The Honjin Murders by Seishi Yokomizo
Oct. 8th, 2023 11:49 pm![[personal profile]](https://www.dreamwidth.org/img/silk/identity/user.png){kind=small}
quippeThe Blurb On The Back:
An award-winning classic mystery, introducing Japan’s most famous detective.
In the winter of 1937, the village of Okamura is abuzz with excitement over the forthcoming Ichiyangi wedding. But, amid the gossip, there is also a worrying rumour - it seems a sinister masked man has been asking questions around the village.
Then, on the night of the wedding, the Ichiyanagi household are woken by a terrible scream, followed by the sound of eerie music. Death has come to Okamura, leaving no trace but a bloody samurai sword, thrust into the pristine snow outside the house.
It is 23 November 1937.
A dusty and dirty man, dressed in worn clothes, with three fingers on one hand and his face covered by a mask, calls in a tavern in the village of Okamura within the Okayama Prefecture and asks for directions to the Ichiyanagi residence. The tavern’s owner, together with the village official immediately want to know what business such a ragamuffin could have with the Ichiyanagis (a noble family descended from aristocracy who are wealthy local landowners). Although the stranger never explains his interest in the Ichiyanagi property, they remember him when, just two days later, the marriage of the head of the Ichiyanagi family - Kenzo (a philosophy graduate) to the beautiful Katsura Kubo (a teacher in a girl’s school in Okayama City) ends in their gruesome double murder. The pair are discovered in the annex house where they were spending their wedding night, the doors and windows all locked, a bloody samurai sword quivering in the snow outside and no footprints to suggest that anyone has been close by.
The marriage itself was scandalous because Katsura’s father had been a tenant farmer on the Ichiyanagi’s land before leaving for America with his brother to make his fortune. On his death, Katsura was raised by her beloved uncle Ginzo - a successful fruit farmer who spared no expense on his niece’s education. The fact that there three-fingers hand prints at the scene of the murder suggests that the three-fingered stranger was the culprit, but Ginzo is certain that there is more going on and sends for Kosuke Kindaichi.
Kindaichi and Ginzo met during their time in America and are very fond of each other. Having solved a murder in San Francisco, Kindaichi discovered a gift for deduction and on his return to Japan, Ginzo helped him to establish his own detective agency, which is now flourishing. Although the police officer assigned to the case - Inspector Isokawa - is unsure what to make of the unkempt young man, it isn’t long before Kindaichi is delving into the secrets and goings on among the Ichiyanagi household and discovers that there is far more to this murder than anyone could have suspected …
Seishi Yokomizo’s locked room crime novel (the first in a series) was published in Japan in 1946 and first translated into English in 2019 by Louise Heal Kawai, who has done a wonderful job. I thoroughly enjoyed Yokomizo’s slow reveal of the Ichiyanagi family’s secrets, while Kindaichi is a fascinating detective (almost in the Columbo mode) and the solution is ingenious such that I will check out the other translations of Yokomizo’s work.
I picked this up because I’d previously read THE DECAGON HOUSE MURDERS by Yukito Ayatsuji and was keen to read more classic Japanese crime fiction.
Considering this was first published in 1946, I was surprised at how modern the narration seems in this book. Yokomizo uses the conceit of having himself in the book recounting how he first learnt about the Honjin murders and visiting the scene of the crime. There are frequent moments when he addresses the reader directly, and I specifically enjoyed how he cross-refers to other famous locked room mystery writers, which all gives the book a delightfully knowing air.
The mystery itself flows very well, with Yokomizo focusing the narration on a tight time frame starting two days before the murder and going several days after. There’s a decent amount of backstory about the different members of the Ichiyanagi family - stern and traditional matriarch Itoko, the murdeed bridegroom Kenzo, his doctor brother Ryuki, feckless younger brother Saburo and simple minded younger sister Suzuko who has a gift for music - but it never feels overpowering (and in fact I could have happily read more about Kenzo and Saburo in particular) and there’s a sad coda that gives you an update on what happens to some of them afterwards.
There’s also a fair amount of backstory explaining Kindaichi, who I did find a really interesting detective. I can imagine that his unkempt, scruffy demeanour must have been very fresh to the Japanese readership and while he’s a polite young man, he is also somewhat unique in his view of the world. I enjoyed his relationship with Ginzo to the extent that I hope that Ginzo will actually appear in future books because they bounce of each other well. Inspector Isokawa is a bit bland in comparison but that’s not unusual in detective fiction and he isn’t a fool, which I thought was an innovative touch.
The mystery itself is handled in a really sophisticated way and there’s a surprising amount of sadness in it as Kindaichi slowly unpicks the truth. Locked room mysteries are a bit of a favourite of mine and I have to say that the solution to this one is ingenious (albeit I’ve read enough that I half guessed the solution, although not all of it).
Special mention should be made of Kawai’s translation, which is fluid and modern but still gives a good sense of period and voice.
All in all, this is a genuinely clever and entertaining read. Pushkin Vertigo has done a really good thing in bringing these hitherto unknown Japanese classics to an English-speaking audience and I will definitely be checking out the translations of Yokomizo’s other works.
The Verdict:
Seishi Yokomizo’s locked room crime novel (the first in a series) was published in Japan in 1946 and first translated into English in 2019 by Louise Heal Kawai, who has done a wonderful job. I thoroughly enjoyed Yokomizo’s slow reveal of the Ichiyanagi family’s secrets, while Kindaichi is a fascinating detective (almost in the Columbo mode) and the solution is ingenious such that I will check out the other translations of Yokomizo’s work.
