I was lucky enough to win an eARC of THE KAMOGAWA FOOD DETECTIVES by Hisashi Kashiwai through a Shelf Awareness giveaway. Thanks for the early look, and have a safe and happy holiday season!

Just returned from Japan and really enjoyed this book of stories about a Kyoto food detective. The stories were lovely and the food detail was mouth watering!

This is a classic case of a good book, but not for me! I think this book would be great for those who enjoyed 'Before the Coffee Gets Cold' by Toshikazu Kawaguchi. I like the father-daughter dynamic featured in the book, but the book was hard for me to get into.

Calling all fans of nostalgia and comfort food - The Kamogawa Food Detectives delivers a father and daughter pair that work hard to recreate dishes that are connected to precious memories for their clients. The Kumogawa's run a restaurant that intentionally makes itself hard to find, but they also run a side business as food detectives. Their clients describe the food they want recreated with as much detail as possible, including when and where they ate it. These conversations reveal quite a bit about each individual character and paint portraits of people that are very different from what might first be assumed of them.

This work definitely leans into the feel-good vibes. If you are not familiar with Japanese cuisine, I highly recommend having a search engine available as you go through so that you can see visuals of the food listed. It all sounded scrumptious to me - and left me wanting to try and hunt down some of the dishes described. The tone is very similar to that of Kawaguchi's Before the Coffee Gets Cold, so for those of you that enjoyed that work I would be sure to check this one out.

Nagare Kamogawa, former policeman in Kyoto, Japan, runs a diner and food detective agency with his adult daughter Koishi. Nagare does the sourcing of ingredients and the cooking, while Koishi's job is teasing out the details of from the clients. In order to even find the restaurant, the customers have to be very motivated. The building itself is nondescript and has no signage, and the only advertising is done via a very vague mention in Gourmet Monthly magazine. If people are determined and can track down the restaurant, they will be treated to the chef's daily special, and once they are suitably impressed with his skill, Koishi takes the customer back to the office where she can get the details of why they came. The detective agency exists for one reason: to recreate dishes that people have had at some point in their lives and want to experience again. Koishi tries to get as many details as possible: where was this food eaten, who was the person with, how old were they, what sights/smells/sounds can they remember, etc. As the dishes were eaten long ago, most of the details are rather vague. The clients are instructed to return in two weeks, at which time Nagare will present them with the dish that they remember from so long ago. Of course, the dishes all were eaten with people who are no longer alive or are ill, so a big part of the memory is tied up with longing to be back in a time or place that can never be experienced again.

While the stories are all very touching, the book itself is an ordeal to read. There are so many Japanese foods, dishes, ingredients, place names, etc. mentioned in nearly every sentence that it's difficult to get any "flow" when reading. Then there is the excruciating detail about how each ingredient in the various dishes was tracked down and prepared -- and every dish has dozens of ingredients. It's hard to believe how the people in the "memories" and the chef of today spend hours and hours sourcing individual ingredients from various locations and then have to subject each item to meticulous treatment (such as drying mushrooms in the sun, "rehydrating" them, and boiling them down with other things before adding to the main dish). Each recipe had numerous ingredients, and the chef was happy to list them all, where they came from, how they were prepared, and how each individual step was necessary to recreate the exact dish the person remembered. It was exhausting to read. Maybe people who are massive foodies will enjoy reading about such things as mame-mochi, nabeyaki-udon, kamaboko, nikujaga, hirosu, okara, kikuna, ebi-imo, kujo negi, tonkatsu, etc. but after just a few chapters I was craving something with simple ingredients!

Dnf at 35%. This book is a classic case of not for me, but can definitely work for someone else. Loved the mouthwatering description of Japanese cuisine and the cute and cozy components of the story but I didn’t find it very engaging and my attention constantly kept wavering as I felt the story did not offer much in terms of character development or some background of the characters Nagare and his daughter Koishi. I would have liked it much better if there would have been a strong plot with these two characters and less focus on the diner part. I also thought that the translation could have been a bit better as I have read quite a lot of Japanese translated fiction and it felt way engrossing. But having said that, this book can definitely be loved by foodies or people who like to read food centric books and if you love Japanese food, this is a solid book for you!

This is fun and already has lots of helpful reviews, so I'll just recommend it to cozy readers.

I really appreciate the free copy for review!!

Book: The Kamogawa Food Detectives
Author: Hisashi Kashiwai; Translated by: Jesse Kirkwood
Format: Digital
Genre: Food & Wine, Short Stories
Places Featured: Kyoto, Japan
Review Score: ⭐️ ⭐️ ⭐️ ⭐️
Review: I was a little surprised at how much I enjoyed this–it doesn’t really have a plot, but it is just a collection of sweet short stories about the power of food, family, and memories. Nagare, a retired police detective, and his daughter, Koishi, run the Kamogawa Diner in Kyoto, Japan–a small hard-to-find place with a very specific clientele. The diner mostly serves guests who are looking for a specific meal–a dish that meant something to them at some point in their lives they want to recreate. Each chapter is the story of a certain guest, the dish they’re looking for, why they’re looking for it, and how Nagare works to recreate it. Although I had to spend some time researching many of the Japanese ingredients and dishes mentioned in the book, the descriptions still made my mouth water. (There are also some great descriptions of Kyoto.) For a short, quick, feel-good read (especially if you’re a Japanophile for a foodie), check out this book.

