Reviews

I loved loved this book... tense... suspenseful and had me guessing all the way to the end. I liked the fact there was a bit of romance and I do like the idea of a happy ending as such. I hope there are more translations in the offing for Yokomizo A’s works because this was great.

y4wwn's review against another edition

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dark mysterious tense medium-paced

Plot- or character-driven? Plot
Strong character development? No
Loveable characters? No
Diverse cast of characters? Yes
Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes

3.75

viraaptrh's review against another edition

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challenging dark mysterious tense slow-paced

5.0

tragedies's review against another edition

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challenging funny mysterious tense fast-paced

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

5.0

This book was absolutely WILD. I devoured it in two sittings, and in both times, I completely lost all sense of time and space. I don’t know what Seishi Yokomizo put in this, but it’s extremely addicting. A real page turner. Though I find some answers to the mystery a little predictable, it’s how you get to those answers that poses quite the challenge and I love it. Honestly, the Inugamis deserve their own reality show because damn their family drama is on a league of its own. There are vengeful, ever-scheming relatives; family members with familiar faces but questionable identities; and, of course, the source of all this drama—Sahei Inugami—the clan’s patriarch, renowned rags-to-riches owner of a silk empire, and most of all, resident bisexual disaster (not a spoiler, just facts from the first chapter!). And what a disaster he was. His messy past had already been an open secret in the village, but as more of his secrets come to light, another tragedy befalls the clan, like a curse unraveling after decades of dormancy. Just when you think you know what was going on, something else is revealed that completely throws you off course. Even genius detective Kosuke Kindaichi is thrown for a loop, much to his chagrin but also to our entertainment. A riveting murder mystery that is equal parts thrilling and cozy. I loved The Honjin Murders, but this is on another level entirely. I’d give anything just to read this again for the first time.

Content Warnings

beccajbooks's review against another edition

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5.0

This is the second Japanese thriller I have read in the last few months and I absolutely loved it.

I am so looking forward to the next one I can get my hands on, although only a couple have been translated, I believe one is coming later on this year!

The Inugami Curse begins with Detective Kindaichi being summoned to Nasu to investigate when strange things start happening to the family members of an important clan. When he arrives, he witnesses first hand an example of these occurrences, when one of the family is nearly drowned in the lake outside his hotel. As more things happen, and family members start to die, Kindaichi has to find out what is going on while dealing with an old curse and even older family secrets.

It gets pretty violent and bloody, and there are some bits that are not for the faint hearted. The three daughters of the dead head of the clan, Sahei, are just vicious. I was very surprised, at one point, with just how extreme these ladies can take things. Matsuko is probably the scariest woman I've read in a long time - she is absolutely insane!

Although written decades ago, and only now translated, it reads so well, and the translation is perfect. It doesn't read as though it is set in a distant past, it feels present and relatable - well not the murder, but you know - I could, and did, envisage it all happening now.

The characters were intricate and all had such varied personalities - which was an accomplishment in my eyes, as there were so many of them to keep track of. But I very quickly became aware of the family tree and who was who. Especially with Japanese names, as I'm not so familiar with these, I was a little more deliberate when reading them to ensure I had them sounding correct in my head, and then I was able to read them with ease as the book progressed.

Overall, one of my favourite reads of the year so far. Fantastic.

I would recommend this to fans of thrillers, Japanese fiction, murder mysteries, crime fiction and generally good story telling.

www.thebeautifulbookbreak.com

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