Reviews

The Tattoo Murder by Akimitsu Takagi

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priss's review against another edition

mysterious slow-paced

Plot- or character-driven? Plot
Strong character development? It's complicated
Loveable characters? It's complicated
Diverse cast of characters? It's complicated
Flaws of characters a main focus? No

4.5

4.5/5. I very much enjoyed this mystery book! The pacing is rather slow, but I quite liked getting wrapped into the quiet pace of the story. Around the end, when everything becomes clear, the pace picks up again, and the ending wrapped up things quite neatly.

I thought it was a pity that Kamizu was already introduced on the back cover, as I had been waiting for him to arrive for about 60% of the book. I also thought it was interesting to have someone’s alibi be proven not as tight as it seemed to be, and them actually turning out to be the killer.

I thought the premise of the tattoos was also very interesting. Definitely recommend if you like a good mystery!

theinkdrinker's review against another edition

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challenging mysterious slow-paced

Plot- or character-driven? Plot
Strong character development? No
Loveable characters? No
Diverse cast of characters? Yes
Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes

3.0

The author has clearly never had a tattoo and I'm debating whether he has ever actually met a person with tattoos. Tattooed skin isn't colder and doesn't feel any different from untattooed skin. The process isn't instantly excruciating and the skin doesn't immediately become red and swollen and you don't run a high fever when getting tattooed and in the days after you aren't nauseous unless you've contracted a dangerous infection.

jnelsontwo's review against another edition

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dark informative mysterious tense medium-paced

Plot- or character-driven? Plot
Strong character development? No
Loveable characters? It's complicated
Diverse cast of characters? Yes
Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes

4.25

helgamharb's review against another edition

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3.0

2.5

The snake eats the frog. The frog eats the slug. The slug dissolves the snake.
And the book bores the reader to death!

If you like to read a locked-room murder mystery, then look no further! This book is what you need!
An intriguing beginning, where a torso-less body is found in a locked-from-inside bathroom, believed to be the body of a tattooed woman who used to be a geisha. There are suspects, obviously and a couple of red herrings.
You think there may be more here than meets the eye, right? Well there isn’t.

There is of course a detective who thinks he is the bee’s knees, top-notch solver of puzzles (sorry Poirot!) who doesn’t do much detecting, but theorizes incessantly and listens to every character and their aunts and uncles hypothesize as how the murder was committed.

This is indeed a mystifying mystery which the reader solves way before the detective begins his investigation aka sitting in his home, playing chess and blowing smoke rings with his cigarette.

The case was discussed and hashed out so much that it took the fun out of the revelation at the end.
Actually right until the end, where a genius non-detective miraculously solves the puzzle blow by blow, one has the feeling the author himself has no inkling who the murderer is or how the murder was committed.

Notwithstanding it being a longer book than it needed to be, it was a hoot reading it along with you, Chris, conducting our own investigation, examining the facts and making our discoveries which were spot on. Thanks, Chris!