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The Blurb On The Back:
Tokyo, 1947.
The Pink Labyrinth is one of the bomb-scarred city’s shadiest neighbourhoods. There, in the dead of night, a patrolling policeman catches a young Buddhist monk digging in the back yard of The Black Cat Cafe, a notorious brothel. In the shallow grace at his feet lie the dead body of a woman, her face disfigured beyond recognition, and the corpse of a black cat.
Who is the murdered woman, and how was she connected to the infamous establishment? And where did the dead cat come from, given that the cafe’s feline mascot seems to be alive and well? The brilliant sleuth Kosuke Kindaichi investigates, but as he draws closer to the truth, he finds himself in grave danger …
( The Review (Cut For Spoilers): )
The Verdict:
Seishi Yokomizo’s take on the faceless corpse mystery (first published in 1973 and translated from Japanese by Bryan Karetnyk) is a clever but oddly flat read, in part because it is very short and has had to be paired with a short story Why Did The Well Wheel Crack? The characterisation never sparks off the page (including) Kindaichi who is reduced to some irritating quirks) and the resolution overly dramatic such that it never quite landed.
Tokyo, 1947.
The Pink Labyrinth is one of the bomb-scarred city’s shadiest neighbourhoods. There, in the dead of night, a patrolling policeman catches a young Buddhist monk digging in the back yard of The Black Cat Cafe, a notorious brothel. In the shallow grace at his feet lie the dead body of a woman, her face disfigured beyond recognition, and the corpse of a black cat.
Who is the murdered woman, and how was she connected to the infamous establishment? And where did the dead cat come from, given that the cafe’s feline mascot seems to be alive and well? The brilliant sleuth Kosuke Kindaichi investigates, but as he draws closer to the truth, he finds himself in grave danger …
( The Review (Cut For Spoilers): )
The Verdict:
Seishi Yokomizo’s take on the faceless corpse mystery (first published in 1973 and translated from Japanese by Bryan Karetnyk) is a clever but oddly flat read, in part because it is very short and has had to be paired with a short story Why Did The Well Wheel Crack? The characterisation never sparks off the page (including) Kindaichi who is reduced to some irritating quirks) and the resolution overly dramatic such that it never quite landed.
