#japanesecrimefiction

[fictionfromafar]

Japanese Crime Fiction Through The Years

While there are currently a larger number of Scandinavian crime fiction novels being translated into English, it could certainly be argued that many Japanese mystery novels offer some of the finest detective stories ever penned and translated to the English language. Authors like Seishi Yokomizo, Soji Shimada, and Masako Togawa were known as the Christies and Doyles of Japan. These Japanese authors created their own golden age of mystery fiction in Japan — often referred to as honkaku. Many of these have only been made available in the English language in recent years. In tandem, many modern writers including Yukito Ayatsuji, Keigo Higashino, Riku Onda and Kotaro Isaka have created their own stories which in some cases hark back to the earlier authors while also adding contemporary settings and feel. Here is a look at some of the historical and modern classics from Japan and also a preview at some forthcoming titles including three to be published in December 2021 and more due in 2022.

The Classics

The Honjin Murders by Seishi Yokomizo, translated by Louise Heal Kawai, Pushkin Press, 2019

This is what many consider the best honkaku Japanese detective story - this ‘locked room murder mystery’ is a unique take on the formula made iconic by major Western writers like Arthur Conan Doyle, Agatha Christie, and Gaston Leroux. It takes place in a fixed location: the Ichiyanagi household in the village of Okamura.

The Ichiyanagi family are a proud, wealthy, high-class family, and one of their sons, Kenzo, is due to marry the young Katsuko. On the night of their wedding, they are murdered by a mysterious assailant who flees into the night, leaving nothing but a handprint and a bloodied samurai sword in the snow.

The Honjin Murders is a wickedly fun time. Its short length, quirky cast of characters, engaging mystery, and theatrical setting and plot make for a fantastic murder mystery tale. It is a prime example of honkaku, a literary genre of Japanese detective fiction that emerged in the 1920s that focuses on “fair play” — no unexpected twists or villains show up right at the end of the plot, but all necessary clues are laid out to the reader, giving them an equal chance to solve the riddle as the detective.

The Inugami Curse by Seishi Yokomizo, translated by Louise Heal Kawai, Pushkin Press, 2020

Seishi Yokomizo’s second novel is much longer than its predecessor, The Inugami Curse also puts Detective Kindaichi centre stage as he is tasked with solving the murder of the head of the powerful Inugami Clan. The clan itself is marred with dark and dirty secrets, many of which come out when a series of murders begin, following the death of the clan patriarch. This is a macabre but fun and intensely exciting Japanese mystery novel that lays down enough twists and turns to keep the plot feeling fresh, despite its longer length.

Murder in the Crooked House by Soji Shimada, translated by Louise Heal Kawai, Pushkin Press, 2019

Murder in the Crooked House is one of those honkaku Japanese mystery novels that leans on the setting, focussing on the compelling intricacies of its setting over everything else. That setting is the titular Crooked House. The house sits on a snowy cliff in a remote part of Japan, and it is an intricately-designed place that works as a kind of puzzle box. It’s the character of the house that carries the story. Drawn with compelling detail, the Crooked House is like a Rubix cube or a puzzle box that the reader can almost fiddle with in order to solve the central murder.

The Tokyo Zodiac Murders by Soji Shimada, translated by Ross Mackenzie, Pushkin Press, 2015

An artist lives with seven women, all members of his family. In his notes and diaries, he has plotted out a scheme to murder each of them, one by one. Before he can, however, he is killed. This is a classic honkaku locked room mystery, with him having died in his locked office with no way in or out.

Following his death, however, the women begin to die, as he had planned, and our two protagonists — amateur detectives — set out on a journey to track down the murderer, and they take you along with them. The possibility that our artist never died at all remains at the back of our minds the entire time, as does the question of how he died and who is doing the killings in his place.

This is one of the sharpest Japanese mystery novels around; one of the finest ever written. The journey we take is engaging and the central conceit is something to be chewed on for hours and hours. It’s clever, intriguing and an absorbing whodunnit.

The Master Key by Masako Togawa, translated by Simon Grove, Pushkin Press, 2017

Masako Togawa was one of the most beloved Japanese mystery authors around. This book is set in a large apartment complex in Tokyo, every resident of which is a woman with a secret.

Rather than beginning with a murder, the story follows the theft of the master key, which opens every door to every apartment in the building. With these tangled secrets coming out, the book promises that, at the centre of this tangled web, we will find a murder.

The Lady Killer by Masako Togawa, translated by Simon Grove, Pushkin Press, 2018

The Lady Killer is a personal favourite. This is a book with similar vibes to those of Ryu Murakami which leans into the seedy underbelly of Tokyo life.

The book follows a serial killer named Ichiro Honda as he turns from hunter to hunted. While he lives his days as an ordinary, unassuming urban husband, at night Honda is a man who enjoys seducing the vulnerable women of Tokyo’s clubs and bars. However, as a trail of bodies winds its way towards him, Honda becomes someone else’s prey.

Modern Classics

Inspector Imanishi Investigates by Seicho Matsumoto, translated by Beth Cary, Soho Crime, 1999

A dead body is found under the rails of a train in the early hours of a cold 1960s Tokyo morning. Possessing no documents and with a face so brutally damaged that the police find it impossible to identify the victim, the assigned detective to the case, Inspector Imanishi, is left with only two clues to follow: the distinctive accent of a young man who was last seen with the victim and the word “kameda.” After months of following wrong leads and not a single solid suspect, the case is closed, unresolved. Imanishi, dissatisfied, cannot take the case out of his mind, but then a series of strange but coinciding events lead him back to square one.

Credited with popularizing the mystery genre in Japan, “Inspector Imanishi Investigates” is one of Seicho Matsumoto’s most famous novels and a classic Japanese detective story. Inspector Imanishi isn’t your typical eccentric, gifted detective with impressive deductive skills, but a laid-back, quiet bonsai lover who enjoys spending his free time writing haiku and folding paper cranes. With the perfect combination of a down-to-earth detective and a seemingly unsolvable crime, “Inspector Imanishi Investigates” is the best company for a stormy, indoor summer afternoon.

Malice by Keigo Higashino, translated by Alexander O. Smith, Abacus, 2014

Keigo Higashino is one of Japan’s foremost modern mystery writers, penning some of the most successful Japanese mystery novels of recent years. Like Yokomizo’s Detective Kindaichi, police detective Kyoichiro Kaga is a legendary detective protagonist, and Malice was his debut novel. Malice begins with the brutal murder of a famous Japanese novelist, Kunihiko Hindada — killed in his own home the day before a big move to Canada was planned.. This is a modern take on the classic locked room murder mystery. When the author’s body is found by both his wife and fellow writer Osamu Nonoguchi, it is in a locked room in a locked house.

Before becoming a police detective, Kaga was a teacher, and Nonoguchi was his colleague, who eventually also left the job to pursue a career as a writer. His success never reached the heights of the murder victim, though. What makes this book stand out in a sea of Japanese mystery novels is the fact that Nonoguchi, very early, confesses to the murder — just as Kaga suspects — but that’s just the beginning. Kaga returns in the novel Newcomer. Here is my review:

Out by Natsuo Kirino, translated by Stephen Snyder, Vintage, 2006

Taking an unflinching look into the darkest recesses of society and the human soul, One provides an unsettling reminder that the desperate desire for freedom can make the most ordinary person do the unimaginable.

While this is a story of crime and murder in Japan, it’s not a detective story. Out follows the stories of four women who work at a bento box factory in Tokyo. When one of these women finally snaps and murders her husband, while their children sleep in the next room, she enlists the help of her colleagues to cut up and hide the body. Thus begins a race against time and the authorities to avoid detection and get away with murder.

Six Four by Hideo Yokoyama, translated by Jonathan Lloyd-Davies, Riverun, 2016

For five days, the parents of a seven-year-old Tokyo schoolgirl sat and listened to the demands of their daughter’s kidnapper. They would never learn his identity. They would never see their daughter again.

For the fourteen years that followed, the Japanese public listened to the police’s apologies. They would never forget the botched investigation that became known as ‘Six Four’. They would never forgive the authorities their failure. What follows is a complex, slow-burning, insightful and methodical picture of policing in Japan that will stay with you long after you’ve turned the final page.

The Devotion of Suspect X by Keigo Higashino, translated by Alexander O. Smith, Abacus, 2012

When Yasuko Hanaoka’s abusive ex-husband appears at her door to extort money, the situation quickly takes a dark turn, and he ends up strangled by Yasuko and her daughter. After witnessing the incident from the apartment next door, math teacher Ishigami decides to help his neighbours in covering up the murder. Assigned to the case is detective Kusanagi, who grows increasingly suspicious of the mother and daughter despite not identifying any holes in their alibi, so he goes to seek help from his physicist friend Dr. Yukawa who often assists in police cases. What follows is a competition between two geniuses trying to outsmart the other. With the murder and the culprit already laid out from the beginning, “The Devotion of Suspect X” focuses on the how and the why, leaving readers immersed in a competition of the highest stakes and two questions to be answered: Can there be such a thing as an unsolvable puzzle and how far would someone go to create one?

One of the most popular modern Japanese thrillers to date, Higashino’s “The Devotion of Suspect X” was my entry point to Japanese crime fiction and has won multiple awards, which include the coveted 134th Naoki Prize and the sixth Honkaku Mystery Award, one of the most prestigious awards for mystery novels in Japan. The novel’s enticing plot is remarkably translated to English by Alexander O. Smith, having been nominated for the 2012 Edgar Allan Poe Award for Best Novel

Confessions By Kanae Minato, translated by Stephen Snyder, Mulholland Books, 2014

Kanae Minato has been described as “’the queen of iyamisu’ (eww mystery), a subgenre of mystery fiction which deals with grisly episodes and the dark side of human nature.” In Confessions, middle school teacher Yuko Moriguchi’s four-year-old child dies tragically at the school she teaches. After giving a rattling confession to her homeroom class, she resigns from her position, a last act of revenge for the death that was no accident. As Moriguchi’s story and the stories of characters labeled “Student A” and “Student B” unravel, it turns out that she’s not the only one with confessions to make.

