of the author's writing choice, it made me feel like I'm watching a movie where the readers can see a lot of different perspective of the situation.

I was actually impressed with the case itself as I really didn't expect the real culprit to be that person. I just thought that the execution is more complex that it should, or maybe because there are a lot of places and train stations that are relevant to the case, you have to spend a great amount of effort to remember all of them as to not get left behind while the case is slowly unraveling.

Overall, it's still a good murder mystery. Not the most unique, but certainly caught me off guard with the reveals.

[Bella Azam · Rating 4 out of 5]

Tetsuya Ayukawa's spin on the classics murder mystery by combining all of the elements that is a surefire to a good mystery - trains, decoys, mysterious murders & poison. When a president of a local mill involved in the tense battle with the labor union strike was found dead on a railway track with a bullet hole in his chest, this sparked the most intricate investigation on the case. Police detectives duo Sudo and Seki embark on a relentless pursuit of the case by interviewing many witness, trying to solve the case. Then another murder occurred, an unexpected problem that led to more confusion. On 2nd part, Detective Onitsura and Tanna started to investigate the case deeper as they travelled across the country from place to place searching for clues revolving the trains, timetables and places but more murder happened so till what end will the killer stop?

A fan of detective novels & murder mystery, Black Swan Mystery delivered a twisted & gripping storyline that captured a lot of both the issues arise in the era of its story around 1950s with the rising protest by union workers against the unfairness & unjust working condition of a factories workers, struggles of job seekers in securing employment, women's plights & desperation that led them to choosing undesirable jobs, the shamanistic cult taking advantage of preying on the weaks while cahooting with the powerful higher ups for money.

The Black Swan Mystery by Tetsuya Ayukawa (trans. Bryan Karetynk) is a crime classic novel revolves around a murder mystery with trains. Its a complex style investigation story, deceptively clever tricks required attention & details. With vast of characters involved,the way the crime solving was done by the detectives were the most enjoyable factor to me. The step by step routine, interrogation, finding clues, visiting scenes of crime, witness statements, piecing the clues one by one in a ruthless pursuit of the culprit as we followed Detective Onitsura as he deduced the suspect's real identity. This is a bit long winded for my taste & the revelation was dull in comparison to the investigation as the twist is less than stellar. Wished its more dramatic & believable. But as a Japanese crime classic especially one that sets in train, this was still fun to read admist the minor flaws in here. It may get boring for some but I do enjoy some good ol mystery. Thank u @definitelybooks for the review copy 🌟

[hans · Rating 4 out of 5]

A classic detective plot with an intricate episode of murder crime set in the 60s. I followed Inspector Onitsura and his assistant, Tanna in their investigative journey to solve a murder case of a textile company’s director who was found dead on a railway track outside the Kuki Station in Saitama Prefecture. As the tension heightened, another related murder strikes and a chaos of emergency occured that Onitsura needs to be quick before another target is set to be killed.

A puzzling case with a rich sense of cultural backdrop that brought me into the city of Tokyo and its provincial during the postwar; an insight of impact that still left which indirectly cause a motive to the killer. Bit twisty with light suspense on the murder part and as much as I could make my guess on the whodunnit, it still enraptured me on the investigation details and those deductions by Onitsura; loved how he hooked me on the trick and flaws of uncovering the alibi— he was so logical and determined to get the howdunnit correctly even the killer can’t do much and gave me that chapter of confession nearly the end.

Quite ingenious on the plan, I enjoyed the thrills and Onitsura chapters through and through— loved the inclusion of those train schedules/route in between and his interaction with Tanna. Appealing characterization for Atsuko; a filler to misdirect with those Haibara’s mess, too bad of what had happened to Narumi and I loved her scenes with Fumie esp towards the end. A distressing revelation on the backstory of the killer’s motive yet appreciate how the author linked the crime to that gaze on societal tensions, of class struggles and ideological movements giving a gripping manipulative revenge plan for the killer.

