Death on Gokumon Island (Pushkin Vertigo) (Detective Kindaichi Mysteries): Seishi Yokomizo

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You expect a certain amount of clashing cultural mores when you read a book that was written over fifty years before, but when I read Agatha Christie, for instance, it's usually just small stuff you can roll your eyes at and be like, ugh you dumb people in the past, but here (and in most of the books in this series so far) the sexism gets in the way of good storytelling. Mình chưa đọc “Rìu, Đàn, Cúc”, mặc dù đây hình như là tác phẩm được nhiều người nhắc đến nhất của Seishi thì phải, vì mình nghe nói nhân vật thám tử Kindaichi nổi tiếng của ông không có nhiều đất phô diễn tài năng lắm trong cuốn sách đó. While the crime narrative itself is suitably complex and convoluted so the book did keep my interest, I found myself more casually reading rather than being absolutely gripped by the tale. Kosuke’s character gives the mystery a soft edge, filtering the events through a man who is mourning the death of Chimata (and countless others during the war) and who feels culpable for allowing his sisters to die, despite Chimata’s forewarning. Kosuke Kindaichi arrives on the remote Gokumon Island bearing tragic news—the son of one of the island’s most important families has died, on a troop transport ship bringing him back home after the Second World War.

After serving as editor in chief of several magazines, he resigned in 1932 to devote himself full-time to writing. However, drawn by his interest in literature, and the encouragement of Edogawa Rampo (江戸川 乱歩), he went to Tokyo instead, where he was hired by the Hakubunkan publishing company in 1926. With nothing else to do, Kosuke arrives on Gokumon, despite warnings from his benefactor about the dangers of the island. But things aren't as easy as it seems with the residents of the island being wary of outsiders like Kindaichi. It is a solution which is attached to an extensive backstory which is given at the 11 th hour, alongside some very creative thinking on Kindaichi’s part.

Reading cult-classic-crime-thrillers always left you with that bitter sense of; these crimes can never be prevented . Kosuke and the characters populating Gokumon Island are well aware of what was lost during the war — and unlike Americans, they can look to destroyed physical spaces as evidence. The first pages of the book include a beautiful, descriptive map of the island and a full list of members of the families and other supporting players. When the actual solution was revealed, it was complex, convoluted and one that took me completely by surprise—I never would have worked it out at all. Despite having some issues with the construction of the mystery I did enjoy this mystery which had Japanese culture and history firmly and engagingly woven within it.

I have been in love with Detective Kosuke Kindaichi's series ever since I read The Inugami Curse/Clan, the 2nd installment, and that book was just so damn good and I want more. There were certain things present here that mean I'm not giving it two stars like I did the last one, like a coherent structure, and the genuinely interesting insight we get into post-WWII Japan. In the end, Kosuke solves the series of crimes, uncovering a plot that had been put in motion by Chimata’s own grandfather.The thing with Seishi Yokomizo's books is that, they will always leave us just staring at the wall for a few minutes. It's a well written but unsettling book to read and each of the murder case is being committed in some of the most stylist and tasteful ways in the history of Japanese detective novels.

there's a sort of "well, they were just women, after all" lackadaisicalness to the proceedings that truly got up my nose. Though there can be some fun in getting lost in the twisty, complicated details of a crime novel, Gokumon Island is keen to hand-hold, and the reader is better for it. These days even peasant farmers would wear Western clothes, or at least an approximation of Western clothing at home. The scruffy detective is determined to get to the bottom of this mysterious prophecy, and to protect the three women if he can. This is the second book in the Kosuke Kindaichi series, though it is the forth to be translated into English.The plot was slow pacing, as typical of Yokomizo because the author always started with the history of the places to create the atmosphere/ setting of the book.