But revenge has a way of spinning out of control, and Yuko's last lecture is only the start of the story. In this bestselling Japanese thriller of love, despair and murder, everyone has a confession to make, and no one will escape unharmed.

Journey Under the Midnight Sun by Keigo Higashino, translated by Alexander O. Smith, Abacus 2013

In Osaka, 1972, a man was found murdered at an abandoned building. Detective Sasagaki, assigned to the case, soon finds himself out of leads when two of the main suspects are found dead and no more clues are discovered. Two kids, however, catch his attention throughout the investigation: the gloomy son of the victim Ryo, and the alluring daughter of the main suspect Yukiho. In a tangled web of characters and events, follow detective Sasagaki in this epic 20-year riddle as he relentlessly attempts to piece together strange misfortunes, sudden twists and unexpected connections.

“Journey Under the Midnight Sun” is one of the best examples of the author’s sleight of hand. With an episodic plot, a long list of minor characters, and references to major historical events of 1970s Japan, it might be challenging at first for the inexperienced reader. However, the complexity of the epic allows a deep dive into the psyche of the era and the hearts of the characters.

The Decagon House Murders by Yukito Ayatsuji, translated by Ho-Ling Wong, Pushkin Press, 2020

Yukito Ayatsuji is one of the founders of the Honkaku Mystery Writers Club: a group of Japanese mystery authors who echo the golden age of detective stories to outstanding effect. His first novel was The Decagon House Murders.

Paying homage to Agatha Christie’s masterpiece, And Then There Were None, The Decagon House Murders follows the story of a group of young mystery novel fanatics who spend a few days on an island which was, just one-year prior, the scene of a brutal murder.

One narrative follows the students as they fall into a murderous trap while staying in the island’s one remaining building, the Decagon House where the students are picked off one by one. The second narrative follows two remaining members of the club as they remain on land and begin their own investigation after receiving a letter from the deceased owner of the island. The central question we face is this: is the killer one of the students, or is it the not-so-dead owner of the Decagon House?

The Aosawa Murders by Riku Onda, translated by Alison Watts, Bitter Lemon Press, 2020

1970s Japan. A freak mass murder takes place in a remote town on a stormy day. 17 people were found dead at a birthday party, including elderly and children. The police are puzzled — how will they catch the murderer if the only present witness and survivor of the massacre is a blind, sickly girl? A few different individuals are suspected at first, but soon all suspicion lies on a single person. You see, it’s a very simple story. If there are ten people in a house and nine die, who is the culprit?

However, proving their guilt is a lot harder than it seems since people’s memories are faulty and their perspectives are biased. As much as you try to make the pieces fall perfectly in place, Onda takes you on a swirl of events and findings that contradict each other, but will leave you glued to the book until the end. In this dark, tantalizing journey that challenges the norms of the mystery genre, Onda gives voice to all of those involved in the crime and dives deep into their psyche, exploring their innermost fears and darkest secrets leading to an interpretive ending.

Here is my review:

The Woman in the Purple Skirt by Natsuko Imamura, translated by Lucy North, Faber & Faber 2021

The Woman in the Purple Skirt is being watched. Someone is following her, always perched just out of sight, monitoring which buses she takes; what she eats; whom she speaks to. But this invisible observer isn't a stalker - it's much more complicated than that. Through the narrator who follows and watches the mysterious Woman in the Purple Skirt, Imamura weaves a disquieting, darkly voyeuristic narrative of obsession, manipulation and the insidious effects of gossip.

The Wrong Goodbye by Toshihiko Yahagi, Translated by Alfred Birnbaum, MacLehose 2021

A classic slice of Japanese hard-boiled noir paying homage to Raymond Chandler, the Wrong Goodbye pits homicide detective Eiji Futamura against a shady Chinese business empire and U.S. military intelligence in the docklands of recession era Japan.

After the frozen corpse of immigrant barman Tran Binh Long washes up in midsummer near Yokosuka U.S. Navy Base, Futamura meets a strange customer from Tran’s bar. Vietnam vet pilot Billy Lou Bonney talks Futamura into hauling three suitcases of “goods” to Yokota US Air Base late at night and flies off leaving a dead woman behind. Thereby implicated in a murder suspect’s escape and relieved from active duty, Futamura takes on hack work for the beautiful concert violinist Aileen Hsu, a “boat people” orphan whose Japanese adoption mother has mysteriously gone missing. And now a phone call from a bestselling yakuza author, a one-time black marketeer in Saigon, hints at inside information on “former Vietcong mole” Tran and his “old sidekick” Billy Lou, both of whom crossed a triad tycoon who is buying up huge tracts of Mekong Delta marshland for a massive development scheme. As the loose strands flashback to Vietnam, the string of official lies and mysterious allegiances build into a dark picture of the U.S.-Japan postwar alliance.

Here is my review:

Bullet Train by Kotaro Isaka, translated by Sam Malissa, Harvill Secker, 2021

Five killers find themselves on a bullet train from Tokyo competing for a suitcase full of money. Satoshi looks like an innocent schoolboy but he is really a viciously cunning psychopath. Kimura's young son is in a coma thanks to him, and Kimura has tracked him onto the bullet train heading from Tokyo to Morioka to exact his revenge. But Kimura soon discovers that they are not the only dangerous passengers onboard.

Nanao, the self-proclaimed 'unluckiest assassin in the world', and the deadly partnership of Tangerine and Lemon are also travelling to Morioka. A suitcase full of money leads others to show their hands. Why are they all on the same train, and who will get off alive at the last station?

Bullet Train is an original and propulsive thriller from a prize-winning Japanese bestseller – and it’s already set to be a major film, directed by David Leitch and boasting a star-studded cast including Brad Pitt, Sandra Bullock and Aaron Taylor Johnson.

Forthcoming Publications:

The Village of Eight Graves By Seishi Yokomizo, Translated by Bryan Karetnyk, Pushkin Press 2 December 2021

Nestled deep in the mist-shrouded mountains, The Village of Eight Graves takes its name from a bloody legend: in the Sixteenth Century eight samurais, who had taken refuge there along with a secret treasure, were murdered by the inhabitants, bringing a terrible curse down upon their village.

Centuries later a mysterious young man named Tatsuya arrives in town, bringing a spate of deadly poisonings in his wake. The inimitably scruffy and brilliant Kosuke Kindaichi investigates.

Death of the Living Dead by Masaya Yamaguchi, translated by Ho-Ling Wong, Amazon Kindle, December 2021

Occasionally Japanese crime fiction will cross with the supernatural, such as in Ring by Koji Suzuki, and this highly awaited translation of Masaya Yamaguchi.

It is the late 1900s, and strange occurrences of “resurrection of the dead” are occurring all over the United States. Amidst this, Smiley Barleycorn, the immensely wealthy founder of Smile Cemetery in the New England town of Tombsville, is on his deathbed. His family has been summoned and Smiley’s grandchild Francis (a.k.a. Grin) visits his grandfather along with his beloved. There Grin witnesses the neglect of the dying master of the house and the unfolding of ugly family disputes over the inheritance of the huge estate. On the day of a Family Tea Party, Grin drinks tea that has been poisoned and breathes his last quietly in his room, but is soon resurrected as one of the living dead. Grin thinks that he may have gotten caught up in a planned murder over succession to property, and, while concealing from those around him that he has already died once, tries to uncover the truth behind the incident. Meanwhile the victims, the suspects, and even the detectives are dying and resurrecting one after another.

Silent Parade by Keigo Higashino, Translated by Giles Murray, Little Brown, 14 December 2021

A popular young girl disappears without a trace, her skeletal remains discovered three years later in the ashes of a burned-out house. There’s a suspect and compelling circumstantial evidence of his guilt, but no concrete proof. When he isn’t indicted, he returns to mock the girl’s family. And this isn’t the first time he’s been suspected of the murder of a young girl, nearly twenty years ago he was tried and released due to lack of evidence. Chief Inspector Kusanagi of the Homicide Division of the Tokyo Police worked both cases.

The neighborhood in which the murdered girl lived is famous for an annual street festival, featuring a parade with entries from around Tokyo and Japan. During the parade, the suspected killer dies unexpectedly. His death is suspiciously convenient but the people with all the best motives have rock solid alibis. Chief Inspector Kusanagi turns once again to his college friend, Physics professor and occasional police consultant Manabu Yukawa, known as Detective Galileo, to help solve a modern take on the ‘locked room murder mystery’.

Lady Joker by Kaoru Takamura, Translated by Allison Markin Powell and Marie Iide, John Murray Press, 17 February 2022

One of Japan’s great modern masters, Kaoru Takamura, makes her English-language debut with this two-volume publication of her magnum opus. Tokyo, 1995. Five men meet at the racetrack every Sunday to bet on horses. They have little in common except a deep disaffection with their lives, but together they represent the social struggles and griefs of post-War Japan: a poorly socialized genius stuck working as a welder; a demoted detective with a chip on his shoulder; a Zainichi Korean banker sick of being ostracized for his race; a struggling single dad of a teenage girl with Down syndrome. The fifth man bringing them all together is an elderly drugstore owner grieving his grandson, who has died suspiciously after the revelation of a family connection with the segregated buraku community, historically subjected to severe discrimination.

Intent on revenge against a society that values corporate behemoths more than human life, the five conspirators decide to carry out a heist: kidnap the CEO of Japan’s largest beer conglomerate and extract blood money from the company’s corrupt financiers. Inspired by the unsolved true-crime kidnapping case perpetrated by “the Monster with 21 Faces,” Lady Joker has become a cultural touchstone since its 1997 publication, acknowledged as the magnum opus by one of Japan’s literary masters, twice adapted for film and TV and often taught in high school and college classrooms.

