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.
I noticed the pattern too, but I assure you, it was completely unintentional!
Looking forward to your nominations!
Book: 赤ずきん、旅の途中で死体と出会う。 | L31
Is there an ebook available?: yes
日本の昔話をミステリで読み解き好評を博した『むかしむかしあるところに、死体がありました。』に続き、西洋童話をベースにした連作短編ミステリが誕生しました。今作の主人公は赤ずきん! ――クッキーとワインを持って旅に出た赤ずきんがその途中で事件に遭遇。「シンデレラ」「ヘンゼルとグレーテル」「眠り姫」「マッチ売りの少女」を下敷きに、小道具を使ったトリック満載! こんなミステリがあったのか、と興奮すること間違いなし。全編を通して『大きな謎』も隠されていて、わくわく・ドキドキが止まりません!
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!
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
Book: 大鞠家殺人事件 | L30??
Is there an ebook available?: yes
斬りつけられた血まみれの美女、
夜ごと舞いおどる赤頭の小鬼、
酒で溺死させられた死体―
怪異、謎解き、驚愕、これぞ本格推理。
大空襲前夜の商都・船場を舞台に描き、
正統派本格推理の歴史に
新たな頁を加える傑作長編ミステリ
〝物語作家″芦辺拓はここまで凄かった!
大阪の商人文化の中心地として栄華を極めた船場――戦下の昭和18年、婦人化粧品販売で富を築いた大鞠家の長男に嫁ぐことになった陸軍軍人の娘、中久世美禰子。だが夫は軍医として出征することになり、一癖も二癖もある大鞠家の人々のなかに彼女は単身残される。戦局が悪化の一途をたどる中、大鞠家ではある晩“流血の大惨事”が発生する。危機的状況の中、誰が、なぜ、どうやってこのような奇怪な殺人を? 正統派本格推理の歴史に新たな頁を加える傑作長編ミステリ!
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!
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.
Book: テスカトリポカ | L35
Is there an ebook available?: yes
鬼才・佐藤究が放つ、クライムノベルの新究極、世界文学の新次元!
メキシコのカルテルに君臨した麻薬密売人のバルミロ・カサソラは、対立組織との抗争の果てにメキシコから逃走し、潜伏先のジャカルタで日本人の臓器ブローカーと出会った。二人は新たな臓器ビジネスを実現させるため日本へと向かう。川崎に生まれ育った天涯孤独の少年・土方コシモはバルミロと出会い、その才能を見出され、知らぬ間に彼らの犯罪に巻きこまれていく――。海を越えて交錯する運命の背後に、滅亡した王国〈アステカ〉の恐るべき神の影がちらつく。人間は暴力から逃れられるのか。心臓密売人の恐怖がやってくる。誰も見たことのない、圧倒的な悪夢と祝祭が、幕を開ける。
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.
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!
Oh that’s “only” level 30?
I’ve been putting off some of the classics like that.
変な家 is another shorter possibility. Not sure it’s really level 30 (maybe 28?), I read that many books back and didn’t have many problems.
So many choices here to add to my list 
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.
Book: 体育館の殺人 | L30
Is there an ebook available?: yes
Is there an audiobook available?: yes
風ヶ丘高校の旧体育館で、放送部部長の少年が何者かに刺殺された。放課直後で激しい雨が降り、現場は密室状態だった！？ 早めに授業が終わり現場体育館にいた唯一の人物、女子卓球部の部長の犯行だと、警察は決めてかかるが……。死体発見現場にいあわせた卓球部員・柚乃は、嫌疑をかけられた部長のために、学内随一の天才と呼ばれている裏染天馬に真相の解明を頼んだ。内緒で校内に暮らしているという、アニメオタクの駄目人間に――。しかしなぜ彼は校内に住んでいるのだろう？ “平成のエラリー・クイーン”が単行本版より大幅改稿で読者に挑戦！
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!
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.
Also won the 22nd Tetsuya Ayukawa Prize in 2012.
Book: https://learnnatively.com/book/9ce4863e44/
Is there an ebook available?: yes
吸血鬼に人造人間、怪盗・人狼・切り裂き魔、そして名探偵。異形が蠢く十九世紀末のヨーロッパで、人類親和派の吸血鬼が、銀の杭に貫かれ惨殺された……!? 解決のために呼ばれたのは、人が忌避する“怪物事件”専門の探偵・輪堂鴉夜と、奇妙な鳥籠を持つ男・真打津軽。彼らは残された手がかりや怪物故の特性から、推理を導き出す。謎に満ちた悪夢のような笑劇（ファルス）……ここに開幕！
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!
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!
Book: ノッキンオン・ロックドドア | L32
Is there an ebook available?: yes
密室、容疑者全員アリバイ持ち──「不可能」犯罪を専門に捜査する巻き毛の男、御殿場倒理。ダイイングメッセージ、奇妙な遺留品──「不可解」な事件の解明を得意とするスーツの男、片無氷雨(ひさめ)。相棒だけどライバル（？）なふたりが経営する探偵事務所「ノッキンオン・ロックドドア」には、今日も珍妙な依頼が舞い込む……。新時代の本格ミステリ作家が贈るダブル探偵物語、開幕！（解説：杉江松恋）
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)
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.
Side note: ノッキンオン・ロックドドア and it’s sequel seem to be half-off at the time of writing on Amazon right now. Checked Bookwalker, but no luck. 
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 
I take this to mean that it’s okay to go crazy with nominations?
Go wild. Many will enter, only one will be read.
This first round anyways! 
Oh I meant as classic of the genre. It’s always recommended.
Final nominations from me, promise!
Book: スマホを落としただけなのに 囚われの殺人鬼 | L29
Is there an ebook available?: yes, and an audiobook as well!
神奈川県警生活安全サイバー犯罪対策課の桐野良一は、あるPCの中から、死体で見つかった女の情報を探っていた。
そのPCは、世間を震撼させた「丹沢山中連続殺人事件」の犯人のものだった。犯人は、桐野にある取引を持ちかける――。
いっぽう、巨額の仮想通貨流出事件が発生。
セキュリティ会社で桐野の恋人・美乃里のもとに、ハッカーらしき男からコンタクトがあり……。
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 …
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.
Book: 砂の家 | L30??
Is there an ebook available?: yes
殺人犯の父を、許せるか?警察小説の旗手が、家族の限界を描くサスペンス!
大手企業「AZフーズ」で働く浅野健人に、知らない弁護士から電話が。「お父さんが出所しました」健人が10歳のとき、父親が母と妹を刺し殺して逮捕された。以来「殺人犯の子」として絶望的な日々を過ごしてきたのだ。もういないものと、必死で忘れてきたのに。父の動向を気にする健人だが、同じ頃AZフーズ社長・竹内に、社長個人の秘密を暴露する脅迫メールが届く。竹内から息子のように信頼される健人は解決役を任されるが……。
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. …
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.
