Reviews

The Tattoo Murder by Akimitsu Takagi

kurbanski's review against another edition

adventurous mysterious

4.0

celina246's review against another edition

dark mysterious medium-paced

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

3.25

this had an old classic mystery feel, which i always love & find comforting and in the beginning i was hooked, even though the murder itself was slow to play out. the Japanese setting & traditions mixed in with the story gave it a cool edge too. the only thing that stopped me giving it a higher rating was that i didn't looove how the story ended up playing out - and i wanted to throttle the main characters often. 

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Body horror, Death, Gore, and Murder

Minor: Toxic relationship and War

dancingbibliophile's review

dark mysterious sad medium-paced

• Plot- or character-driven? Plot
• Strong character development? Yes
• Loveable characters? It's complicated
• Diverse cast of characters? Yes
• Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes

4.0

caitsidhe's review against another edition

challenging dark emotional mysterious sad slow-paced

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

3.25

Interesting, enjoyable, lots of gore. Very of its time and region in terms of its social and political attitudes.

heylook's review against another edition

3.0

Above-average murder mystery set in Japan a couple years after WW2.

emmajonesgill's review against another edition

It took about 17% of the book before the character that was blurbed was murdered.
I made it about 20% and the detective on the blurb hasn't even been mentioned.
I just don't care enough for anyone of the characters enough to find out more of the story. 
Which is a shame because I was looking forward to reading it, but I just don't care enough about the story to continue.
It would be a good read for someone else, if they don't mind translated closed door murder mysteries, but I think I prefer my mysteries to be more thrilling and psychological than macabre.

eshalliday's review against another edition

1.0

I feel hoodwinked by this one: locked-room murder solved by a hitherto unknown character introduced over halfway through who's a 'genius' and just solves the case via brainpower rather than detection? Nope!

aishwarya24's review against another edition

3.0

An awfully good story ruined in the last three chapters.

sunshinesabine's review against another edition

dark mysterious medium-paced

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

4.0

kchin's review against another edition

dark emotional informative mysterious tense slow-paced

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

5.0

This was a longer honkaku than others I've read, but also the one with most amount of depth I've encountered. The whodunnit part of the book was actually quite small and can be slow at parts, and the mystery itself was good but nothing out of the ordinary locked room mystery. However it was the story setting and surrounding bits that I really enjoyed. I thoroughly enjoyed reading about the subculture of Edo tattoos (and found myself in a deep rabbit hole on the internet afterwards) and Japan navigating as a nation post WW2. Also, a cool female character (even though antagonist)! All in all the best honkaku I've read so far.