Three Assassins by Kotaro Isaka, translated by Sam Malissa, Harvill Secker, 4 April 2022

Suzuki is just an ordinary man until his wife is murdered. When he discovers the criminal gang responsible he leaves behind his life as a maths teacher and joins them, looking for a chance to take his revenge. What he doesn't realise is that he's about to get drawn into a web of unusual professional assassins, each with their own agenda.

The Whale convinces his victims to take their own lives using just his words.

The Cicada is a talkative and deadly knife expert.

The elusive Pusher dispatches his targets in deadly traffic accidents.

Suzuki must take each of them on, in order to try to find justice and keep his innocence in a world of killers

Fish Swimming In Dappled Sunlight by Riku Onda, Translated by Alison Watt, Bitter Lemon Press, 16 June 2022

Set in Tokyo over the course of one night, Aki and Hiro have decided to be together one last time in their shared flat before parting. Their relationship has broken down after a mountain trek during which their guide died inexplicably. Now each believes the other to be a murderer and is determined to extract a confession before the night is over. Who is the murderer and what really happened on the mountain? In the battle of wills between them, the chain of events leading up to this night is gradually revealed in a gripping psychological thriller that keeps the reader in suspense to the very end.

[fictionfromafar]

Crime Fiction Novels In Translation due in 2022

This list will be added over the coming months so look out for additions. Dates given relate to physical edition release dates in the UK, these dates and indeed occasionally book titles may vary in other territories. USA releases only also shown in brackets.

4th January

Phenotypes by Paulo Scott, translated by Daniel Hahn, And Other Stories BRAZIL

Federico and Lourenço are brothers. Their father is black, a famed forensic pathologist for the police; their mother is white. Federico – distant, angry, analytical – has light skin, which means he’s always been able to avoid the worst of the racism that Brazilian culture has to offer. Lourenço, on the other hand, is dark-skinned, easy-going, and well-liked. Federico is called home as his niece has just been arrested at a protest carrying a concealed gun. And not just any gun. A stolen police service revolver that Federico and Lourenço hid for a friend, decades before. A gun used in a killing.

Dead of Winter by Anders de la Motte, translated by Marlaine Delargy, Zaffre SWEDEN

With her aunt's death, Laura inherits the cabin village Hedda used to manage and is forced to return to the town she hasn't set foot in since the tragedy. Laura's presence stirs up repressed emotions in the small community and it isn't long before a series of arson attacks casts suspicion on her.

The Wanderer by Luca D'Andrea, translated by Katherine Gregor, MacLehose Press ITALY

Out walking his St Bernard, Tony Carcano is confronted by a girl on a motorbike who shows him a photograph from his past. Of him posing with the body of a young woman. Smiling. "Why were you laughing?" It's not the last Tony sees of Sybille Knapp, an orphan whose mother drowned herself in Kreuzwirt lake in 1999.

Cry Wolf by Hans Rosenfeldt, translated by Elizabeth Clark Wessel, Harper Collins SWEDEN

Hannah Wester, a detective in the remote northern Swedish town of Haparanda, finds herself on the precipice of chaos. When human remains are found in the stomach of a dead wolf, Hannah knows that this summer won’t be like any other. The remains are soon linked to a bloody drug deal that went down just across the border in Finland. But how did the victim end up in the woods outside Haparanda? And where have the drugs and money gone?

11 Jan

Buried in Secret by Viveca Sten, translated by Marlaine Delargy, Amazon Crossing SWEDEN

When two cold case disappearances are reopened, a decade of deadly secrets is unearthed on Sandhamn Island. A woman’s skeletal remains are excavated on an uninhabited island in Sandhamn’s archipelago, and Thomas Andreasson is called to officially investigate. But his best friend, Nora Linde, can’t help but get involved.

13 January

My Annihilation by Fuminori Nakamura, translated by Sam Bett, Soho Crime JAPAN

What transforms a person into a killer? Can it be something as small as a suggestion? Turn this page, and you may forfeit your entire life. With My Annihilation, Fuminori Nakamura, master of literary noir, has constructed a puzzle box of a narrative in the form of a confessional diary that implicates its reader in a heinous crime.

Silver Pebbles by Hansjoerg Schneider, translated by Mike Mitchell, Bitter Lemon Press SWITZERLAND

A hunt for drug gang diamonds is keeping Basel Inspector Hunkeler on tenterhooks. Basel, nestled at the border of Switzerland with Germany and France, has been hammered by a huge snowstorm, cars and trams can barely move, trees are groaning under the weight of the recent snowfall, the cathedral and city roofs are smothered.

18 Jan

The Night by Rodrigo Blanco Calderon, translated by Daniel Hahn and Noel Hernández, Seven Stories VENEZUELA

Recurring blackouts envelop Caracas in an inescapable darkness that makes nightmares come true. Real and fictional characters, most of them are writers, exchange the role of narrator in this polyphonic novel. They recount contradictory versions of the plot, a series of femicides that began with the energy crisis. The central narrator is a psychiatrist who manipulates the accounts of his friend, an author writing a book titled The Night; and his patient, an advertising executive obsessed with understanding the world through word puzzles.

20 Jan

The Anomaly by Herve Le Tellier, translated by Adriana Hunter, Michael Joseph FRANCE

Winner of the Goncourt Prize and now an international phenomenon, this dizzying, whip-smart novel blends crime, fantasy, sci-fi, and thriller as it plumbs the mysteries surrounding a Paris-New York flight. An ingenious, timely variation on the doppelgänger theme, it taps into the parts of ourselves that elude us most.

21 Jan

Bitter Flowers by Gunnar Staalesen, translated by Don Bartlett, Orenda Books NORWAY

Varg Veum has returned to duty following a stint in rehab, but his new composure and resolution are soon threatened when three complex cases arrive on his desk in quick succession. A man is found dead in an elite swimming pool and a young woman has gone missing. Most chillingly, Varg Veum is asked to investigate the ‘Camilla Case’: an eight-year-old cold case involving the disappearance of a little girl, who was never found.

3 Feb

We Know You Remember by Tove Alsterdal, translated by Alice Menzies, Faber & Faber SWEDEN

A missing girl, a hidden body, a decades-long cover-up, and old sins cast in new light: the classic procedural meets Scandinavian atmosphere in this rich, character-driven mystery, awarded Best Swedish Crime Novel of the Year, that heralds the American debut of a supremely skilled international writer.

Land of Snow and Ashes by Petra Rautianen, translated by David Hackston, Pushkin Press FINLAND

Finnish Lapland, 1944: a young soldier is called to work as an interpreter at a Nazi prison camp. Surrounded by cruelty and death, he struggles to hold onto his humanity. When peace comes, the crimes are buried beneath the snow and ice. A few years later, journalist Inkeri is assigned to investigate the rapid development of remote Western Lapland. Her real motivation is more personal: she is following a lead on her husband, who disappeared during the war.

10 Feb

Winter Water by Susanne Jansson, translated by Rachel Willson-Broyles, Hodder & Stoughton SWEDEN

Martin, who has always been drawn to the ocean, moves his wife Alexandra and their two young children move to his family's idyllic summer cottage in the picturesque island village of Orust, on the west coast of Sweden. Martin begins to cultivate a mussel farm, where he soon runs into trouble with the locals.

17 Feb

Unhinged by Thomas Enger & Jorn Lier Horst, translated by Megan Turner, Orenda Books NORWAY

Investigator Sofia Kovic has uncovered a connection between several deaths and murder cases in Oslo over the last year and a half. She tries to call her closest superior, Alexander Blix, not yet wanting to involve anyone else in the police, but before Blix has time to return her call, Kovic is shot and killed in her own home – execution style. And in the apartment below, Blix’s daughter Iselin narrowly escapes becoming the killer’s next victim.

Wild Shores by Maria Adolfsson, translated by Agnes Broome, Zaffre SWEDEN

Though Detective Karen Eiken Hornby returned to her homeland, the island nation Doggerland, from London some years ago, she has largely avoided visiting the northernmost island where her father's wayward family reside. But when a man's body is discovered in a flooded quarry on Noorö and with illness preventing any of her colleagues attending, Karen has no choice but to head north to investigate.

Lady Joker Vol 1 by Kaoru Takamura, translated by Allison Markin Powell and Marie Iide, John Murray Press JAPAN

One of Japan’s great modern masters, Kaoru Takamura, makes her English-language debut with this two-volume publication of her magnum opus. Tokyo, 1995. Five men meet at the racetrack every Sunday to bet on horses. They have little in common except a deep disaffection with their lives, but together they represent the social struggles and griefs of post-War Japan: a poorly socialized genius stuck working as a welder; a demoted detective with a chip on his shoulder; a Zainichi Korean banker sick of being ostracized for his race; a struggling single dad of a teenage girl with Down syndrome. The fifth man bringing them all together is an elderly drugstore owner grieving his grandson, who has died suspiciously after the revelation of a family connection with the segregated buraku community, historically subjected to severe discrimination.

22nd Feb

Even the Darkest Night: A Terra Alta Novel by Javier Cercas, translated by Anne McLean, MacLehose Press SPAIN

When Melchor goes to investigate the horrific double-murder of a rich printer and his wife in rural Cataluña nothing quite adds up. The young cop from the big city, hero of a foiled terrorist attack, has been sent to Terra Alta till things quieten down. Observant, streetwise and circumspect, Melchor is also an outsider. The son of a Barcelona prostitute who never knew his father, Melchor rapidly fell into trouble and was jailed at 19, convicted of driving for a Colombian drug cartel.

