Welp, guess I got it. It really was just that moment with the badge that made me suspect a cop. Plus there weren’t really any viable suspects in the non-police character pool (which I think actually goes to show how this murder was probably more normal/reasonable, being a nondescript stabbing in a public place rather than an overly complicated murder in an isolated building with an unlikely design).
I still don’t really understand the train stuff. I kinda wish we had gotten a full time table for the relevant routes/times. Why did he have to go 3 stations past Miyoshi and then double back? And (if I was reading it right) did he really get off at Miyoshi, commit the murder, and get back on the same train?
I’m glad they had Ikeda call back Miyako on the phone, but I don’t think they ever mentioned that Ikeda called her back before… I also still don’t fully get the book disappearance point. Was the question how they got rid of the book at the train station, or just generally? Cuz the former would make sense, but they didn’t mention any mailbox at the train station or anything, but if you just need to destroy a book there are so many better ways to dispose of it than just mailing it.
Also for his whole deduction about the culprit’s job and whatnot I was just thinking to myself “or what if the killer is an unemployed guy with nothing better to do”
Anyway, I guess the moral of this book is never commit more than one crime at a time. They could’ve gotten away with the rape if Ikeda didn’t steal the stupid book. (Or vice versa, depending on your priorities.)
Also, Tomoko needs to do better. I’m just saying, if it was me, and I was having an intimate birthday dinner with my husband, and then my husband’s friend (that he’s known for, what? 2, 3 weeks?) shows up without warning, and then my husband started crying tears of joy, they’d both be kicked to the curb.
All in all I thought it was a good mystery. Quite the intricate setup, with many players and killed suspects so I was kept on my toes to keep track of them all. I thought the showdown in the end was entertaining, a bit Columbo-style, so I liked that. Although I thought our private detective was a bit too smart and perfect, but maybe that’s what this kind of series needs. Just like Columbo
I’m not 100% sure either, but either the direct train would have been there too early, or he wanted to hide that he came from Hiroshima. I guess the first one was the more important reason though.
Didn’t he get on the train that came from Hiroshima, ended at Miyoshi and then returned back to Hiroshima?
Also given that your suspicion turned out to be spot-on would you mind to blur your posts and mark them as speculation regarding the ending @BadPlayer@downtimes ? I don’t know how many other people will ever read this book, but just in case…
Anyway, my opinion: I enjoyed it, but then I already knew I liked this series in general. The author says in the afterword that he didn’t write it intending Asami to become a series character, and I think it shows. The book is more of a two-parter between Nogami and Asami than one focused on Asami, and I feel like Nogami got more screen time overall. Some of the aspects of Asami’s character that become more developed later are not really present here, but some are here already.
Regarding trains:
He gets on a train from Hiroshima that goes through and past Miyoshi, eventually getting off three stations later. At that point there’s a 3 minute window for him to get the train back towards Hiroshima. This train stops in Miyoshi for just under 20 minutes, which is when he can commit the murder and get back on the same train, eventually leaving it in Hiroshima. The idea is to mislead about where he might have come from; also you don’t want to attract attention by hanging around some station for long. This does seem to be one of those “only works in Japan” criminal plans that relies on trains being exactly on time and 3 minute changes of train being possible to make reliably…
Nope! At least now I know to complain to Bookwalker rather than Uchida…
If the train chilled at Miyoshi a bit then it seems possible to get off the train, kill Miyako, and get back on, but still seems kinda risky, cuz anyone could arrive at the overpass during the window the train is chilling at the platform! It also doesn’t seem like there wasn’t any reason he couldn’t get off at Miyoshi instead of going 3 steps further and doubling back, but I guess he figured loitering at Miyoshi station would be riskier than what he did.
I was shocked how accurate our predictions turned out to be. Together with Asamis “guesses” that basically turned out to all be on the mark, the whole “I’ll tell you what really happened” at the end didn’t feel like any kind of revelation at all
Nonetheless, I did enjoy the process of how he pinned the crime on Kiriyama. I especially highlighted the fingerprints on the sticky side of the clear tape. That one was a really nice touch for me.
I didn’t find that part too egregious. It was raining like shit and Asami turned up uninvited. Not like it was Nogamis fault in this case. Nogami had much worse behavior throughout the book if you ask me ^^. Tomoko seemed to also enjoy the company of Asami, so giving him something to eat and a pair of clean clothes, even on a birthday, doesn’t feel too out of place to me.
No, my digital Kindle edition neither had this timetable nor the very useful map from day 2 that someone posted. Digital seems truly inferior for this book.
