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audreysy's review against another edition
3.5
If you’re coming into this book expecting a detective novel, you’re going to be sorely disappointed—which is funny because this is meant to be a detective novel. To be honest, Seishi Yokomizo’s works are really not my favorite, but they’re enjoyable enough that I would continue to read them. My main issue is that I enjoy being on the detective’s side of the mystery, standing from the viewpoint of the observer and trying to deduce whodunnit. With Yokomizo, the detective is almost a peripheral character, perceived by the narrator as an oddball, but he’s never been as peripheral as in this work. He barely made appearances in this. If this were a movie, his airtime would be a grabd total of, like, 5 minutes. That’s because in this one, the narrator is one of the primary suspects in the case. If you’re looking to follow how a detective investigates and see an intriguing mystery unfold with clues systemically being dropped throughout the story, this is not it. I found the final reveal to be unsatisfactory as well since it was not done through detective work, and the full explanation from the detective at the end no longer felt as satisfactory as it would normally have been to have a mystery solved. I was thoroughly disappointed by that. But the charm of this book also lies in what it gave it weakness. Because our narrator was one of the suspects, and he was playing a very active role in exploring the mystery, he takes on an adventure of exploring hidden passageways, hunting for treasure, and evading capture. It’s exciting, gripping, thoroughly entertaining. For that, I gave it three stars.
sophieguillas's review against another edition
4.0
I love how Yokomizo fits into the same old style murder mystery conversation as Agatha Christie, but through the Japanese context feels so fresh.
I really enjoyed the use of gossip and storytelling in this book. All the murders were motivated by human anger / greed / etc but I really believed the curse of 8 graves! The village's history and setting felt real and I enjoyed the little conflicts that came up, the people in town are contending with samurai history but ALSO post WW2 drama which was such an interesting contrast. I thought the tunnels in particular were so fun and creepy!
I really enjoyed the use of gossip and storytelling in this book. All the murders were motivated by human anger / greed / etc but I really believed the curse of 8 graves! The village's history and setting felt real and I enjoyed the little conflicts that came up, the people in town are contending with samurai history but ALSO post WW2 drama which was such an interesting contrast. I thought the tunnels in particular were so fun and creepy!
bpryan's review against another edition
adventurous
mysterious
medium-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? A mix
- Strong character development? No
- Loveable characters? Yes
- Diverse cast of characters? No
- Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes
4.0
Different from other Yokomizo books I later read in that it is from the perspective of a character, and not just of Detective Kindaichi's character. A good murder mystery with compelling characters, plot, development, and hard-to-guess ending.
Content Warnings
Graphic: Murder
Minor: Sexism and Xenophobia
mozumozumozu's review against another edition
dark
mysterious
tense
medium-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? Plot
- Strong character development? It's complicated
- Loveable characters? It's complicated
- Diverse cast of characters? N/A
- Flaws of characters a main focus? No
3.5
Content Warnings
Moderate: Murder and Rape
junemoonbaby's review against another edition
4.0
3.5 stars rounded up because i would have liked more bits from kosuke's perspective. it felt too little and he didn't even actually solve the case soo... definitely didn't really enjoy the narrator here (quite meta because the prologue mentions about the narrator trying his best despite not being a writer, so that's a stroke of genius) but the last chapter definitely had me eating my fingers - nails and all (wink wink). the atmosphere was great as usual, nobody really does creepy and ancient lore attached mysteries like seishi yokomizo!!
ariaslibrary's review against another edition
3.0
I understand why we had to shift POV. Kosuke couldn’t have been present during all those specific moments but the lice-infected, head-scratching, shaggy-headed, stuttering detective was barely here!! You can count on one hand how many scenes he had!
freddi_dean's review against another edition
adventurous
mysterious
medium-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? A mix
- Strong character development? N/A
- Loveable characters? N/A
- Diverse cast of characters? N/A
- Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes
4.0
8797999's review against another edition
4.0
A very enjoyable read, my third by Yokomizo, the detective is quite absent in this with the story centering around the narrator. I guessed the villain early on and it was a fun read but I preferred the previous books more.
jesshaleth's review against another edition
adventurous
mysterious
medium-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? Character
- Strong character development? No
- Loveable characters? It's complicated
- Diverse cast of characters? No
- Flaws of characters a main focus? It's complicated
3.5