24 Feb

The Harbour by Katrine Engberg, translated by Tara Chace, Hodder & Stoughton DENMARK

When fifteen-year-old Oscar Dreyer-Hoff disappears, the police assume he's simply a runaway - a typically overlooked middle child doing what teenagers do all around the world. But his frantic family is certain that something terrible has happened. After all, what runaway would leave behind a note that reads: "He looked around and saw the knife that had stabbed Basil Hallward."

3 March

When Women Kill by Alia Trabucco Zerán, translated by Sophie Hughes, And Other Stories CHILE

Corina Rojas, Rosa Faúndez, Carolina Geel and Teresa Alfaro all committed murder. Their crimes not only led to substantial court decisions, but gave rise to multiple novels, poems, short stories, paintings, plays, songs and films, produced and reproduced throughout the last century. In When Women Kill, we are provided with timelines of events leading up to and following their killings, their apprehension by the authorities, their trials and their representation in the media throughout and following the judicial process.

The Old Woman with the Knife by Gu Byeong-Mo, translated by Chi-Young Kim, Canongate Press KOREA

At sixty-five, Hornclaw is beginning to slow down. She lives modestly in a small apartment, with only her aging dog, a rescue named Deadweight, to keep her company. There are expectations for people her age—that she'll retire and live out the rest of her days quietly. But Hornclaw is not like other people. She is an assassin.

Portrait of an Unknown Lady by María Gainza, translated by Thomas Bunstead, Harvill Secker ARGENTINA

In the Buenos Aires art world, a master forger has achieved legendary status. Rumored to be a woman, she specializes in canvases by the painter Mariette Lydis, a portraitist of Argentinean high society

On the trail of this mysterious forger is our narrator, an art critic and auction house employee through whose hands counterfeit works have passed. As she begins to take on the role of art-world detective, adopting her own methods of deception and manipulation

5 March

The Corpse Flower by Anne Mette Hancock, translated by Tara Chace, Swift Press DENMARK

It’s early September in Copenhagen, the rain has been coming down for weeks, and 36-year-old journalist Heloise Kaldan is in the middle of a nightmare. One of her sources has been caught lying, and she could lose her job over it. And then she receives the first in a series of cryptic and ominous letters from an alleged killer.

17 March

Reptile Memoirs by Silje Ulstein, translated by Alison McCulloch, Grove Press UK NORWAY

Mariam Lind goes on a shopping trip with her eleven-year-old daughter, Iben, who angers her mother by asking for a magazine one too many times. Mariam storms off, leaving Iben in the shop and, expecting her young daughter to find her own way home, heads off on a long calming drive. Detective Roe Olsvik is assigned to the case of Iben's disappearance; he has just turned sixty and is new to the Kristiansund police department. As he interrogates Mariam, he instantly suspects her—but there is much more to this case and these characters than their outer appearances would suggest.

River Clyde by Simone Buchholz, translated by Rachel Ward, Orenda Books GERMANY

Mired in grief after tragic recent events, State prosecutor Chastity Riley escapes to Scotland, lured to the birthplace of her great-great grandfather by a mysterious letter suggesting she has inherited a house.

In Glasgow, she meets Tom, the ex-lover of Chastity’s great aunt, who holds the keys to her own family secrets – painful stories of unexpected cruelty and loss that she’s never dared to confront.

22 March

A Harmless Lie by Sara Blaedel, translated by Mark Cline, Dutton (USA) DENMARK

Detective Louise Rick is on a beach in Thailand when the panicked call from her father comes through. Louise′s beloved brother, Mikkel, has attempted suicide. His wife, Trine, left him days earlier, walking out the door one day with no warning and leaving Mikkel devastated.

23 March

Paradais by Fernanda Melchor, translated by Sarah Hughes, Fitzcarraldo Editions MEXICO

Inside a luxury housing complex, two misfit teenagers sneak around and get drunk. Franco Andrade, lonely, overweight, and addicted to porn, obsessively fantasizes about seducing his neighbor--an attractive married woman and mother--while Polo dreams about quitting his grueling job as a gardener within the gated community and fleeing his overbearing mother and their narco-controlled village. Each facing the impossibility of getting what he thinks he deserves, Franco and Polo hatch a mindless and macabre scheme.

29 March

The Resting Place by Camilla Sten, translated by Alexandra Fleming, Macmillan (USA) SWEDEN

When Eleanor walked in on the scene of her capriciously cruel grandmother, Vivianne’s, murder, she came face to face with the killer—a maddening expression that means nothing to someone like her. With each passing day, the anxiety of having come so close to a killer--and not knowing if they’d be back—overtakes both her dreams and her waking moments, thwarting her perception of reality.

31 Mar

For the Lost by Lina Bengtsdotter, translated by Agnes Broomé, Orion SWEDEN

In Karlstad, nine-month-old Beatrice is missing from her pram. Her parents are in shock and the media is in a frenzy. DI Charlie Lager is struggling with her own demons when she's called to investigate, forced to push them aside as the case intensifies. As lead after lead goes nowhere, Charlie starts to feel like nobody actually wants the truth to come out about Beatrice as reluctant locals shut down in the face of her questions. And with each passing hour, the chance of finding Beatrice alive becomes less and less likely...

Killing Happiness by Friedrich Ani, translated by Alexander Booth, Seagull Books London Ltd GERMANY

Happiness is extinguished completely one cold November night when eleven-year-old Lennard Grabbe fails to return home. Thirty-four days later, he is found to have been murdered, and former inspector Jakob Franck, the protagonist of Friedrich Ani’s previous novel The Nameless Day, is entrusted with delivering the most horrible news

4 Apr

Three Assassins by Kotaro Isaka, translated by Sam Malissa, Harvill Secker JAPAN

Suzuki is just an ordinary man until his wife is murdered. When he discovers the criminal gang responsible he leaves behind his life as a maths teacher and joins them, looking for a chance to take his revenge. What he doesn’t realise is that he’s about to get drawn into a web of unusual professional assassins, each with their own agenda. The Whale convinces his victims to take their own lives using just his words. The Cicada is a talkative and deadly knife expert. The elusive Pusher dispatches his targets in deadly traffic accidents. Suzuki must take each of them on, in order to try to find justice and keep his innocence in a world of killers.

7 Apr

The Missing Word by Concita De Gregorio, translated by Clarissa Botsford, European Editions ITALY

Based on a true story, an urgently told psychological thriller and the fierce portrait of a woman in all her frailty and courage. Irina’s life with her husband and her twin daughters is orderly. An Italian living in Switzerland, she works as a lawyer. One day, something breaks. The marriage ends without apparent trauma, but on a weekend seemingly like any other, the girls’ father takes Alessia and Livia away with him. They disappear. A few days later the man takes his own life. Of the girls, there is no trace.

14 Apr

The Dark Flood by Deon Meyer, translated by KL Seegers, Hodder & Stoughton SOUTH AFRICA

One last chance. Almost fired for insubordination, detectives Benny Griessel and Vaughn Cupido find themselves demoted, exiled from the elite Hawks unit and dispatched to the leafy streets of Stellenbosch. Working a missing persons report on student Callie de Bruin is not the level of work they are used to, but it's all they get. And soon, it takes a dangerous, deeply disturbing turn.  As Griessel and Cupido intensify their search, real estate agent Sandra Steenberg confronts her own crisis: state corruption has caused the real estate market to crash, exacerbating the dire financial straits facing her family.

22 Apr

Vanda by Marion Brunet, translated by Katherine Gregor, Bitter Lemon Press FRANCE

Set in Marseilles, this the story of Vanda, a beautiful woman in her thirties, arms covered in tats, dark luxuriant hair in heavy curls, skin so dark that some take her for a North African. Devoted to her six-year-old son Noe, they live in a derelict shed by the beach, a mother surrounding and defending her child like a lioness. Everything changes when Simon, the father of her son, surfaces in Marseilles. He had left Vanda seven years earlier, not knowing that she was pregnant. When Simon demands custody of his son, Vanda's suppressed rage threatens to explode. The tension becomes unbearable, both parents fully capable of extreme violence.

28 Apr

Outside by Ragnar Jónasson, translated by Victoria Cribb, Michael Joseph ICELAND

When a deadly snowstorm strikes the Icelandic highlands, four friends seek shelter in a small, abandoned hunting lodge. It is in the middle of nowhere and there's no way of communicating with the outside world. They are isolated, but they are not alone...

Young Beasts At Play by Davide Longo, translated by Silvester Mazzarella, MacLehose Books ITALY

September 2008. Commissario Arcadipane arrives at the scene of a macabre discovery: the bones of twelve men and women buried in the countryside near Torino. By the next morning, a task force specialising in mass graves from WWII is already in place. But something doesn't feel right: one of the femurs shows signs of an operation that couldn't have taken place before the seventies.

Cigarette by Per Hagman, translated by Elinor Fahrman, Nordisk Books SWEDEN

Stockholm. Early summer, 1989. Johan is a young waiter working at the Hard Rock Café. His nights are filled with parties, drugs, booze and MTV. An endless chase of the next girl, the next high... the next music video.

4 May

Expect The Unexpected by Vicente Raga, Addvanza (USA) SPAIN

Two stories narrated in parallel. The first one is about the Holy Inquisition in Spain, where the main characters are the European humanists Luis Vives, among Erasmus of Rotterdam and Thomas More. All the characters lived in their time period, and every narrated fact occurred in reality. The second story stars a group of friends from the actual Valencia that discover that the mystery they thought was solved, in reality, has just started.

Death In Summer by Lina Arkelew, translated by Tara Chase, Canelo SWEDEN

When murder comes to a secluded island, the ghosts of he past will resurface. As a young boy, Frederk Froding survived one of Europe's worst ferry disasters. The tragedy haunts him and he refuses to give up hope that his brother Niklas also lived.