4/5*

(review copy courtesy Pansing Distribution, thank you!)

[Lanie Brown · Rating 4 out of 5]

When the director of a mid-range textile firm in Tokyo is found dead the question that Inspector Onitsura must answer isn't who had the motive to kill the director but who didn't. Almost as soon as his death is announced multiple suspects jump out and the team investigating the case hits a dead and not just because their victim seems to be a womanizing jerk, but because more bodies connected to the case keep popping up. The Chief finally has Onitsura take a second look at things after their lead suspect is found dead and he almost immediately finds the murderer, he just has to crack their airtight albi first.

Another fantastic overly complicated murder that has all kinds of misdirection (especially all of the language directed towards women) that leads to less of a who done it and more of a how the hell do we prove it ending.

I really enjoyed Onitsura and I think he may be a new favorite. He's much more gosh just normal than some of the other detectives in books from this time frame. He doesn't drink, he doesn't smoke, and he examines things from all angles. He is just a really great character all around. I also like that at least in this one he's the "fresh eyes" guy and he's not a jerk about it. The two detectives that were originally assigned the case overlook some things that had mean saying "OMFG are you kidding me!?" and while Onitsura eludes to this being laziness on the other detectives' parts he says something once and moves on. It allowed for harmony among the police instead of in-fighting drama which was great.

The murders themselves were needlessly complicated in the best possible ways. The murderer clearly believes they are the smartest person in the room and that is, as usual, their undoing. I also feel like there's a bit of panic to their "planning" as well though and while the murderer seems to think that all of this extra is sound, logical planning when at the end they give their confession it doesn't sound like that at all. It sounds like they came up with all of these plans at the very last minute on no sleep and way too much caffeine. I loved it!

I also really enjoyed how you really have to pay attention to everything in this. All of the clues are right there making this extremely easy to figure out but it's not easy to parse what's important and what's not. But there are several themes, things that are mentioned in passing over and over again that become some of the biggest clues to the killer's identity.

Highly recommend it, this is a fantastic read that is more police procedural than anything but the first half of it is definitely a mystery as they try to figure out who the killer is. The second half is how they did it and it was a really fun puzzle that made you think. You're invested by this point and trying to nail the bad guy is just as much a point of pride for you the reader as it is for Onitsura I think!

As always thanks to NetGalley and Pushkin Press for the eArc!

[4cats · Rating 3 out of 5]

Once again train times feature largely in a Japanese crime read. If you love mysteries which pile up the puzzles for the reader which in turn creates a complex mystery novel then you will love The Black Swan Mystery. The plotting is central to this however the intricate plotting means that it can be a bit of a clunky read slowing down the pace of the novel. A must for fans of Japanese crime fiction.

[Paromita · Rating 3 out of 5]

Written in an extremely roundabout, uninteresting way. The writing and characters felt dull and the resolution was okay but unmemorable.

[Saoirse · Rating 5 out of 5]

My mind is reeling from the revealation. Top notch Japanese thriller.

[Izi Freitas · Rating 3 out of 5]

3.5

[Nailya · Rating 4 out of 5]

The Black Swan Mystery is a Japanese murder mystery reminiscent of Inspector Imanishi investigates and Tokyo Express. Written and set in 1950s Tokyo, The Black Swan Mystery offers a murder mystery puzzle rooted in trains and a bit of social commentary about the state of post-war Japan.

