It's a well crafted murder mystery+folklore+supernatural elements+suspense novel, but don't worry, the author didn't . I am not entirely happy with the explanation but it's an enjoyable read anyway. 3.8 stars. Mr. Mitsuda is keeping his quality.
Edited@04/08/2025
I re-read this novel again, the historical details are finely written but the murder mystery is only so-and-so, which is a bit disappointing.
This is the first book I read from this series. I'm impressed by the historical details and studies the author conveyed through the story, and also dearly enjoyed the implications of the ghost. For the main plot, I guessed it the moment they dropped the description of her tattoo. I just wonder how this story was translated into other languages because it's difficult to hint the Kanji of the tattoo which was overwritten to hide the original name.
For the details of each plot, I wasn't fully convinced. However it's fine because the nuance is the theme of this story. (I still don't believe/accept that she killed Hinagumori just to hide her secret. Also it's difficult to believe how everyone at the Yukaku thought they were different women considering it's been only 5 years since she left)
I loved how tiny words or description from each character turned out to be the huge hint later (Orisuke's story of his younger sister, Hinagumori's confusion "why is it same?", the way 2nd Hizakura was dressed differently) I felt something is off when I read it but couldn't find the deeper meaning at the moment. It's cool how they all turned out to be the part of the plots.
Now I'm more excited for other stories from this series.
This entire review has been hidden because of spoilers.