5 May

This World Does Not Belong to Us by Natalia Garcia Freire, Oneworld Publications ECUADOR

Lucas was just a child when his father sold him to another farmer as a laborer. Years later, Lucas returns, full of resentment and burning for revenge. After years away, Lucas returns uninvited to the home he was expelled from as a child. The garden has been conquered by weeds, which blanket his mother’s beloved flowerbeds and his father’s grave alike. A lot has changed since Eloy and Felisberto were invited into the family home to work for Lucas’s father, long ago.

11 May

The List by Florian Dennisson, Bloodhound Books FRANCE

A man confesses to four murders—but will tell the police nothing more—in this stunning psychological crime thriller. I killed them all. The stranger who walks into the police station says it again and again, but the only information he will provide is a list of the victims’ names. Yet when officers go in search of the bodies, they find only empty rooms, forensic traces of blood, and more questions than answers.

19 May

Kalmann by Joachim B Schmit, translated by Jamie Lee Searle, Bitter Lemon Press SWITZERLAND

The book is narrated by Kalmann, a thirty-four-year-old neurodiverse man, who often has an innocent and literal interpretation of events and relationships. The author uses a combination of simple language and rather stilted, formal expression which skilfully and successfully conveys his unconventional way of seeing the world. When Kalmann finds a pool of blood up in the hills outside the small village of Raufarhöfn and local bigwig Robert McKenzie goes missing at the same time, the hunt is on to find McKenzie’s body and his murderer.

22 May

The Silence by Yrsa Sigurdardottir, translated by Victoria Cribb, Hodder & Stoughton ICELAND

Detective Huldar and child psychologist Freyja are now working in the same police building, on the same team. Freyja believes that personal and professional relationships must remain separate, however hard that may be. But when a woman's dismembered body is found in a deserted car, her head missing, and Freyja and Huldar find themselves working on the same case, the secrecy around their affair threatens to crack. And when Freyja is accused of a serious breach of police protocol, will Huldar be able to help her?

Little Drummer by Kjell Ola Dahl, translated by Don Bartlett, Orenda Books NORWAY

When a woman is found dead in her car in a Norwegian parking garage, everyone suspects an overdose ... until a forensics report indicates that she was murdered. Oslo Detectives Frølich and Gunnarstranda discover that the victim's Kenyan scientist boyfriend has disappeared, and their investigations soon lead them into the shady world of international pharmaceutical deals.

26 May

Trapped by Camilla Lackberg & Henrik Fexeus, translated by Ian Giles, Harper Collins SWEDEN

It’s a case unlike anything detective Mina Dabiri has seen before. A woman trapped inside a magician’s box, with swords pierced through. But this time, it’s not a magic trick. It’s murder. Knowing she has a terrifying killer on her hands, Mina enlists the help of celebrity mentalist, Vincent Walter. Only he can give her an insight into the secret world of magic and illusions. Mina and Vincent soon discover that the murder victim has the roman numeral III engraved on her leg. The killer is counting down. There are going to be three more murders. And time is running out to stop them.

The Mirror Man by Lars Kepler, translated by Alice Menzies, Zaffre SWEDEN

Detective Joona Linna is on the trail of a kidnapper who targets teenage girls and makes their worst nightmares a reality. Sixteen-year-old Jenny is abducted in broad daylight and taken to a dilapidated, isolated house where she is chained and caged along with several other girls.

16 June

Fish Swimming in Dappled Sunlight by Riku Onda, translated by Alison Watts, Bitter Lemon Press JAPAN

This gripping psychological thriller takes place in a desolate apartment in a Japanese city. The protagonists, Aki and Hiro, fell in love at university before becoming convinced that they were brother and sister, separated when young after Aki was adopted. After living together platonically for some years they went on a trek in the mountains, where their guide—their estranged natural father—died inexplicably. Each believes the other to be the murderer and are determined to extract a confession.

23 June

The Lover by Helene Flood, translated by Alison McCulloch, MacLehose Press NORWAY

Rikke is deceiving them both. When their upstairs neighbour Jørgen is found dead, she's questioned alongside her husband Åsmund. How can Rikke admit in front of Åsmund that Jørgen and she were having an affair? Or explain to the police the complexity of her feelings for Jørgen? The hint of relief that he's dead. And, as the investigation closes in on the neighbourhood, how long can she conceal the affair from her neighbours, her husband and her teenage daughter.

Impossibe by Erri De Luca, translated by NS Thompson, Mountain Leopard Press ITALY

Without evidence, an experienced hiker is held in solitary confinement under suspicion of murdering a man who fell to his death on a mountain path. In a series of tense, metered interviews, the political causes of the suspect's past emerge. The men knew each other decades earlier, were brothers-in-arms against a greater social injustice until the victim turned state’s evidence and the accused was sent to prison.

Sweet Revenge by Camilla Läckberg, translated by Ian Giles, Harper Collins SWEDEN

Two gripping novellas from the No.1 international bestselling author, Women Without Mercy & Truth or Dare

30 June

Gokumon Island by Seishi Yokomizo, translated by Translated by Bryan Karetnyk, Pushkin Vertigo JAPAN

Detective Kosuke Kindaichi arrives on the remote Gokumon Island bearing tragic news--the son of one of the island's most important families has died, on a troop transport ship bringing him back home after the Second World War. But Kindaichi has not come merely as a messenger--with his last words, the dying man warned that his three step-sisters' lives would now be in danger. The scruffy detective is determined to get to the bottom of this mysterious prophesy, and to protect the three women if he can.

Tokyo Express by Seicho Matsumoto, translated by Jesse Kirkwood, Penguin Modern Classics JAPAN

In a rocky cove in the bay of Hakata, the bodies of a young and beautiful couple are discovered. Stood in the coast's wind and cold, the police see nothing to investigate: the flush of the couple's cheeks speaks clearly of cyanide, of a lovers' suicide. But in the eyes of two men, Torigai Jutaro, a senior detective, and Kiichi Mihara, a young gun from Tokyo, something is not quite right. Together, they begin to pick at the knot of a unique and calculated crime...

4 July

The Hitchhiker by Gerwin van der Werf, translated by David Colmer, Text Publishing (USA) NETHERLANDS

Tiddo plans a holiday to Iceland, travelling the tourist circuit in a rented campervan. On their trip, they pick up a hitchhiker named Svein, who is tall, handsome and covered in tattoos of ancient runes. When Svein offers to guide them off the beaten track, Tiddo is conflicted. Does Svein pose a threat or offer salvation? Is there wisdom in his stories? What power do his tattoos hold?

Farewell Fountain Street by Selcuk Altun, Translated by Mel Kenne & Nilgun Dungan, Telegram TURKEY

Ziya Bey has six months left to live. From his mansion on Farewell Fountain Street, the Ottoman aristocrat plans to tie up some questionable business affairs and say goodbye to the people he cherishes. He hires Artvin, a disillusioned professor with a troubled past, to assist him. Intrigued by his employer's mysterious household, Artvin spends the days uncovering Ziya Bey's turbulent life story. The two men become bound together as they reveal dark elements from their pasts. But when Ziya Bey releases Artvin from his duties sooner than expected, Artvin inherits a spiral of violence he cannot control.

6 July

Of Saints and Miracles by Manuel Astur, translated by Claire Wadie, Peirene Press SPAIN

An unconventional thriller laced with lyrical nature writing, Of Saints And Miracles is a sensuous portrayal of an outcast’s struggle to survive in a changing world and a seamless blend of the tragic and the majestic. Marcelino, a gentle outsider who flees into the mountains after a moment of anger changes his life forever.

7 July

The Whisperer's Game by Donato Carrisi, translated by Katherine Gregor, Little Brown ITALY

The phone call to the police arrives at dusk from an isolated farmhouse, fifty miles from the city. A terrified woman's voice pleads for help. But a violent storm rages in the area and the first available patrol only succeeds in reaching her hours later. It is too late. Something perturbing has happened, something which leaves the investigators in the dark.

The Final Nail by Stefan Ahnhem, translated by Agnes Broome, Head Of Zeus SWEDEN

He has extorted. He has abused. He has raped. He has sacrificed souls as a means to reach the very top. In every way, he is a despicable man. His name is Kim Sleizner and he works as a police chief in Copenhagen. Dunja Hougaard has gone underground to covertly investigate her former boss, Sleizner. For months, Dunja and her team have been gathering information. When a high-ranking man within the Danish intelligence service and an unknown woman are found dead at the bottom of a lake outside Copenhagen, the trap is finally ready to close.

Of Fangs And Talons by Nicolas Mathieu, translated by Sam Taylor, Sceptre FRANCE

When a factory that employs most of a small town is scheduled to close - to the despair of the workers and disdain of the overlords - things start to fall apart. The disenfranchised factory workers have nothing left to lose. Martel, the trade union rep with innumerable tattoos and Bruce, the body-builder addicted to steroids resort to desperate measures. A bungled kidnapping on the streets of Strasbourg goes horribly wrong and they find themselves falling prey to the machinations of the criminal underworld.

A Grain of Truth by Christian Unge, translated by George Goulding, MacLehose Press SWEDEN

A woman is found wandering the corridors of Nobel Hospital in Stockholm, accompanied by a young boy. She appears to be looking for a man who was involved in a car accident earlier that day. Meanwhile, in one of the emergency rooms, Tekla Berg is fighting to save a patient who was seriously injured in the same incident. The resulting chaos goes beyond anything anyone could have predicted, leaving hospital staff, police and everyone else involved equally shocked and perplexed.

14 July

Mothers Don’t by Katixa Agirre, translated by Kristin Addis, 3TimesRebel Press BASQUE COUNTRY

A story that highlights he primal guilt that comes with becoming a mother. Halfway between a thriller and a journalistic chronicle, in Mothers Don’t a mother kills her twins while another woman, the narrator, is about to give birth. How could a woman be capable of neglecting her children? How could she kill them?