★★★★☆

The Kamogawa Food Detectives is a heartwarming culinary tale translated from Japanese by Jesse Kirkwood. Centered around a Kyoto restaurant run by Koishi and her father Nagare, this light mystery follows the Kamogawas as they recreate meaningful dishes from customers' pasts. It's a poignant celebration of food, memory, and human connection.

Author Hisashi Kashiwai brings the setting of Kyoto to life through vivid sensory details, particularly the mouthwatering cuisine. Protagonist Koishi is spirited and curious, complemented by her father's wisdom and cooking expertise. The "food detective" premise is original and intriguing. Each chapter focuses on recreating a touching dish for a customer, seamlessly blending miniature mysteries, cooking, and emotion.

The soothing pace, uplifting tone, and focus on food over plot make this perfect for foodies seeking a gentle read. While the mysteries themselves are relatively simple, the stories behind each lost recipe are moving. Food and memory are deeply intertwined here; the Kamogawas' dishes unlock powerful nostalgia and closure.

Readers seeking an in-depth thriller should look elsewhere, but as a heartwarming journey celebrating food, family, and second chances, The Kamogawa Food Detectives delivers. Kashiwai's prose is inviting, with restaurant scenes sure to make your mouth water. A poignant four stars, the only way this could have been improved is if recipes had been included in-depth for all the meals.

This cozy collection of stories set in a Japanese restaurant with a food detective agency was the perfect palette cleanser for me. It’s short and sweet and I appreciated the same structure of each story (person comes in wanting a meal recreated, then when they come back and try it). Some of the stories were more endearing than others, but I overall enjoyed this book and the beautiful descriptions of Japanese food and the relationship between the father and daughter who run the restaurant/detective agency.

Thank you Netgalley and Putnam for an advanced copy in exchange for an honest review.

I was really hoping to like this one because I have read one Japanese novel that I loved (The Traveling Cat Chronicles) but this one was hard to get into. I was pretty bored and didn't feel super connected to the characters. It also felt pretty unrealistic. But I did love all of the food descriptions! That was so well done. I also love Japan and have been to Kyoto so that I also loved that personal connection. It was just hard for me to really get into the story.

This was such an enjoyable little story! The creativity of the plot and the descriptions of food were definitely where this book shined, and I think the atmosphere is one that a lot of readers will enjoy. I did find myself wishing that the chapters were less repetitive (I was able to predict entire sections of dialogue because they were being said in every single chapter) and we spent more time learning who the father and daughter were especially. I enjoyed having some regular customers that would return from chapter to chapter, but I still found myself wanting more characterization from each of the visitors as their stories and personalities really did begin to blur together by the end. In general, though, my complaints can be boiled down to wishing the vignettes were longer and more fleshed out, which is definitely not a deal breaker for me. The story was still very cozy, and a breeze to get through. A great book to curl up with in a warm cafe and read in one or two sittings.

Quite possibly my favorite read since encountering the Thursday Murder Club series. This is the coziest of cozy mysteries, highlighting the restorative powers of food, community, and understanding the past to move forward in the present.

A father and daughter run a small diner tucked away in a quiet part of Kyoto. And if a certain type of diner is fortunate enough to find themselves there, the restaurateurs also are food detectives, helping track down and recreate the diners' favorite meals. Each chapter stands alone but, together, the vignettes draw a picture of the proprietors and their patrons. Even more than the mouthwatering descriptions of the food, the gentleness and care for these characters and their interior lives makes this the most delightful and gentle of reads that is the perfect respite from the chaotic world.

Gentle, sweet, atmospheric, and oh so charming. This book will transport you into your own cherished memories and leave you feeling all of your feelings. Thanks to NetGalley and the publisher for the chance to read this one early.

Very sweet book about a food detective agency, linking foods to memory and sentiment. What a wonderful idea.

A delectable read filled with wonderful characters and lots of good memories.

A quick cozy read.

Thanks NetGalley for this ARC.

(Transcribed from video.)

A delightful little book, if I may say so. Delectable.

Okay, so check it out: dad-daughter duo (alliteration…I love it) running, simultaneously, a diner and a food detective agency. So…you ever have a food that you would do anything to be able to eat again? Maybe you went to a restaurant and you had something that you’ve just never been able to recreate? Or maybe it’s a recipe that somebody made for you in your childhood and nobody else has the recipe and nothing else tastes right? That sort of thing? They will find that recipe and recreate it for you. So each chapter is an individual little vignette, like an individual case, and somebody comes to them like “this is the recipe that I’m trying to find” and then they detect.

