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.
A boy, the head of the broadcasting club, was stabbed to death by someone in the old gymnasium of Kazugaoka High School. It was right after school, raining heavily, and the scene was a locked room! The police assume that the crime was committed by the head of the women’s table tennis club, the only person who was in the gymnasium after classes ended early. … Yuzuno, a member of the ping-pong club who was at the scene when the body was found, asks Tenma Urasome, who is known as the best genius in the school, to find out the truth for the suspected club leader. He is a no-good anime geek who lives on campus without telling anyone. But why is he living on campus? The “Ellery Queen of the Heisei Era” challenges the readers with a major revision of the book version!
Content warnings if known
Unknown
Why are you nominating this book: So I initially heard about this book after a Chinese webnovel author who’s book I enjoyed recommended it in an interview: “Another honorable mention is 90’s Japanese mystery novelist Aosaki Yugo, in particular three novels from his Urazome Tenma series—The Red Letter Mystery, The Gymnasium Murder, and The Aquarium Murder. Traditional detective stories are in a decline in modern literature, but his works are filled with young vitality and refreshingly unique in their own way.” So take that as you will? Seemed like a pretty simple set-up from the book description, so thought I’d toss it into the ring.
Vampires, artificial humans, phantom thieves, werewolves, cutthroats, and great detectives. In Europe at the end of the 19th century, where deformities were stirring, a pro-humanity vampire was slaughtered by a silver stake. …? To solve the case, Rando Rakuya, a detective who specializes in “monster cases” that people avoid, and Shinchi Tsugaru, a man with a strange birdcage, are called in to solve the case. They draw their deductions from the clues left behind and from the characteristics of the monstrous creature. A nightmarish farce filled with mystery … opens here!
Content warnings if known
Unknown
Why are you nominating this book: Fantasy is probably my favorite genre, so being able to get a fantasy/mystery mix sounds right up my alley. There’s a manga version of this book, which is currently being published in English by Kodansha (link here, Natively link), so you can also check that out if interested.
In case it’s plus for anyone, there is an audiobook for this. It’s also included in the ‘all you can listen’ audible.jp membership. I read a review on a Japanese book blog on this one that mentioned that it is an easy read many times, so that could also be a plus!
Gotemba Gori, a man with curly hair who specializes in investigating “impossible” crimes - locked rooms, suspects all having alibis. Dying messages, strange leftovers - the man in the suit, Hisame Katanashi, specializes in solving “unexplained” cases. They are partners but rivals (?). The detective agency “Knockin’ on Locked Doors” run by these two partners but rivals (or rivals?), receives unusual requests today as well. … A double detective story by a real mystery writer of the new age is about to begin! (Commentary by Matsuko Sugie)
Content warnings if known
Unknown
Why are you nominating this book: The dual-detective setup sounds super interesting! Haven’t read it yet, but there appears to be a free sampler of some kind for the book (on Amazon and Bookwalker, Natively link) that has an intro manga chapter and the first chapter from the nominated book.
Won the 70th Japan Mystery Writers Association Prize in 2017.
Tbh people can vote for it or not. I added a couple of books to Natively for nomination only to realize they were quite long and they were only first volumes!
If people are open to that I have no problem with it! I think it’s also worth calling out that falling behind and posting in the relevant weeks as you get to them is perfectly fine imo
You have no idea how happy I am that we’re getting so many nominations
Ryoichi Kirino of the Kanagawa Prefectural Police Community Safety Cybercrime Unit was searching for information on a woman found dead on a certain PC.
The PC belonged to the perpetrator of the “Tanzawa Yamanaka Serial Murder Case” that shook the world. The murderer offers Kirino a deal.
Meanwhile, a huge amount of virtual currency is leaked.
Minori, Kirino’s lover at a security company, is contacted by a man who looks like a hacker …
Content warnings if known
So the first book contained references to child abuse, sexual assault, some consensual sex scenes, revenge porn, and torture. I have no idea what this book might contain, but be aware it might span quite a few things.
Why are you nominating this book: I enjoyed the first book in this series (although the tech explanations were a bit of a yawn) and found the writing style very approachable and easy. It is likely to have dark themes and also possibly corny. It’s a pulpy book, not a thinker. That said, if you’re like me and enjoy trash, it’s fine garbage.
You do not need to have read the first book to understand the second one. They’re standalone novels based on the same theme.
Can you forgive your father, a murderer? The standard-bearer of police novels depicts the limits of family in this suspense!