Dead Lands By Núria Bendicho, translated by Martha Tennent and Maruxa Relaño 3TimesRebel CATALONIA

A rural drama in which a violent death unleashes the story of a cursed lineage. Featuring thirteen characters and thirteen different points of view, the novel is a kaleidoscopic narrative that unfurls an atavistic universe where characters are burdened by brutal origins, two deaths, and a dark secret.

22 July

Night Shadows by Eva Björg Ægisdóttir, Translated by Victoria Cribb, Orenda Books ICELAND

Icelandic detective Elma faces mortal danger as she investigates the death of a young man in a mysterious Akranes house fire, and a Dutch au pair’s perfect placement turns deadly. The small community of Akranes is devastated when a young man dies in a mysterious house fire, and when Detective Elma and her colleagues from West Iceland CID discover the fire was arson, they become embroiled in an increasingly perplexing case involving multiple suspects.

26 July

Blood Ties by Ruth Lillegraven,  translated by Diane Oatley, Amazon Crossing NORWAY

Norway’s newly appointed minister of justice, child-rights advocate Clara Lofthus comes home from work to make a terrifying discovery: her sons have been kidnapped. Clara’s search leads to her hometown in Western Norway, where she learns that her mother has been released from the mental hospital she has been living at for the past thirty years.

26 Jul

The Forgery by Ave Barrera, translated by Ellen Jones, Ellen & Robin Myers, Charco Press MEXICO

A failing artist turned forger, an architectural masterpiece hidden behind high walls, an impish vagabond, and some very resourceful, very intimidating twins-Forgery pays homage to greats like Juan Rulfo and Luis Barragan, traversing late 20th Century Guadalajara with the exuberance and eccentricity of an 18th Century picaresque.

2 August

The Shadow Lily by Johanna Mo, translated by Alice Menzies,  Penguin Books SWEDEN

Small-town police detective Hanna Duncker has a past. Her deceased father was convicted of murder and arson long ago, and she has taken up residence and resumed her police career in her hometown after his death. She and her partner Erik Lindgren are called to investigate the disappearance of a father and his infant son from their home while his pregnant wife was away on a weekend trip.

4 Aug

Bad Kids by Zijin Chen, Translated by Michelle Deeter,  Pushkin Press CHINA

One beautiful morning, Zhang Dongsheng pushes his wealthy in-laws off a mountain – the perfect crime. Or so he thinks. Even though the murders were as carefully choreographed as a play, he did not expect that three teenagers had caught him in the act. But Zhang Dongsheng seriously underestimates them . Dark, murky and violent, Bad Kids is the Chinese suspense thriller about the inner lives of teenagers that has taken China by storm.

The Ice Fisher By Anna Ihren, translated by Emma Ericson, SAGA Egmon SWEDEN

When the research vessel "Idun" arrives in Smögens harbour one early winter morning, the head of research, Kaj Malmberg, is found murdered in his cabin. For the university's rector, Regina Löfdahl, the tragedy is leaving her short, because Malmberg is supposed to present the research elite's top prize in marine research at Smögens Havsbad that same evening.

Wake Me Up at 9:00 in the Morning By A Yi, translated by Nicky Harman, Oneworld Publications CHINA

A thrilling journey through China's dark criminal underworld, from a celebrated voice in Chinese literature. When Hongyang is found dead after a night of debauched drinking, it looks as if his reign of terror has finally come to an end. Few in this insular community have much reason to mourn his passing: Hongyang is an infamous mob boss, a man with plenty of enemies. But now it seems that his years of crime have also earned him some very dangerous friends.

18 Aug

Punishment by Ferdinand von Schirach, Translated by Katharina Hall, Baskerville, GERMANY

A young lawyer puts aside her sense of justice to succeed at her new firm. A man who values silence is driven to murder by his noisy neighbours. A cheated wife seeks revenge. How do you decide what punishment fits the crime? Our narrator is a man you'd never want to meet unless you really needed him. A nameless criminal defence lawyer, he coolly narrates the fate of twelve characters who cross his path. In spare, gripping prose, he tells their stories, uncovering the loneliness and alienation, desire and desperation which drive their choices and shape the consequences they face.

Whisper of the Seals by Roxanne Bouchard, translated by David Warriner, Orenda Books CANADA

Detective Moralès takes on a chilling case set on the icy seas of Quebec’s remote Magdalen Islands, in the midst of a brutal seal hunt. An atmospheric, race-against-the-clock thriller set on the icy seas in the midst of a brutal seal hunt, where nothing is as it seems and absolutely no one can be trusted.

Conviction by D A Mishani, translated by Jessica Cohen, riverrun ISRAEL

Two investigations began on the same day. One seemed domestic, almost banal: a newborn is found in a bag outside a hospital and the woman who left it there is captured after a few hours. The second investigation appeared stranger and more intriguing: a Swiss tourist disappeared from a beach-hotel near Tel-Aviv, and a quick inquiry showed he had been using a fake passport and at least two names. Can he be a Mossad agent like his daughter claims? And is he in danger?

The Guilty One by Anna Karolina, translated by Lisa Reinhardt, Thomas & Mercer SWEDEN

Is he guilty or innocent? Even he doesn't know... On the eve of their thirtieth birthday, twins Jasmine and Nicolas Moretti celebrate late into the night. But when Nicolas wakes several hazy hours later, Jasmine is dead--and he is covered in her blood.

Emma Tapper, an ex-cop driven to drink by a tragedy she's devastated she couldn't prevent, is recruited by defence lawyer to help with this high-profile case.

The Red Notebook by Michel Bussi, translated by Vineet Lal W&N FRANCE

Leyli Maal is a beautiful Malian woman, mother of three, living in a tiny apartment on the outskirts of Marseille. Her quiet life as a well-integrated immigrant is suddenly shaken when her beautiful eldest daughter, Bamby, becomes the main suspect in two murders linked to a lethal illegal immigration racket. Is Bamby really involved? And why is everyone desperate to get their hands on Leyli’s mysterious red notebook?

Dark Music by David Lagercrantz, translated by Ian Giles, MacLehose SWEDEN

Professor Hans Rekke is a world authority on interrogation techniques, Micaela Vargas is a street-smart police officer, the daughter of Chilean political refugees. Micaela needs Hans’s unique mind to help her solve the case of a murdered asylum-seeker from Afghanistan. Hans needs Micaela to save him from himself. Together, they need to find the killer before they’re both silenced for good.

25 Aug

There Are No Happy Loves by Sergio Olguín, translated by Miranda France, Bitter Lemon Press ARGENTINA

Haunted by nightmares of her past, Veronica is soon involved in a new investigation. Darío, involved in a car accident that supposedly killed all his family, is convinced that his wife and child have in fact survived and that his wife has abducted their child. A lorry, searched in the port of Buenos Aires on suspicion that it is carrying drugs, is revealed to be transporting human body parts. These seemingly separate incidents prove to be tied in a shadowy web of complicity involving political, medical and religious authorities

Ghost Town by Kevin Chen, translated by Darryl Sterk, Europa Editions TAIWAN

Keith Chen, the second son of a traditional Taiwanese family of seven, runs away from the oppression of his village to Berlin in the hope of finding acceptance as a young gay man. The novel begins a decade later, when Chen has just been released from prison for killing his boyfriend. He is about to return to his family’s village, a poor and desolate place. With his parents gone, his sisters married, mad, or dead, there is nothing left for him there. As the story unfurls, we learn what tore this family apart and, more importantly, the truth behind the murder of Chen’s boyfriend.

1st Sept

Cruel Tides by Maria Adolfsson, translated by Agnes Broome, Zaffre SWEDEN

Detective Inspector Karen Eiken Hornby is not the only person to have returned to her native Doggerland after years abroad. Following a ten-year hiatus, Luna has chosen to secretly record her comeback album where she was born and raised. Spirits are high among her team at the wrap party, though Karen is less than impressed with the simpering singer. The next morning, Luna is nowhere to be found.

Broken Summer by Jung-Myung Lee (J M Lee), translated by An Seon Jae, Amazon Crossing KOREA

Lee Hanjo is an artist at the peak of his fame, envied and celebrated. Then, on his forty-third birthday, he awakens to find that his devoted wife has disappeared, leaving behind a soon-to-be-published novel she’d secretly written about the sordid past and questionable morality of an artist with a trajectory similar to Hanjo’s. It’s clear to him that his life is about to shatter and the demons from his past will come out. But why did his wife do it? Why now?

The Bleeding by Johana Gustawsson, translated by David Warriner, Orenda Books FRANCE

Queen of French Noir, Johana Gustawsson returns with the first in a startling new series – a dark, horrifying, powerful historical thriller with an extraordinary mystery at its heart and three women pushed so far beyond breaking point, they have only one way out…

The Axe Woman by Håkan Nesser, translated by Sarah Death, Mantle SWEDEN

Sweden 2012. When Inspector Gunnar Barbarotti returns to work after a terrible personal tragedy his boss asks him to investigate a cold case, hoping to ease him back gently into his police duties. The Axe Woman is the fifth and final Inspector Barbarotti novel from bestselling author Håkan Nesser.

15 Sep

The Enigma Of Room 622 by Joël Dicker, translated by Robert Bononno, MacLehose Press FRANCE

It all starts with an innocuous curiosity: at the Hotel Verbier, a luxury hotel in the Swiss Alps, there is no Room 622. This anomaly piques the interest of the writer Joël Dicker, Switzerland’s most famous literary star, who is staying at the hotel to recover from a bad breakup, mourn the death of his longtime publisher, and begin his next novel. Before he knows it, Joël is coaxed out of his torpor by a fellow guest – Scarlett, a captivating aspiring novelist with a nose for intrigue, who swiftly uncovers the reason behind Room 622’s deliberate erasure: an unsolved murder.