As a big Agatha Christie fan, I expect my Golden Age murder mysteries to offer a set of suspects with various motives, combined with a puzzle of how the murder was accomplished. The how is then matched to the who to work out that the butler did do it in the end. That kind of structure is based on the expectation that a story should be character-driven, quite a Western concept. The Black Swan Mystery offers a set of unconvincing suspects, but it is much more interested in the how, not the who. Once the local police advances the investigation and encounters a stumbling block, Inspector Onitsura and his assistant Tanna are here to help (no private detective business here, just less and more experienced cops). Then we follow a methodical description of Onitsura's investigation, where the 'who' is determined pretty early, but the narrative focuses on the nuts and bolts of the investigation. It is not just the 'how' of how the murder was committed, but the 'how' of how Onitsura worked it out, that is at the heart of this novel. And the 'how' of Onitsura's work is not leisurely logical puzzlement over a cup of an eccentric beverage, it is the blood, sweat and tears of often unsuccessful legwork of establishing the most mundane details. The solution to the mystery itself is heavily rooted in train timetables (seriously, there are pages and pages of them in the book), so the novel would appeal to those who would put 'attention to detail' on their CVs.

I enjoyed this more down to earth take on a murder mystery, and although I did not even try to work out the train details, I had a great time going on a journey with Inspector Onitsura, learning about the details of 1950s Japanese life and changing social attitudes. The opening scene sets it up quite well, when we meet two women, one dressed in traditional Japanese clothing and the other - in Western ones. Ayukawa is critical of the profit-driven culture of the upper echelons of industrial society the novel is set in, and the narrative touches upon trade unionism, sex work and Japanese class inequalities and regionalism. The culprit offers some sort of a 'sympathy for the Devil' dilemma, and, of course, the aftershocks of the war permeate the fabric of the narrative. Ayukawa describes a society in which centuries-old confidence in the social order and the ruling class has been shattered, and explores the alternatives offered by the postwar years, from trade unions to women's rights.

Overall, would definitely recommend this book to fans of very technical murder mystery puzzles and anyone interested in Japanese society of the 1950s. Looking forward to hearing more about Inspector Onitsura's cases from Pushkin Press.

Thank you, NetGalley, and the publisher, for the review copy.

[Carolyn · Rating 3 out of 5]

3.5 ale tak szczerze to o chuj chodzi japońskim pisarzom kryminałów z tymi pociągami 😭

[Jon Otegi · Rating 3 out of 5]

se sentia un poco sisifo

[Jeroen in UK · Rating 5 out of 5]

Very clever book. Many unexpected turns. A joy to read..

[Norshafarina Faharuddin · Rating 4 out of 5]

The Black Swan Mystery by Tetsuya Ayukawa is a classic Japanese whodunit and howdunit, set in 1960s Japan.

When Gosuke Nishinohata, director of Towa Textiles, is found dead near the railway tracks, suspicion immediately falls on those who had reason to hate him. Nishinohata was unpopular, embroiled in disputes with workers demanding fair treatment, and entangled in rivalries that made him many enemies.

Chief Inspector Onitsura takes on the case, but the puzzle isn’t straightforward. Union members, company rivals, and even a rising religious sect all fall under suspicion. Yet the most obvious suspects seem to have airtight alibis.

The key of the storyline includes:

🚉 Railway setting: Train timetables and travel routes become crucial clues.

🕰️ Timeline: The detective carefully reconstructs movements to expose contradictions.

🔍 The deduction: How the crime was engineered and the solution shows how the killer manipulated appearances.

🎭 Ingenious reveal: How Inspector Onitsura turning small overlooked details into the key to truth.

I love how Inspector Onitsura dismantle false alibis and reveal the hidden trick behind the crime. From my POV, the author proves that even the most solid alibis can crumble under sharp deduction, making this mystery both clever and satisfying.

Definitely 4-star reading for me!

[Akiho · Rating 2 out of 5]

It’s an okay procedural murder mystery, but it never quite captured my interest.

Nishinohata, the greedy director of a company whose employees are currently striking for better work conditions, is murdered, and because of his unsavory reputation, there’s a lot of suspects. But once the investigator, Onitsura, finds the person with a compelling motive, he has to figure out how they created their airtight alibi.