Kenjin Asano, who works for a major company, AZ Foods, receives a phone call from a lawyer he doesn’t know: "Your father has been released from prison. When Kenjin was 10 years old, his father was arrested for stabbing his mother and sister to death. Since then, he has lived a life of despair as the "son of a murderer. He has tried his best to forget his father, thinking that he is no longer with us. Kento is concerned about his father’s movements, but at the same time, he receives a threatening e-mail from Takeuchi, the president of AZ Foods, revealing the president’s personal secrets. Trusted by Takeuchi like a son, Kento is entrusted with the role of resolving the situation. …
Content warnings if known
None that I know of
Why are you nominating this book: This author is quite famous and I’ve been meaning to read their work for awhile now. I’m also a sucker for ‘tangled-web’ type stories so this is right up my alley.
Mysterious space, double doors, windowless children’s room: ----
What is the “fact” that I saw when I followed the mystery of the floor plan?
What is the “fact”?
An acquaintance of mine is considering purchasing a second-hand house in Tokyo.
It seemed to be an ordinary house with an open and bright interior, but the floor plan showed a "mysterious space.
However, there was a “mysterious space” in the floor plan.
When he showed the floor plan to an architect he knew, he was surprised to find that the house had “strange spaces” all over the place.
He said that the house had “strange and uncomfortable” spaces here and there.
I showed the floor plan to an architect I knew.
What did he see when he followed the mystery of the floor plan? …
What is the truth behind the puzzling floor plan?
Who is the “former resident” who suddenly disappeared?
Set in Tokyo over the course of one night, Aki and Hiro have decided to be together one last time in their shared flat before parting. Their relationship has broken down after a mountain trek during which their guide died inexplicably. Now each believes the other to be a murderer and is determined to extract a confession before the night is over. Who is the murderer and what really happened on the mountain?
In the battle of wills between them, the chain of events leading up to this night is gradually revealed in a gripping psychological thriller that keeps the reader in suspense to the very end.
Content warnings if known
None that I know of.
I’ve been wanting to read some Riku Onda, and after reading several summaries, I settled on this one. I love the title, and the setting was intriguing. It’s also been freshly translated into English. (I don’t plan to read it in English, but it’s still easier to read summaries and reviews in something other than Japanese…)
Murderous intent swirling in a family, shocking consequences! The quintessential Renjo mystery.
An ordinary family:a husband, a daughter, an ordinary life - that was supposed to be it. However, one hot summer day, someone murders her young niece at home and buries her in the garden. The murder triggers a series of shocking revelations about the breakdown of the family. A motive for the murder exists for everyone in the family. Who is the real murderer?
Content warnings if known
I don’t know of any.
I read a review about it and thought it might be interesting. It starts off with the crime itself, then we hear the story from multiple points of view, each one adding something new to the puzzle. It’s supposed to be easy to read.
At 7pm on 7 July, budding writer Masao Sakai died of cyanide poisoning. There was no suicide note, but the death was treated as a suicide of a dying man. Akiko Nakata, who works for a medical book publisher who had asked Sakai to do some editorial work for her, becomes concerned about the existence of Ritsuko Togano, whom she met by chance in his room, and begins to investigate on her own. Meanwhile, reportage writer Tsukumi Shinsuke is asked by a magazine company to write an article on the death of Sakai, a fellow fanzine writer, and as he investigates, he comes under suspicion that Sakai’s first novel after winning an award, which he finally managed to publish, is a plagiarised short story by a famous author, and pursues the editor Yanagisawa Kunio, who was feuding with Sakai.
The author is absolutely confident in his work. The author plays a superb trick on the reader with absolute confidence. A revised and definitive edition of his memorable debut full-length novel!
Content warnings if known
Not known.
This book was first published in 1973 under the title “新人賞殺人事件”, then it got renamed and republished in 2004. I read a favourable review about it. The part that I found most interesting was that the author apparently involves the reader in the solving of the case. There are supposed to be little details that don’t fit throughout the book, and an attentive reader can try and piece them together to figure it out. It sounded fun to me, especially in a book club setting.
That description is giving me serious House of Leaves vibes.
Okay, added Natively links to all my nominations! @cat do we want to cut off nominations at a certain number? Is there a limit to the number of options on a poll?
I’ve been considering nominating 孤島の鬼 | L37, but I don’t know if I’d be able to read it comfortably at my level or not. :\ Never read any 江戸川乱歩 before.
I was also getting House of Leaves vibes but didn’t know how many people would get the reference if I said it!
I can do two polls if needed. I’m not planning to do any more nominations myself but I am thinking of ways to make it easier for people to view all the nominations at once to make voting easier.
Also I love 江戸川乱歩 but he’s not an easy read, at least his books aimed at adults. 少年探偵団 and such is fine, but I tried reading 黄金仮面 last winter (admittedly a paper copy while trying to keep up with the audiobook ) and the sheer amount of new vocab combined with older writing styles forced me to give up. I recommend trying one of his short stories, ex 人間椅子 | L37 or 幽霊 | L35 to get an idea of what that work is probably like.