Good Reasons to Die by Morgan Audic, translated by Sam Taylor, Mountain Leopard FRANCE

A haunting thriller set in the radioactive Chernobyl exclusion zone, Good Reasons to Die will keep readers hooked to the last page. In a village close to Chernobyl, detectives Joseph Melnyk and Galina Novak uncover a man's mutilated body hanging from a building. All clues left at the scene of the crime point to a double homicide that took place on the very night that the nuclear power plant exploded. Doubtful of the abilities of the Ukrainian police, the murdered man's father, a Moscow mafia boss, summons Rybalko, a Russian police officer of dubious morals, to conduct a parallel investigation to find and execute his son's killer.

Harm by Sólveig Pálsdóttir, translated by Quentin Bates, Corylus Books ICELAND

When wealthy doctor Ríkharður Magnússon goes to sleep in his luxurious caravan and doesn’t wake up, Guðgeir and Elsa Guðrún travel to the Westman Islands to investigate what looks like murder. The obvious suspect is the victim’s young, beautiful and deeply troubled girlfriend – but that would be the easy option, and they begin to uncover a trail of enemies the man had left behind him. Family feuds, disgruntled friends and colleagues, a bizarre group of acquaintances, a bitter former wife and a drug cult all leave them wading through the wreckage of the man’s life as they search for his killer. Harm is Sólveig Pálsdóttir’s third novel featuring soft-spoken Reykjavík detective Guðgeir Franssson to appear in English and she again weaves a complex web of intrigue that plays out in the Westman Islands and Reykjavík, while asking some searching questions about things society is not prepared to tolerate and others it accepts without question.

Femicide by Pascal Engman, trranslated by Michael Gallagher, Legend Press SWEDEN

When 25-year-old Emelie is found murdered in her Stockholm apartment the same week her ex-partner is released from prison, it feels like an open and shut case for Detective Vanessa Frank. Who else would launch such a frenzied attack on the young woman? But Frank suspects there is something they’re missing. Could the killing be linked to the rising online movement of men who want to punish women, the so-called ‘incels’?

Sweet Dreams by Anders Roslund, translated by Elizabeth Clark Wessel, Vintage Publishing SWEDEN

Two little girls go missing on the same day in Stockholm. Their disappearances are never explained. In time, the investigations are abandoned. A chance discovery puts Detective Ewert Grens back on the trail five years later. His own personal trauma makes him determined to find out what happened to these children who were snatched from a supermarket and a car park and never seen again.

27 Sept

The Shadow Murders by Jussi Adler-Olsen, translated by William Frost, Quercus DENMARK

On her sixtieth birthday, a woman commits suicide. When the case lands on Detective Carl Mørck’s desk, he can’t imagine what this has to do with Department Q, Copenhagen’s cold cases division. It’s a tragedy to be sure, but the cause of death seems to be clear. But his superior, Marcus Jacobsen, is convinced that this is not in fact a suicide, but a murder related to an unsolved case that has been plaguing him since 1988.

29 Sep

Ashes in the Snow by Oriana Ramunno, translated by Katherine Gregor, Harper Collins ITALY

A young Jewish prisoner... Auschwitz, 1943. It's snowing outside and Block 10 looks even bleaker than usual. Gioele Errera, a young Jewish boy imprisoned in the camp, finds the body of an SS officer. A detective with everything to prove... Hugo Fischer is sent to investigate the unexplained death of the renowned Nazi. But Hugo is hiding a secret

4 Oct

Cocoon by Zhang Yueran, translated by Jeremy Tiang, World Editions (USA) CHINA

In this literary thriller, two friends, born in the 1980s, seek to understand the experiences of their parents and grandparents during one of the most turbulent periods in Chinese history and the terrible crime that connects their families.

Cruz By Nicolás Ferraro, Translated by Mallory N. Craig-Kuhn, Soho Press ARGENTINA

Tomás Cruz swore he would never be like his father, an abusive cocaine junkie whose gangland exploits are notorious throughout the underbelly of northern Argentina. When Samuel Cruz is sentenced to thirteen years in prison, he leaves a laundry list of unfinished cartel business. Seba, Tomás’s revered older brother, has no choice but to abandon his straight life and take over his father’s underworld debt.

The Winners by Fredrik Backman, trranslated by Neil Smith, Simon & Schuster SWEDEN

Two years have passed since the events that no one wants to think about. Everyone has tried to move on, but there’s something about this place that prevents it. The residents continue to grapple with life’s big questions: What is a family? What is a community? And what, if anything, are we willing to sacrifice in order to protect them?

6 Oct

The Tattoo Murder by Akimitsu Tagaki, translated by Deborah Boehm, Pushkin Press JAPAN

Kinue Nomura survived World War II only to be murdered in Tokyo, her severed limbs discovered in a room locked from the inside.  Gone is the part of her that bore one of the most beautiful full-body tattoos ever rendered. Kenzo Matsushita, a young doctor who was first to discover the crime scene, feels compelled to assist his detective brother, who is in charge of the case. But Kenzo has a secret: he was Kinue’s lover, and soon his involvement in the investigation becomes as twisted and complex as the writhing snakes that once adorned Kinue’s torso.

13 Oct

1794: The City Between the Bridges by Niklas Natt och Dag, translated by Anna Stina Knapp, Baskerville SWEDEN

In 1794, the second installment of Niklas Natt och Dag's historical noir trilogy, we are reunited with Mickel Cardell, Anna Stina Knapp, and the bustling world of late eighteenth century Stockholm from The Wolf and the Watchman. The city is about to see its darkest days yet as veneers crack and the splendour of old gives way to what is hiding in the city's nooks and crannies.

Deeds of Autumn by Anders De La Motte, translated by Marlaine Delargy, Zaffre SWEDEN

Five lifelong friends gather for a last farewell to their childhoods and each other at an abandoned quarry. The mood is effervescent, but under the surface tensions run deep as not everyone is ready to let go - or be left behind. When dawn breaks, only four remain alive. The police rule the death a tragic accident, but not everyone is convinced, and the incident remains an open wound in the community. When the old chief of police is replaced by Anna Vesper, a newly arrived detective from Stockholm, whispers and rumours about that night can no longer be silenced.

Red as Blood by Lilja Sigurðardóttir, translated by Quentin Bates, Orenda Books ICELAND

When entrepreneur Flosi arrives home for dinner one night, he discovers that his house has been ransacked, and his wife Gudrun missing. A letter on the kitchen table confirms that she has been kidnapped. If Flosi doesn’t agree to pay an enormous ransom, Gudrun will be killed. Forbidden from contacting the police, he gets in touch with Áróra, who specialises in finding hidden assets, and she, alongside her detective friend Daniel, try to get to the bottom of the case without anyone catching on.

18 Oct

Lady Joker Vol 2 by Kaoru Takamura, translated by Allison Markin Powell and Marie Iide, John Murray Press JAPAN

This second half of Lady Joker, by Kaoru Takamura, the Grand Dame of Japanese crime fiction, concludes the breathtaking saga introduced in Volume I.

27 Oct

The Moose Paradox by Antti Tuomainen, translated by David Hackston, Orenda Books FINLAND

Insurance mathematician Henri Koskinen has finally restored order both to his life and to You Me Fun, the adventure park he now owns, when a man from the past appears–and turns everything upside down again. More problems arise when the park’s equipment supplier is taken over by a shady trio, with confusing demands.

30 Oct

Deceit by Jonina Leosdottir, translated by Quentin Bates, Corylus Books, ICELAND

Reykjavík detective Soffía finds herself struggling to cope with a single-handed investigation into a spate of malicious acts taking place across the city, and enlists help from an unexpected direction. Her psychologist ex-husband Adam has advised the police before, but with Covid raging in the city, would prefer to stay holed up in his basement flat as he deals with challenges in both his working and private life.

3 Nov

Urgent Matters by Paula Rodríguez, Translated by Sarah Moses, Pushkin Press ARGENTINA

A train crashes in the suburbs of Buenos Aires, leaving forty-three people dead, including two unidentifiable bodies. Hugo, a homicide suspect wanted for a body found dumped on the outskirts of the city, is on the train. Unharmed, but trapped, he is left holding his phone and a prayer card of Saint Expeditus: the patron saint of urgent causes. To evade the police, Hugo must pretend to be one of the dead bodies. But the police get wise to the trick, and their leads begin unravelling at a furious pace, whipping through Buenos Aires’ cartels and criminal rings to reveal widespread corruption that reaches into the suburbs and beyond.

8 Nov

The Collector by Anne Mette Hancock, translated by Tara Chase, Crooked Lane Books (USA) DENMARK

When 10-year-old Lukas disappears from his Copenhagen school, police investigators discover that the boy had a peculiar obsession with pareidolia—a phenomenon that makes him see faces in random things. A photo on his phone posted just hours before his disappearance shows an old barn door that resembles a face. Journalist Heloise Kaldan thinks she recognizes the barn—but from where?

10 Nov

Breaking Point by Olivier Norek, translated by Nick Castor, Maclehose Press FRANCE

Coste has been sent to see a police psychologist after a case that saw him kill a suspect in self defence and witness the death of a member of his team. But what comes next will be more testing still. Five hardened criminals - a murderer, a paedophile, a Serbian ex-soldier, a kidnapper and a robber - are all caught up in the same case, and Coste is prepared to enter this nest of vipers no matter what the consequences for his colleagues and those closest to him. Lost souls, crimes of passion, cops like fallen angels: redemption is sometimes reached through revenge.

You Are Next by Arne Dahl, translated by Ian Giles, Harvill Secker SWEDEN

Detective Inspector Sam Berger's life has been turned upside down. He is suspected of murder and his partner, Secret Service agent, Molly Blom, is in a coma. Meanwhile, a terrorist attempt is threatening Stockholm and a wanted murderer is on the loose. Berger escapes to the Stockholm Archipelago while he waits for orders from the Swedish Security Service's chief executive. But is he the solution or is he part of the problem?

