A review by _inge_
The Honjin Murders, by Seishi Yokomizo
mysterious
medium-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? Plot
- Strong character development? No
- Loveable characters? No
- Diverse cast of characters? No
- Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes
3.25
The best part about this book, to me, is the glimpse we get into a part of Japanese culture of the early 20th century. I learned about the koto instrument and honjin - the building and the families. There's no modern technology in this story.
Unfortunately, the storytelling style is so detached that it's hard to empathise with any of the characters and root for or sympathise with them. The women in the story are mostly used to further the plot, there is one conversation of substance between to women about playing the koto. Rather than a sprinkling of red herrings throughout the story, there is a lot of info dumping. In the end, all the relevant information is tied together, while the red herrings are mostly left where you found them. There were two people who were quite present in the first half of the book, but as soon as the detective arrives they play virtually no part anymore.
In this book, it is very hard to guess what happened to the people who met their unfortunate end - even if you are right about the person(s) who did it. The detective figures it all out, but I would have liked to have more insight into how he put all the pieces of the puzzle together. I got quite a bit of the pieces from the text and flagged some red herrings, but there was no way to put it together logically from the information that was presented. In the conclusion, there were still too many pieces of new information which were vital to figuring it out. This is not a huge problem for me, as long as the process of solving the crime is shown more and made plausible. In the end, we don't know if there were consequences for anyone other than some lines in the vein of karma catching up on some people.
In the end, the book tells the story of what leads people to commit a crime and how they can get wrapped up in the execution of it.
Unfortunately, the storytelling style is so detached that it's hard to empathise with any of the characters and root for or sympathise with them. The women in the story are mostly used to further the plot, there is one conversation of substance between to women about playing the koto. Rather than a sprinkling of red herrings throughout the story, there is a lot of info dumping. In the end, all the relevant information is tied together, while the red herrings are mostly left where you found them. There were two people who were quite present in the first half of the book, but as soon as the detective arrives they play virtually no part anymore.
In this book, it is very hard to guess what happened to the people who met their unfortunate end - even if you are right about the person(s) who did it. The detective figures it all out, but I would have liked to have more insight into how he put all the pieces of the puzzle together. I got quite a bit of the pieces from the text and flagged some red herrings, but there was no way to put it together logically from the information that was presented. In the conclusion, there were still too many pieces of new information which were vital to figuring it out. This is not a huge problem for me, as long as the process of solving the crime is shown more and made plausible. In the end, we don't know if there were consequences for anyone other than some lines in the vein of karma catching up on some people.
In the end, the book tells the story of what leads people to commit a crime and how they can get wrapped up in the execution of it.