Also, no afterword in my edition
That was totally how I felt about the book as well. It didn’t feel like Asami was the main character. It felt more like 野上s story to me.
I had the exact same uncertain feeling about that explanation as you two. Was planning on rereading that part but pm215 cleared it up. No need anymore
I do have in my notes for this chapter: “Plan wouldn’t work in Germany with how unreliable our trains are, you’d arrive way too late and wouldn’t have time to commit any murders”
General Thoughts
The book was quite good. There were some rough parts, but overall it was an enjoyable read. The book was also quite short, to be finished in 7 weeks, and didn’t feel like it dragged too long unnecessarily.
I liked Asamis slight rich playboy like character. I liked that the book had a big cast of characters. The 8 years ago crime, and how it was handled, didn’t work that well for me. Nogami had some rough edges sometimes as well. Some of the 後鳥羽 parts felt a little to elaborate for how minor a role it all plays in the book.
Roughly a 7/10?
I finally finished this, week’s late. I admit I kind of had to force myself to finish this book and when I thought I was done and then saw エピローグ I kinda groaned in annoyance
It got really obvious it was Kiriyama and I don’t like Asami much at all so sitting through his tedious showman explanation was a bit much. Unfortunately I don’t think this is my type of mystery nor a writing style I really resonate with. It was fine, but not enough for me to stomach the train tables nor the way the author writes about women
I think this book was a 3.5/5 for me. The characters were likable enough but not amazing. Same with the mystery itself. Vocab was a little challenging.
The details of the train routes and schedules ended up not mattering that much, since the tricks didn’t really depend on them. That’s arguably a good thing because they didn’t take up that many pages and can mostly be ignored, but are still there for the people who like that stuff.
I vaguely remember a section of the book that discussed local vs express trains and why people going from X to Y logically would or wouldn’t be on certain trains, and I’m pretty sure that section would clear up any remaining doubts about why the culprit planned everything the way he did. I’m not going to reread it, but I trust that it adds up
It’s nice to learn that Japanese people also have trouble finding trash cans. Next time I’m in Japan and need to throw something away, I’ll just mail it to my parents.
Well, that was that. It was a fine enough mystery for me. Smooth to read, not too convoluted, lots of stuff happening throughout. Of course the portrayal of the women wasn’t perfect, what with them not having character. Since they didn’t really play a role at all (aside from 霧山’ wife at the end there) and such little screen time, I guess it didn’t really bother me.
3, maybe 3,5/5 sounds about right for me.
Agreed that it feels more like a police procedural than detective novel for the biggest part.
Since you’ve read a couple of these, how would you say this book does in comparison? I did enjoy the writing, and I do like detective series and remote locations, so I think I’d give it another go. Or if you happen to have a particular recommendation…
I think it settles down more clearly into Asami being the primary detective, and various aspects of his character become fixed in a way they haven’t quite yet in this book (for instance he is typically a bit embarrassed to reveal his connection with the police through his brother, though it often comes out anyway, so in this book his actively using it to pull strings felt a little out of character). But I don’t think the writing style changes particularly. I haven’t read books 2 or 3 but I have read book 4 and I think by that point the author has the formula figured out. Apparently even with book 2 he still didn’t plan to make Asami a series character.
Looking at Natively, I seem to have rated 怪談の道 | L34 at 4 stars, but maybe that’s just because I liked the Lafcardio Hearn references. But I think you could probably pick one at random that you liked the sound of from the blurb or the location in the title and do just as well. (The one I read most recently was 三州吉良殺人事件 | L34 but Asami’s mother is a prominent character in it and I think that works best after you’ve read enough of the others in the series to have a baseline idea of their relationship going in.)
(Edit: fixed wrong URL for the book featuring Asami’s mother)
I found a couple of lists where people presented their favorite ones. Given the length of the series at 120+ or so books, I think it’s only fair to have such recommendations
And that when it’s become such a long series! Interesting how that works out sometimes. Good to know about it taking a couple volumes. If there’s not really one that stuck out to you, I guess I’ll just browse a bit.
Or look for lists. Both, probably.
Noted, thanks. In this volume we already got a bit of a taste of it I think. Very strained, with Asami not measuring up in her eyes and him feeling a bit less than his brother, who is following that ‘perfect life’ plan. Though of course that may be part of what changes in coming volumes.
I did like the glimpse we got of his brother in this volume, not that I think about it, about how he’s somewhat jealous that he gets to make these free choices.
so I was kept on my toes to keep track of them all. I thought the showdown in the end was entertaining, a bit Columbo-style, so I liked that. Although I thought our private detective was a bit too smart and perfect, but maybe that’s what this kind of series needs. Just like Columbo 
.