The Other Sister by Peter Mohlin and Peter Nystrom, translated by Ian Giles, The Overlook Press SWEDEN

Alicia Bjelke has always been the "other sister," the foil to her beautiful sister Stella—people turn their backs when they see Alicia's disfigured face. So she created a life in the background, becoming a coding genius and founding a groundbreaking dating app company. With Stella as the face of the company, Alicia has found success. Until one day, when Stella is found dead and Alicia’s life takes the wrong turn. Soon, she realizes that she is the next target.

Walk Me Home by Sebastian Fitzek, Head of Zeus GERMANY

The Walk Me Home telephone helpline service has proved indispensable. Staffed by volunteers, it provides a reassuring voice at the end of the phone, helping to protect lone women as they walk home at night.Jules has only been working for Walk Me Home for a short time and has never had to deal with a truly life-threatening situation.

24 Nov

The Night Man by Jørn Lier Horst, translated by Anne Bruce, Michael Joseph NORWAY

As the media closes in on the biggest story of the year, Wisting's journalist daughter Line receives a tip. Soon, it becomes clear that there is more to this case than anyone thought. A criminal network has lodged itself deep into the roots of the city, and it's up to Wisting to take down the elusive and dangerous Night Man.

Codename Faust by Gustaf Skoerdeman, Zaffre SWEDEN

Who have you spoken to about me?What do you know about Operation Wahasha?What have you told Detective Sara Nowak?These are the last words priest Jurgen Stiller hears before he is executed by a former terrorist known only by the codename 'Faust'. Then the killer begins the hunt for Detective Sara Nowak. Nowak is dangerously unaware that she is a target - until she is shot at in her own home.

30 Nov

The Boy and the Dog by Seishu Hase, translated by Alison Watts, Scribner UK, JAPAN

Following a devastating earthquake and tsunami, a young man in Japan finds a stray dog outside a convenience store. The dog’s tag says “Tamon,” a name evocative of the guardian deity of the north. The man decides to keep Tamon, becoming the first in a series of owners on the dog’s five-year journey to find his beloved first owner, Hikaru, a boy who has not spoken since the tsunami.

1 Dec

Conspiracy of Blood by Katarzyna Bonda, translated by Filip Sporczyk, Hodder & Stoughton POLAND

A complex and absorbing crime novel which finds Sasza Zaluska, the profiler and former undercover cop first encountered in Girl at Midnight, plunged even deeper into the web of corruption and criminality that has engulfed all levels of Polish society since the fall of Communism.

Hidden In The Snow by Viveca Sten, translated by Marlaine Delargy, Amazon Crossing, SWEDEN

On the day Stockholm police officer Hanna Ahlander’s personal and professional lives crash, she takes refuge at her sister’s lodge in the Swedish ski resort paradise of Åre. But it’s a brief comfort. The entire village is shaken by the sudden vanishing of a local teenage girl. Hanna can’t help but investigate, and while searching for the missing person, she lands a job with the local police department. There she joins forces with Detective Inspector Daniel Lindskog, who has been tasked with finding the girl. Their only lead: a scarf in the snow

15 Dec

A Death in Tokyo by Keigo Higashino, Abacus Books JAPAN

In the Nihonbashi district of Tokyo the statue of a mythic beast - a kirin - stands guard. Late at night, the body of a murdered man, stabbed in the chest, is found under the statue of the winged beast. However, that was not the crime scene - the man was killed a few hundred feet away and his body moved to that position..

The Missing Man by Anna Karolina, Translated By Lisa Reinhardt, Thomas & Mercer SWEDEN

Was she the billionaire’s lover? His partner in crime? Or his killer? Former cop Emma Tapper and her lawyer boss Angela Köhler are defending shipping boss Anita Spendel, charged with murdering her billionaire husband. Anita insists Martin Spendel is still alive, but his car is soaked in his blood. Emma must clear Anita’s name by finding the missing man—dead or alive…

Now for 2023:

[fictionfromafar]

Newcomer by Keigo Hagashino #JapanInJanuary

Newcomer by Keigo Hagashino

Translated by Giles Murray, Abacus

The first time I heard of Keigo Hagashino was when I found one of his novels “The Devotion of Suspect X” in a local Oxfam charity shop. Literally one of the best bargains I’ve ever bought. It was such a revelation with an unusual plot, a cat and mouse battle of wits. I would strongly encourage that you read it. Although his other novels have not quite had the same impact on me, I’ve since enjoyed “Salvation Of A Saint” and “Journey Under The Midnight Sun”. Forget any crass references to Hagashino being a Japanese Stieg Larsson, his work is more that of a golden age mystery writer.

Following “Malice”, “Newcomer” is the second in a series featuring Inspector Kyoichiro Kaga. Rest assured there is no backstory that the reader needs to be aware of, no other returning characters, vices or skeletons in the closet. This book can be considered a standalone. The newcomer of the title is Kaga himself who has recently taken up a position in a Tokyo police department. Kaga is an experienced officer who has developed a habit to look at the little inconsistencies which may reveal something bigger. He is assigned to the case of a woman strangled in her apartment in the business district of Nihonbashi. He uses the chance to help observe the local people and get to know the area. One early observation is distinguishing those business men who have been working in the office from those who have been visiting clients.

This novel is put together in a really original and memorable way. Although all told in the third party, each chapter of the book features a group of different characters centered around a local business. Therefore, chapters are set in a variety of family run premises including a rice cracker shop, a traditional Japanese restaurant, a china shop and a pastry shop. In case this sounds daunting, there is a cast of characters at the front of the book which is of great help. The one constant you can guarantee are discussions of the murder and the appearance of Kagi as a constant questioner.

Unlike his police colleagues, Kagi likes to dress in civilian clothes and often poses as a customer, only revealing his role in the investigations when he has to ask a direct question about someone's activities. Along the way he unravels a range of secrets which may or may not have relevance to the investigation. Kagi finds dubious motives, suspicious behaviours and a multiple of potential suspects. There are some wonderfully well characterised families such as the Yanagisawas where the long suffering Naoya has a wife and mother who refuse to talk to each other; and the hostile Genichi Terada who always goes into any confrontation fist first. Some new characters appear in each chapter and some do not return, when they have been eliminated or no further help to the investigation. Eventually the clues he obtains give Nagi grounds to suspect one particular person and then he needs to work out the timing, motive and opportunity for the murder.

“Newcomer” is not a high action story and there is no high body count or high speed chases. Yet nobody should be deterred from enjoying this intriguing story (or set of stories). The reader is constantly guessing and it is best enjoyed where possible in full chapter sittings. Hagashino is adept at bringing out the best and worst in human nature. For example, showing that often a person’s words do not match their true intentions as Kagi exposes simple misunderstandings, uncomfortable actions and their consequences. The novel yet again showcases Keigo Hagashino’s fine talents as an unorthodox story teller, with a flowing translation by Giles Murray. It’s an insightful and colourful look at contemporary Tokyo city life and how families function within that framework; as well as a focus on how loyalty can be misguided. This latter point features strongly in a satisfying resolution.

Highly recommended for anyone with a taste for international fiction, or those looking to break out of the cycle of never-ending serials of jaded detectives.

[fictionfromafar]

The Asowa Murders by Riku Onda #JanuaryInJapan

The Aosawa Murders by Riku Onda

Translated by Alison Watts, Bitter Lemon Press

Where better to start a cold January than by choosing a keenly awaited novel from my To Be Read (TBR) list as part of the theme of #JapanInJanuary. Published by Bitter Lemon Press in 2020, I’m not sure why it took me so long to pick it up, but this month has given me some time to explore some Japanese literature.

Winner of the Mystery Writers Award of Japan for Fiction “The Asowa Murder” was published in Japan in 2005. This was Onda’s first crime novel and her first book to be translated in English. It’s definitely worth the wait.

The Asowas were a prominent local family who owned a local hospital. On a memorable wet day in the 1970s, they were celebrating a double birthday celebration for two members of their family when 17 family party guests die of cyanide poisoning leaving only a long term house keeper and the Asowa’s daughter Hisako; who has been blind since a young age. With very few clues, the prime suspect in the case commits suicide several months later without revealing any explanation or whether he was working alone. The case is closed but few believe that the mystery has been solved.

The book moves back and forward to the present day where it cleverly takes the testimony of surviving friends, police and other witnesses to that fateful day as the mystery is gradually unraveled. Distinctive voices are given to those who retrace their memories and setting to what happened that day including those who were children at the time, with each chapter giving another character to shares his or her perceptions and recollections. A lot of the mystery surrounds the surviving family member Hisako Asowa. Newspaper articles and diary entries also hand us some clues, with little hints that gather significance later in the book.

The setting in a town by the coast of the Sea of Japan gives a claustrophobic atmosphere, few people ever seem to be able to tear themselves away from the town without returning at a later date. As the reader we begin to piece together the likely events and motive we try to anticipate the revelations that might follow. These are clouded by the passage of time but also by the viewpoint of the character, we are reading their perception of the truth and can’t always be fully be taken at face value. While there is a final showdown, some conclusions are left unsaid, somewhat leaving some judgments to the reader’s imagination. It’s a masterful and absorbing read which feels slightly dreamlike, with concrete facts at a premium.

Despite the changing timeframes, unusual setting and different voices from a Western perspective, and imaginative plot twists, “The Asowa Murders” is a fairly easy book to read, I completed it in three days. Alison Watts must be credited for a smooth translation. Therefore, I would certainly encourage readers who might be slightly daunted to read a translated novel from Japan to consider reading this. It’s a book that will last long in the memory and one that I’m sure will stand up to repeat readings.

Look out for a second English release by Riku Onda, "Fish Swimming in Dappled Sunlight" just in time for #JapanInJanuary next year.