“Revenge has been stolen. Is this a lie?” Suzuki, a former teacher, witnesses the moment a man who killed his wife is hit by a car. It seems to be the work of an assassin called “Oshiya”. Suzuki follows him to find out who he really is.
Meanwhile, “Whale”, an assassin who specializes in suicide, and “Cicada”, a genius with a knife, also begin to pursue “Oshiya”. Each of them has its own agenda.
When the thoughts of Suzuki, Whale, and Cicada intersect, the story begins to roar.
Content warnings if known
Nothing
Why are you nominating this book: It’s the first book of the 殺し屋 series and seems to be quite popular in the mystery genre. Only ~300 pages and based on what I read from the first few pages, the writing is quite straightforward so hopefully even a “beginner” can follow along just fine.
Ooh! Natively’s first bookclub! I’m definitely interested in participating as well! Gotta look through my own wishlist and see what would fit here.
How should manga be handled? Wanikani typically only does one volume, but if the reading level of those here skews higher, we could get away with reading more.
I actually have no idea how to handle manga in a book club because it tends to be several volumes and more expensive so I left it off I can read a single manga volume in an afternoon but they’re pricey!
I’m very interested in this book club! Thanks for organizing, @cat!
I went through my list to see which books I might nominate, but it’s so easy to get lost in this sea of options… I might selfishly nominate 木洩れ日に泳ぐ魚 by Riku Onda (not on Natively yet), which was recently translated as “Fish Swimming in Dappled Sunlight”, just because I was going to read it anyway, but book clubs are all about discovering new things, right?
I remember two books I had read in translation many years ago and loved them at the time. One was Out by Natsuo Kirino (OUT 上 | L35), the other was In the Miso Soup (イン ザ・ミソスープ) by Ryu Murakami. Sadly, none of these seem to be out in ebook form, or I’d very gladly reread them in Japanese.
I found two other Natsuo Kirino books that might be worth checking out. 柔らかな頬 上 | L30??, which was awarded the Naoki Prize, and 顔に降りかかる雨, which was awarded the Edogawa Rampo prize. Not sure about her writing style in Japanese, I’ll have to check a sample first. But 柔らかな頬 consists of two volumes, the first of which is 359 pages, and 顔に降りかかる雨, is 496 long, so both probably a little too long for a book club?
Anyway, I’ll keep looking, and I’m looking forward to more of everyone’s nominations. I hope we get a lot until the voting date!
Ahhh yes! You have such good taste in mystery novels! I’m excited!
I submitted a handful yesterday to be added to the site so I could nominate them, and need to check my paperback 積読 pile to see if any have ebook versions as well.
I’ve been wanting to read Natuso Kirino for awhile now too.
I’m not sure about page limit, but perhaps 400 for now? Once things inch past that I do worry it would intimidate people, but I’m happy to hear opinions!
The body of a kindergartener was found in Aide, Tokyo. The victim had been sexually assaulted after her death. When housewife Honami sees the news of the incident, she fears that her precious only daughter may also be targeted. The police continue their investigation, but the perpetrator is never caught. What action does the mother take to protect her daughter? An astonishing full-length suspense mystery.
Translated with DeepL Translate: The world's most accurate translator (free version)
Content warnings if known
Judging from the summary, sexual assault and murder of young children.
I didn’t know anything about this book until a few hours ago, and normally the religious title and cover would put me off, but I read various reviews that all talked about such a mindblowing twist that they had to question their understanding of what they had read till then, so that sounded intriguing. And I’m always up for discovering new authors.
Constituting the north of the Japanese archipelago, Hokkaido is an inhospitable region of harsh mountains and gray sea. At eighteen, Kasumi got on a bus and fled the family home to try her luck in Tokyo, never to see her parents again. After fifteen years of absence, she returns for a few days to her native region, at the invitation of a couple of friends, the Ishiyamas, accompanied by her husband and her two daughters. But one fine morning, five-year-old Yuka disappears without a trace. All searches will be in vain. Did the little girl run away, like her mother years earlier? Was she the victim of an accident or a heinous crime? But which of the relatives or neighbors could have committed such an act? Kasumi is racked with guilt because this stay was actually just a pretext to see Yohei Ishiyama, the couple’s friend, who is also her lover. Then begins for Kasumi a slow drift, a desperate investigation in search of her missing daughter, during which she will receive the unexpected help of Utsumi, a former police inspector suffering from stomach cancer. These two characters, as if torn from life by their respective tragedy, will sink like ghosts into the foggy mornings of Hokkaido…
from Amazon.fr
Content warnings if known
Not known, but Kirino does tend to get dark and doesn’t shy away from gore or violence.
I was blown away when I read Out in translation, many years ago. I’ve read other books by Kirino since, always in translation, and they were good, but Out continued to stand out. This book has won the prestigious Naoki prize, and some reviewers group it with Out among her best books. I’m very interested to finally read this author in her native language. However, note that the book comes in two volumes. Volume 1 is a manageable 358 pages, but then there’s a whole other volume after it…
Ayatsuji reinvigorates the classical English mysteries of Agatha Christie, Dorothy Sayers, Ellery Queen, and John Dickson Carr by stripping them down to their essentials and examining their moving parts. In this novel, six members of the Kyoto University Mystery Club—each taking the alias of a famous mystery writer—assemble on an abandoned island and take up residence in a decagonally shaped house. Naturally, soon enough the students begin to be killed off, and the race is on to discover the murderer’s identity. Meanwhile, back on the mainland, two members of the club who chose not to go receive mysterious letters that lead them to believe that something is afoot on the island. Along with an enthusiastic partner, they set about trying to solve another mystery from years past, which has connections to the island. Ayatsuji leaves no doubts about his intentions, making copious references to Christie’s And Then There Were None, and even the characters are well aware that they have stumbled into a work of their favorite type of fiction. The metafictional trappings are good fun, but they wouldn’t mean much if the mystery itself wasn’t equally fun and tricky. And it is.
