The Inugami Curse (Detective Kosuke Kindaichi, #2)

by Seishi Yokomizo

“We’re all born without a stitch on our backs” was his constant declaration to those around him. “Until I turned seventeen, I was like a pauper, drifting from place to place,” he would say without hesitation.

Let it be a lesson to us all that even good intentions can lead to great tragedy if not executed with the utmost care.

Kosuke Kindaichi is a private investigator. He has what can be described as an inscrutable air, seeming, as he does, to float above worldly cares and desires.

When a woman is so exquisite, the effect can be frightening, even terrifying.

Even though Kindaichi was not particularly given to botanical appreciation, he could not help but marvel at these magnificent specimens at the height of their glory.

A dark thought overwhelmed Kindaichi. Perhaps Sahei’s will was written with a horrible purpose in mind from the first. Did the old man deliberately write such an extraordinary will to cause discord among Matsuko, Takeko, and Umeko—a blood feud that would continue for years and years to come?

“Oh, yes. The ax refers to the yoki, the small hatchet used to chop firewood; the zither to the koto, the thirteen stringed musical instrument; and the chrysanthemum is the flower kiku. Originally, they were the three sacred treasures of Nasu Shrine. As you can see, when the words are spoken together, yokikotokiku, they are homonymous with ‘we hear good tidings.’

It was dark and overcast, as if a gray veil had descended upon the world, and a cold rain beat mournfully on the waters of the lake.

inner conflicts no less violent than the storm outside were seething in ominous silence.

Sayoko’s attractiveness paled in comparison, just as the stars lose their sparkle before the glow of the moon.

Born into obscurity, perishing into obscurity—had Shizuma’s life been literally just a fleeting dream?

This indeed was the reason Sahei never legally married anyone: to demonstrate his lifelong devotion to Haruyo.

Instead, their stomachs grew as heavy as lead with the all-too dark and gloomy truth. The falling twilight suffused the hushed stillness of the room with an even more bitter chill.