Reviews

The Lady Killer by Masako Togawa

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readivine's review against another edition

2.0

I kind of regret wasting my time to read this. This was actually pretty good but I've grown to be familiarized with the plot structure and the execution of the narrative. To be fair, this novel is definitely older as opposed to other prominent Japanese crime fiction and the idea might be fresh at the time. However, I just didn't feel particularly taken by the characters, the writing, and the story.

darkcoffeelover81's review against another edition

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adventurous dark mysterious tense fast-paced

Plot- or character-driven? A mix
Strong character development? It's complicated
Loveable characters? Yes
Diverse cast of characters? N/A
Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes

4.0

she_s_reading___'s review

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5.0

I think what really liked was the different points of view. When I got to Part 2, I couldn’t put the book down.

Setting: 1963 Tokyo, Japan
The novel is divided into 2 part - Mr. Honda and The Lawyers

Mr. Honda

Ichiro Honda is a well respected gentleman by day — lady killer by night. I don’t know whether to call him a Casanova or a Don Juan, but he haunts the streets of Shinjuku, ensnaring countless women, and recording their seduction in his “hunting” diary. Thing go awry when his latest paramours turn up dead and all the evidence point to him!

The Lawyers

Lawyers Hatanaka and Shinji play detective and uncover the truth of the matter; Mr. Honda may be an adulterer and seducer, but murderer doesn’t fit the bill.

The big questions are who framed Ichiro and why? I really didn’t see the end coming.

maryamlikestoread's review

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adventurous medium-paced

Plot- or character-driven? Character
Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes

4.0

vertika's review

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mysterious medium-paced

Plot- or character-driven? Plot
Strong character development? No
Loveable characters? It's complicated
Diverse cast of characters? No
Flaws of characters a main focus? No

3.75

staticdisplay's review against another edition

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3.0

the psychological elements of this mystery are interesting, and it does feel fairly modern which is pretty impressive considering that it was written about 60 years ago! I didn't enjoy this more because I found the central mystery yucky (to be really sophisticated with my language) and I wasn't interested in seeing Honda exonerated. from the little blurbs I'd much rather learn more about Masako Togawa, who seems to have had a fascinating life, than do a deep dive into the psyche of a misogynistic fragile narcissist. (I'm wondering how novel this was back in the 60s - I'm guessing this was ahead of its time in terms of portraying this kind of male character [now we're over-saturated], but I could be wrong.)