I feel like the appeal here is the numerous train timetables that readers can use to figure out the alibi, so it really is like a technical puzzle. Now the timetables on my eARC were formatted badly so I couldn’t take part (plus other issues, like ff, fi, fl all missing for some reason), so that did take away from my reading experience but that’s probably just a me issue. But other than that, I feel like the mystery turned out to be pretty complicated in a way that made it pretty hard for the reader to figure out anything on their own, and it also seemed to try to focus on the boring parts of police work where they walk and talk to people for hours with very little return. It probably wasn’t the type of mystery that I’m a fan of.

The main protagonist seemed to be a detective who didn’t show up until halfway so there wasn’t time to really feel compelled by them. And I’m kinda used to how female characters might be written by old Japanese men, but even then the way some of them were written here was pretty sexist. Of course some of the men were gross too, but it felt like the women were only allowed so many brain cells. Idk, things happened to characters but it felt so hand-waved away or never discussed again that it made me wonder what the point was, so none of the characters interested me.

I guess if you like old Japanese detective stories you might try it out, but I feel like there must be better ones.

Thanks to Netgalley and the publisher for the eARC.

[DaNae · Rating 3 out of 5]

A dead body that seems to keep moving and plenty of suspects, and then more and more dead bodies begin stacking up.

First published in Japan in 1957, and newly published in English. This was a decent mystery but I did feel off balance by much of it. Naturally the proper nouns were difficult to keep track of with my Western ear, but keeping the ebook close at hand as I listened to the audio, helped. I do feel I’m not aware of many social conventions of post war Japan. I did feel grounded in the desires of the characters and the plot points. I found it odd that the author continually commented on the shade of complexions of almost every character. Was that a delineating distinction in Japan as a whole or just a narrow focus of the author? My discomfort is more of a 21st century sensibility rather than a cultural one. The other thing I found odd was that the Series titular detective did not show up until 50% point of the book. Indeed there were many police at work on the case throughout the book and it wasn’t clear who the star was. Maybe this originally was not meant to begin a series? Detective Onitsura seems to have a bit of Poriot about him. I do think I will give another book in this series a go if it is brought to us in English.

[Pirate · Rating 5 out of 5]

This is a cracking tale, and another example of terrific Japanese thriller writing. Not only will you be enriched by learning a lot about Japanese train timetables of around 1960 but to be fair also enriched by an excellent whodunnit with strong characters, both male and female, and a lovely evocative ambience of Japan at that time. The detectives are a striking contrast, two pairs of them (one senior with one junior), one Sudu is a bon vivant whilst the other senior investigator Onitsura is a non-drinking, non-smoking intense chap. Nevertheless both are effective in their own way. What also is refreshing is the hugely different culture between the European detective stories and the Japanese: '"Here you are," she said handing him a cup. Onitsura bowed his head slightly. This was only natural, since it was high-quality tea, but both the cup and water were lukewarm. It would have been one thing if they were scalding, but to drink something so tepid felt as though you were being infected with some strange illness, and so it proved to be a rather unwelcome favour.'
Also largely unusual there is a sympathetic view of the perpetrator, whose victim is a thoroughly nasty piece of work.

[Angel 一匹狼 · Rating 3 out of 5]

Another classic Japanese mystery, another book about timetables and trains, and trains... and trains. The mystery is not bad but I found the resolution quite lacking, one of those, 'oh, look at this, something we didn't pay attention to before is the clue to the mystery', but, in contrast to another book by the same author I read some years ago, here the characters are more interesting, and developed in a way that makes the mystery engaging and an easy read. It might not be the best mystery out there, but if you like books set in Japan (50s) and, yes, trains, you will probably enjoy this. Oh, and the title is just so random...

The best: to read with a tea/coffee...