In the winter of 1937, the village of Okamura is abuzz with excitement over the forthcoming Ichiyangi wedding. But, amid the gossip, there is also a worrying rumour - it seems a sinister masked man has been asking questions around the village.
Then, on the night of the wedding, the Ichiyanagi household are woken by a terrible scream, followed by the sound of eerie music. Death has come to Okamura, leaving no trace but a bloody samurai sword, thrust into the pristine snow outside the house.
It is 23 November 1937.
A dusty and dirty man, dressed in worn clothes, with three fingers on one hand and his face covered by a mask, calls in a tavern in the village of Okamura within the Okayama Prefecture and asks for directions to the Ichiyanagi residence. The tavern’s owner, together with the village official immediately want to know what business such a ragamuffin could have with the Ichiyanagis (a noble family descended from aristocracy who are wealthy local landowners). Although the stranger never explains his interest in the Ichiyanagi property, they remember him when, just two days later, the marriage of the head of the Ichiyanagi family - Kenzo (a philosophy graduate) to the beautiful Katsura Kubo (a teacher in a girl’s school in Okayama City) ends in their gruesome double murder. The pair are discovered in the annex house where they were spending their wedding night, the doors and windows all locked, a bloody samurai sword quivering in the snow outside and no footprints to suggest that anyone has been close by.
The marriage itself was scandalous because Katsura’s father had been a tenant farmer on the Ichiyanagi’s land before leaving for America with his brother to make his fortune. On his death, Katsura was raised by her beloved uncle Ginzo - a successful fruit farmer who spared no expense on his niece’s education. The fact that there three-fingers hand prints at the scene of the murder suggests that the three-fingered stranger was the culprit, but Ginzo is certain that there is more going on and sends for Kosuke Kindaichi.
Kindaichi and Ginzo met during their time in America and are very fond of each other. Having solved a murder in San Francisco, Kindaichi discovered a gift for deduction and on his return to Japan, Ginzo helped him to establish his own detective agency, which is now flourishing. Although the police officer assigned to the case - Inspector Isokawa - is unsure what to make of the unkempt young man, it isn’t long before Kindaichi is delving into the secrets and goings on among the Ichiyanagi household and discovers that there is far more to this murder than anyone could have suspected …
Seishi Yokomizo’s locked room crime novel (the first in a series) was published in Japan in 1946 and first translated into English in 2019 by Louise Heal Kawai, who has done a wonderful job. I thoroughly enjoyed Yokomizo’s slow reveal of the Ichiyanagi family’s secrets, while Kindaichi is a fascinating detective (almost in the Columbo mode) and the solution is ingenious such that I will check out the other translations of Yokomizo’s work.
I picked this up because I’d previously read THE DECAGON HOUSE MURDERS by Yukito Ayatsuji and was keen to read more classic Japanese crime fiction.
Considering this was first published in 1946, I was surprised at how modern the narration seems in this book. Yokomizo uses the conceit of having himself in the book recounting how he first learnt about the Honjin murders and visiting the scene of the crime. There are frequent moments when he addresses the reader directly, and I specifically enjoyed how he cross-refers to other famous locked room mystery writers, which all gives the book a delightfully knowing air.
The mystery itself flows very well, with Yokomizo focusing the narration on a tight time frame starting two days before the murder and going several days after. There’s a decent amount of backstory about the different members of the Ichiyanagi family - stern and traditional matriarch Itoko, the murdeed bridegroom Kenzo, his doctor brother Ryuki, feckless younger brother Saburo and simple minded younger sister Suzuko who has a gift for music - but it never feels overpowering (and in fact I could have happily read more about Kenzo and Saburo in particular) and there’s a sad coda that gives you an update on what happens to some of them afterwards.
There’s also a fair amount of backstory explaining Kindaichi, who I did find a really interesting detective. I can imagine that his unkempt, scruffy demeanour must have been very fresh to the Japanese readership and while he’s a polite young man, he is also somewhat unique in his view of the world. I enjoyed his relationship with Ginzo to the extent that I hope that Ginzo will actually appear in future books because they bounce of each other well. Inspector Isokawa is a bit bland in comparison but that’s not unusual in detective fiction and he isn’t a fool, which I thought was an innovative touch.
The mystery itself is handled in a really sophisticated way and there’s a surprising amount of sadness in it as Kindaichi slowly unpicks the truth. Locked room mysteries are a bit of a favourite of mine and I have to say that the solution to this one is ingenious (albeit I’ve read enough that I half guessed the solution, although not all of it).
Special mention should be made of Kawai’s translation, which is fluid and modern but still gives a good sense of period and voice.
All in all, this is a genuinely clever and entertaining read. Pushkin Vertigo has done a really good thing in bringing these hitherto unknown Japanese classics to an English-speaking audience and I will definitely be checking out the translations of Yokomizo’s other works.
The Verdict:
Seishi Yokomizo’s locked room crime novel (the first in a series) was published in Japan in 1946 and first translated into English in 2019 by Louise Heal Kawai, who has done a wonderful job. I thoroughly enjoyed Yokomizo’s slow reveal of the Ichiyanagi family’s secrets, while Kindaichi is a fascinating detective (almost in the Columbo mode) and the solution is ingenious such that I will check out the other translations of Yokomizo’s work.