The side characters, like the regulars of the restaurant…quirky. Love some quirky individuals, I tell you what. And the way they describe the environment makes me want to visit. I want to go look at shrines; walk down streets, alleyways in Japan; I want to find a little hole-in-the-wall restaurant that makes delicious food, different food every day, like some sort of magical miracle place. Oh my gosh, seriously, it reminds me of that place from the show Eureka. They had this diner in town with this super-genius chef in charge whose whole thing was that he had this magic freezer/pantry with every food ever and he could make anything that you asked him for, no matter what, at any time. It’s not that but it felt like that…and I love that.

So it’s sweet and wholesome, cozy, almost bittersweet, ‘cause there’s a hint of sadness. Not every story is a happy story but they don’t just find the recipes, they find answers to questions that these people don’t even know they’re looking for. And I know it says “detective agency”, but it’s not like thriller-detective necessarily. It’s got a pinch of that Holistic Detective Agency…a soupçon of the Holistic Detective Agency. (That’s a thing, right? Soupçon? I feel like I’ve heard it used in the context of food before and I’m trying to stick with food analogies…because they’re food detectives.) It’s so cute! It’s sentimental and it’s just nice. It was just so endearing. I enjoyed it very much.

One of the things I think I like about Japanese books that are translated into English is that they’re very chill. I don’t know, maybe it’s just the ones I’ve read so far, but they’re so chill. They’re like…lo-fi, almost…for your reading pleasure. I’m going to go out on a limb and say that the cat on the cover of the book is Drowsy, the cat from the book. It might not be true, I don’t care. I’m going to think so anyways, just because it makes me happy to think so.

I would read it again. And it’s not super long. It’s like 200 pages. Easy-peasy. Quick read. Delicious appetizer. Oh man, you can’t read it when you’re hungry though because it’ll just make you hungrier. And you’ll be really upset if you can’t eat the food that they’re describing in the book…which, in my case, is not really a possibility. So I’m just left frustrated. I really want to go get Japanese food now. I’m going to have to settle for a California roll from Kroger and miso soup from instant mix. I don’t care, though. I’ll do it. Or I’ll make onigiri.

It makes me think of all the foods that I want to eat but can’t make. Like my mom’s biscuits and gravy. Or her spaghetti sauce. Nobody else makes it right! Although I did find out that the reason everybody else’s tastes wrong is because my mom adds red wine, literally any kind. Cooking sherry. She doesn’t care. Just red wine and brown sugar to any pasta sauce. Even if she uses it out of a jar, she’ll just doctor it with red wine and brown sugar. And we don’t drink, so we literally- the only alcohol that we ever have on hand is red wine. Just for pasta sauce and for no other reason. So I’ll literally just buy things for the labels, if I like the picture or the name of the company, because we just don’t care. We just get the cheapest. It doesn’t matter. Makes it so good. It’s the secret. It’s the trick. It’s really all that you need.

Or yeah, her biscuits and gravy. I would do things that should be frowned upon for my mother’s biscuits and gravy. It’s delicious and I can’t make it. So to have somebody go away and do a bunch of research and come back and be like “here’s the recipe, here’s how to make this food that you love…and I’ve made some for you, try it.” ::chef’s kiss:: Yes, please.

I’m going to give it a rating of: 8 Bowls of Rice. Because it was that good. It was that good. I would need to go back for seconds, thirds, fourths, fifths, sixths, sevenths, and then eighths because I enjoyed it that much.

The Kamogawa food detectives are a father/daughter duo who can help you with your mysterious food memories. Did you spouse or parent make a meal for you that you just can recreate? The food detectives are here to help!

A cozy atmospheric read. The "cases" that the father-daughter duo solve are all low stakes, and more about the human experience and empathy than the mystery itself. The food descriptions alone are beautiful and immersive, even for the dishes I was unfamiliar with and I was pulled into the connection these dishes have for the people involved.

Since this is a book where each chapter is its own self contained story (with the same cast - think low stakes tv show episodes) and I think that if you read it straight through it can be a bit repetitive, and I recommend instead reading and pausing and coming back. I do wish that we could have learned more about Nagare and Koishi as the book progressed.

This book is a sweet respite of a book that showcases the importance of food, culture, and empathy in being human.

I loved this book! Who needs a comfort read? Think of a dish you loved and are unable to recreate, well this father daughter duo can and do with empathy and unique insights to the lives they are preparing this for which leaves them better off for it. My aunt and cousins and I will talk about certain dishes my grandmother made we each remember a little differently. This book taps into those dishes we remember almost in the way one remembers an old friend or love. You also feel as if you are traveling to Japan. I hope this is the first of a beloved series of these special characters.