The worst: the resolution / that the ebook I read had editing errors (ff, fi, fl... combinations weren't shown making for an irritating read, at least till you get used to it)

6.5/10

(English translation by Bryan Karetnyk)

*Thank you to the publisher and Netgalley for the copy*

[Amy ☁️ (tinycl0ud) · Rating 2 out of 5]

Contrary to what the title suggests, there are no swans. It’s the name of an establishment, but at the same time it’s not exactly significant in relation to the crimes. The central mystery has a lot to do with trains and train schedules but maybe the author felt that train-related murder mysteries were overdone so he opted for a different name.

I’m quite used to murder mysteries with a recurring cast, notably the detective, and there is one here—Inspector Onitsura—but he makes an appearance only at exactly at the 50% mark. Maybe the characterisation was strengthened in a previous story in the series but here, there is very little said about what kind of detective he is (what are his quirks? is he a genius?) and what his methods are. He just shows up and gets to solving the mystery, which mostly involves checking out a suspect’s alibi. I had hoped for something more compelling but alas, the murderer was revealed quite early on and then the hunt for the backstory also went predictably with little to no dramatic build-up.

[BookswithLydscl | · Rating 3 out of 5]

The Black Swan Mystery the first translated edition of the Inspector Onitsura stories. It's a locked room mystery set in the 1960s Japan and has a varied cast of characters including, of course, the intrepid Detective charged with unravelling the mystery. Despite all of these elements (that I typically love), this one didn't really click for me. I think the intricacy of the plotting and the need to introduce multiple key characters meant that the pace was generally slow and I found it a clunky read.

Despite those issues this is very Agatha Christie alike and ultimately I didn't guess the culprit or they why which is why I set it as a solid 3 star mystery and I'm sure it will hit the spot for other mystery fans, especially those who enjoy Japanese mysteries.

Thank you to Netgalley and Pushkin Press | Pushkin Vertigo for this digital review copy of "The Black Swan Mystery" in exchange for my honest and voluntary review.

[Maria · Rating 3 out of 5]

The Black Swan Mystery is described as a classic, locked-room mystery, and having just finished reading it, I must agree.
Our story in set in 1960s Japan, and commences in a perfectly ordinary day, as all the best mysteries do.
There are a variety if interconnected characters and at first, I did struggle to keep the list of individuals accurate, but once I settled into the storyline, this was not longer an issue.
This is a complex and twisty tale that is well worth reading.

[Faith · Rating 4 out of 5]

This is a Japanese police procedural with multiple victims and suspects. It was first published in 1959. The plot is extremely convoluted, and there is some clever detective work. Fortunately, at the end of the book the murderer conveniently explains everything. The book mostly held my interest, although there was a little too much discussion about train schedules. 3.5 stars

I received a free copy of this book from the publisher.

[David C Ward · Rating 3 out of 5]

Not really to my taste in mysteries (but might be to yours): an overly intricate “time table” murder case involving a body that falls on a train. The aspects of early 60s Japan were interesting. I suspect the author could have been funnier/more satirical if not for the conventions of the time.

[Adelyne · Rating 4 out of 5]

4 stars.

This was fun! I love Japanese classic crime and always pick it up if I spot a new one, which is what happened with this one. Was slightly confused as my edition says first published in 2013, and indeed the style isn't typical of the Golden Age of Crime-era Japanese crime fiction, but twisty and enjoyable all the same. The dark deception involved in the body switch to create a false alibi was a clever one, and although it is a trick I have seen before in books, I thought this one was worked into the story really well as it is revealed relatively early, giving a much longer time for the resulting cat-and-mouse between police and culprit .

[Pamela Usai · Rating 3 out of 5]

3.5 stars.

[MaryJane Kibbee]

Too complicated to keep track of all the Japanese names of characters and places and of course the plot.

[Mark · Rating 3 out of 5]

I don't know Japanese, so have no idea whether the somewhat stilted language of this translation accurately reflects the original. That stilted language is a minus point of this mystery, as is the rather leisurely pace.

Plus points are a clever plot that is well resolved, and characters who are interesting, plausible, and likeable.