Maura (maura853) - , reviewed on 6/2/2021 + 542 more book reviews

Very, very strange, on SO many levels: a very interesting insight into the culture and attitudes of circa-WWII Japan, but as a mystery .... Downright bizarre.

Like Agatha Christie, this is a fascinating time capsule, from a society that was changing out of all recognition even as the author was writing about it, and for that I'm very glad I've read it, and would recommend it. But as a mystery ...

Seishi Yokomizo was clearly a devotee of classic murder mysteries, and peppers the narrative with references to Classic Era books, stories and authors who put him in mind of the events of the Honjin murders. At times it feels (and I think the author meant it to feel) more like an academic treatise on the "locked room" mystery: everything (the murder, the suspects, the secondary characters, and the setting) is held at arm's length, and feels very artificial.

I'm glad I read it. I'd say, as a mystery, it's barely two-stars. But I'm giving it one extra, because of the insights it's given me into a society about to be ripped apart by its own "locked room mystery."

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