Thank you to NetGalley for an ARC of The Honjin Murders.

I love mysteries and I'm always interested to see how international authors pen; I've noticed they tend to use less filler and domestic drama and get straight to the facts.

This rule definitely applies here.

There is family drama (what family doesn't have any, in real life and in fiction), but the mystery is straight forward, the clues all laid out, and the detective, a young, schlubby version of Sherlock Holmes offers a reasonable explanation as to how the murder was devised and carried out.

I can usually guess the bad guy or how an act was carried out but this had me stumped, in a good way!

The Honjin Murders was an interesting and quick read. I always enjoy reading about Japan, its culture and people.

I hope more books by the author will be translated and released in the near future.

I was impressed with how well the translation of this book from Japanese flowed. Explanations of certain aspects of Japanese culture of the Showa era did not seem to interrupt the flow of the story. The convention of a mystery writer recounting aspects of a true story that he had happened upon helped the story feel less awkward than it might have because many other aspects of the story needed to be explained from outside perspectives. Many points of veiw were carefully woven together using the excuse of different sources for evidence that the narrator was using in his research into the murders. The plot was wonderfully complicated with all the best characteristics of a traditional detective story. I was enthralled enough to read the book straight through, and I will look for a copy of this book in Japanese to enjoy, too

Engaging mystery novel that had me both invested and intrigued right from the start; definitely a bit plain, especially given the the current drama filled thriller books that exist, yet cleverly satisfying. Kudos to the translator who makes the prose flow beautifully along, keeping, thus, the reader hooked in and wanting to know the solution.

Absolutely loved this! An excellent locked room murder mystery, I loved the classic Sherlock Holmes/Agatha Christie feel but in the context of Japanese culture. Can't wait to read more!