Content warnings if known
None that I know of.
This book keeps coming up whenever I search for Japanese mystery recommendations. It’s very much an Agatha Christie-style mystery. Not my style generally, but it might be fun to read something less gritty for a change.
Sorry if this was too many nominations from the same person . If so, feel free to ignore. It’s just that I got too excited about the club and starting looking for possible books to nominate, which led to an endless rabbit hole that I’m still not out of… I’m stopping with the nominations now though! (At least until the Riku Onda book gets added to Natively…maybe).
The rest was translated so nicely it took me by surprise, haha.
This book looks awesome! I definitely appreciate the less-gritty suggestions; there’s only so many “and after her beloved children were gruesomely killed our single mother with a terrible family situation and drug problem goes to investigate” summaries I can read before they all start to look very samey from the outside.
I’ve got one or two books in mind I’m going to nominate; gonna see if I can get those up tomorrow.
Following the popular “Once upon a time, there was a dead body”, a mystery based on a Japanese folktale, a series of short mysteries based on Western fairy tales has been created. This time, the main character is Red Riding Hood! --The Red Riding Hood sets out on a journey with cookies and wine, but along the way she encounters an incident. Based on “Cinderella,” “Hansel and Gretel,” “Sleeping Beauty,” and “The Match-Seller,” the story is full of tricks using props! You will surely be excited to know that such a mystery exists. There are also “big mysteries” hidden throughout the book, which will keep you excited and thrilled!
Content warnings if known
None I’m aware of.
Why are you nominating this book: I saw it in some video book review and it looked like a lot a fun. A good option for people wanting a non-gritty book I imagine.
Edit: It will have a movie version in 2023
A slashed and bloodied beauty, a red-headed imp who dances in the night, a corpse drowned by alcohol.
A mystery, a riddle, and a shock: this is a true mystery.
Set in the mercantile city of Semba on the eve of a major air raid, this is an authentic historical mystery.
A masterpiece that adds a new page to the history of authentic mystery
a new page in the history of authentic mystery.
Taku Ashibe, the “story writer,” has come this far!
In Semba, the center of Osaka’s merchant culture, the year of the war, 1943, Mineko Nakakuze, the daughter of an army soldier, marries the eldest son of the Omari family, which has made a fortune through the sale of women’s cosmetics. However, her husband goes off to war as a military doctor, and she is left alone among the Omari family members, who have their own peculiarities. As the war situation continues to worsen, a “bloody catastrophe” occurs one night in the Ohmari household. Who, why, and how could such a bizarre murder be committed under such critical circumstances? This is a masterpiece of a full-length mystery that adds a new page to the history of authentic mystery!
Content warnings if known
None that I know of
Why are you nominating this book: Yet another book I read a review of and thought it sounded good. Set during WWII but not actually about the war. Never read this author but based on the cover art of many of their books I dig their style.
A new ultimate of crime novels and a new dimension of world literature by the genius Kyu Sato!
Balmiro Casasola, a drug trafficker who reigned over a Mexican cartel, fled Mexico after a war with a rival organization and met a Japanese organ broker in Jakarta, where he was hiding out. The two travel to Japan in order to realize a new organ business. Koshimo Hijikata, a boy born and raised in Kawasaki and a stranger on his own, meets Valmiro, discovers his talent, and unwittingly becomes involved in their crimes. Behind the intersecting fates across the sea, the shadow of a fearsome god from the ruined kingdom of the Aztecs flickers in the background. Can human beings escape violence? The horror of a heart trafficker is coming. An overwhelming nightmare and festival, the likes of which no one has ever seen, unfolds.
Content warnings if known
There is a non-zero chance that this book is gorey
Why are you nominating this book: Saw it in a book review, haha. Kind of a break from the normal “whodunnit” type mystery. A bit unsure what genre this book even really is, but it won the Naoki prize and I’ve seen it in mystery book lists so figured I’d add it incase others were interested too!
I wouldn’t consider 1987 a classic. Language really shouldn’t have changed all that much since then.
But I only now noticed it’s rather huge at 512 pages. Sorry I missed it before… @Cat, feel free to remove any of my nominations that may be unsuitable…
Ooh, I remember reading something about that and finding it interesting! Will you nominate it?
While I love a mystery, was trying to resist joining this as I’m already reading far too many different things. That said, this book has been on my ‘want to read’ list for ages so if it ends up getting selected I feel like my limited self control will crumble and I’ll have to join in! (
I guess it depends what kind of difficulty level and speed you’d be wanting for this group. The advanced WK book club have read mystery novels like すべてがfになる (524 pages) before - but at a pace of 50+ pages a week which could be a lot depending on reading experience. That said, I feel like most mysteries are paced in a way that reading at a slow pace could be somewhat difficult…
Don’t tell anyone, but I’m almost kind of hoping that a book I’m not interested in gets picked so I’m safe for the time being. @.@ Stop recommending interesting-looking books, guys!
Speaking of which, all three of my suggestions are by the same author. I haven’t read any of their work, but the more I looked at their stuff the less I was able to decide. Let me know if I should limit them or anything like that.
Edit: can’t post more than three times in a row, so I’ll post my final suggestion after someone reples.
I can read a single manga volume in an afternoon but they’re pricey! 
I noticed the pattern too, but I assure you, it was completely unintentional!
Language really shouldn’t have changed all that much since then.
Sorry I missed it before… 