2.21k reviews for:

The Honjin Murders

Seishi Yokomizo

3.63 AVERAGE

books_are_awesome___'s review

4.0
mysterious medium-paced
Plot or Character Driven: Character
Strong character development: No
Loveable characters: Complicated
Diverse cast of characters: No
Flaws of characters a main focus: Complicated

katrinkaa97's review

2.5
mysterious medium-paced
Plot or Character Driven: Plot
Strong character development: No
Loveable characters: Yes
Diverse cast of characters: No
mekhalaiyengar's profile picture

mekhalaiyengar's review

4.0

The Honjin Murders by Seishi Yokomizo is probably the best book I've read so far this year. It felt like a murder mystery play/ drama. The beginning was slow (or maybe I'm cursed bc I find all books to be slow at the start idk) but from chapter 2 the story slowly gets interesting. I was basically on the edge after chapter 5.

Yokomizo constructed the whole plot meticulously like a murder and triangular relationship with the narrator (detective author), characters, and Yokomizo (actual author) is just fascinating. This technique reminded me of Nabokov's triangular trinity: author, reader, and narrator. The author knew just when to pull the right strings and grab the reader's interest. I can't lie it was really clever.

And Kindaichi is such a cool character! He is definitely one to root for! I loved him from the moment he was described! But his character isn't revealed until chapter 7 and that build up works really well because the chapters after Kindaichi's arrival move fast as a bullet train (lol)

In the end everything wrapped up really well! My only complain is that some descriptive aspects were confusing. Maybe if I read this in the original language (or even heard it in the original language), the effect might definitely be different. (Side note: liked the inclusion of a character list at the start of the story)

Conclusion:
Did I love this book? Yes
Was it perfect? No
Will I read it again? Yes but in the original language I guess
Will I continue Kindaichi Series? Yes!!
thespaceburrito's profile picture

thespaceburrito's review

2.5
challenging dark reflective tense slow-paced
Plot or Character Driven: Character
Strong character development: No
Loveable characters: No
Diverse cast of characters: No
Flaws of characters a main focus: Yes
adam_penny's profile picture

adam_penny's review

3.0
mysterious fast-paced
Plot or Character Driven: Plot
Strong character development: No
Loveable characters: No
Diverse cast of characters: No
Flaws of characters a main focus: Yes

katyc_1974's review

3.5
mysterious medium-paced
Plot or Character Driven: Plot
Strong character development: No
Loveable characters: No
Diverse cast of characters: No
Flaws of characters a main focus: N/A
jamesjcfc's profile picture

jamesjcfc's review

2.5
mysterious fast-paced
Plot or Character Driven: Plot
Strong character development: No
Loveable characters: No
Diverse cast of characters: No
Flaws of characters a main focus: No

nat16's review

3.5
adventurous dark mysterious reflective sad medium-paced
Plot or Character Driven: Character
Strong character development: No
Loveable characters: Complicated
Diverse cast of characters: Yes
Flaws of characters a main focus: Yes

korsbsd's review

3.75
mysterious fast-paced
Plot or Character Driven: Plot
Strong character development: No
Loveable characters: Yes
Diverse cast of characters: No
Flaws of characters a main focus: No

lizcooper333's review

4.0
dark mysterious tense fast-paced
Plot or Character Driven: Plot
Strong character development: No
Loveable characters: No
Diverse cast of characters: No
Flaws of characters a main focus: No