From the Bookshelf of Reading the Detectives…

The Honjin Murders (Detective Kosuke Kindaichi, #1)

Seishi Yokomizo,

Louise Heal Kawai (Translator)

Start date: September 1, 2023

Finish date: September 30, 2023

Discussion: Group Challenges

Why we're reading this: Next in our Scenes of Classic Crime challenge.
[close] Next in our Scenes of Classic Crime challenge.

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Group Challenges

* Sept 25: The Mystery of the Blue Train (1928) by Agatha Christie
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last updated Sep 02, 2025 12:08AM

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What Members Thought

Dec 23, 2019 Nancy Oakes rated it really liked it

Shelves: crime-fiction, translated-crime-fiction, mystery-series-first-novel, 2019, 1940s, crime-fiction-japan, pushkin-vertigo, locked-room-impossible-crime

full post here:
http://www.crimesegments.com/2019/12/...

Pushkin Vertigo has done it again, this time with the classic Japanese mystery, The Honjin Murders, the first book to feature Yokomizo's "scruffy-looking" sleuth Kosuke Kindaichi. Making his debut in 1946, he would go on to solve a further 76 cases over the next thirty-plus years before his creator's death in 1981.

As it turns out, the plot was particularly ingenious and actually downright heinous when all is said and done, offering more tha full post here:
http://www.crimesegments.com/2019/12/...

Pushkin Vertigo has done it again, this time with the classic Japanese mystery, The Honjin Murders, the first book to feature Yokomizo's "scruffy-looking" sleuth Kosuke Kindaichi. Making his debut in 1946, he would go on to solve a further 76 cases over the next thirty-plus years before his creator's death in 1981.

As it turns out, the plot was particularly ingenious and actually downright heinous when all is said and done, offering more than one unexpected twist that kept things lively and kept me guessing. The first time through I was a bit annoyed when the narrator started pointing out various items of "significance" as if telling his readers that these are things to pay attention to, or at least to keep in the back of their our minds for later. And before the mystery is completely explained, he reveals the point in the case in which Kindaichi reaches his "aha" moment, which points the reader to a particular avenue of thought. Again, I found this a bit annoying, but the truth is that this bit of Kindaichi's later insight (without giving the show away, thank goodness) took the armchair detective in me in a direction I would never have considered. I was still wrong, but after the second read I was kicking myself for not having figured it out the first time.

It is important to keep in mind when and where this book was written. While there is not a lot of character development as you read along, there are cultural and social issues and anxieties that rise to the surface that will become important later down the road. There is also much to say about the locked-room/impossible crime genre within the story itself, which provides more than just a deft touch to the mysteries at hand, also reading as a bit of an homage to the genre. My standard practice when reading this sort of thing is to read it twice, the second time to block out the noise of red herrings, etc. and try to get to the point of my own "aha" moment. The story is so nicely plotted that I didn't, even after the second reading when I already knew what had happened.

I hope that The Honjin Murders will gain a following, prompting Pushkin Vertigo to publish more of Yokomizo Seishi's work in the future. Recommended, certainly for fans of the locked-room mystery, but for readers just testing the waters with this sort of thing, you couldn't go wrong by starting here. ...more

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Sep 28, 2020 Jan C rated it really liked it

Shelves: gr-group-read, mystery, 2020

Whoops! It asked me if I wanted to finish my draft. I apparently neglected to start my draft. Or else GR deleted it.

I really enjoyed this book. The detective is a bit of a nut and dresses kind of wacky. But he can pull it off because he solves the locked room crime. I've picked up and started The Inugami Curse. ...more

3 likes · Like · see review

Jul 14, 2022 Bronwyn rated it really liked it · review of another edition

Shelves: mystery-detective-suspense, historical-fiction, novels, ebook, title-a-i, by-men, do-not-own, author-s-z, asian, 2022-reads

I’m not really sure how I feel about this, but the whodunnit was clever and I didn’t figure it out, so four stars.

Eta: there is a particular plot point that’s… gross… I’m a bit more forgiving since this is originally from the 40s and from a culture I’m not familiar with, so maybe it’s a bit more forgivable…

2 likes · Like · see review

Jan 22, 2023 Jenn Estepp rated it liked it

Shelves: sleuths-and-gumshoes, libraries-are-great, lit-wall

It's interesting and well-wrought. But, at the end of the day it's a locked room mystery, and those just aren't my favorite. I did really like Kindaichi, our sleuth, so will try to read some of the others in the series. ...more

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May 19, 2023 Carol Evans rated it really liked it · review of another edition

The Honjin Murders, set in 1937 in a rural Japanese village, is told by an unnamed narrator who is telling what he learned from the people close to the crime. The eldest son of a wealthy family was marrying a beautiful, talented, but lower-class, woman. But on the wedding night, the family heard terrible screams coming from the bedroom of the newlywed couple, the door and the windows were locked, and the couple was found stabbed to death. Detective Kindaichi was summoned by the bride’s uncle, to ...more

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Sep 11, 2023 Teri-K rated it liked it

Shelves: classic, short-story-novella, mystery-golden-age, zz-2023-my-book-club

Written in Japan in 1946, the first of 71 books in the series, this novella is apparently considered a classic there. However, it didn't get translated and published here until 2020, and that caused a bit of a problem for me. The story, set in 1937 rural Japan, is told in the first person, but the translation sounds very modern. I suppose it's really too much to expect someone to be able to translate a book into another language and make it sound like it was written almost 80 years earlier, but ...more

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May 28, 2020 Annarella rated it it was amazing

An excellent locked room mystery that reminded me of a Golden Age story set in Japan.
The plot is well crafted and fascinating, the characters are fleshed out and the mystery is solid.
I found it engrossing and entertaining, recommended.
Many thanks to the publisher and Netgalley for this ARC, all opinions are mine.

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