belllabees 's review for:

Death on Gokumon Island by Seishi Yokomizo

3.75

dark mysterious medium-paced

Plot or Character Driven: Plot

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This has been my favorite so far of the Kosike Kindaichi mysteries I’ve read. I was pretty much strung along until the end by the same red herrings as the characters were, which was really fun. Though, again, I wasn’t super excited by the solution. I think a lot of the solutions in these books are tied up in historical Japanese social dynamics which is maybe where they sometimes lose me. Since I don’t have all the context for them, I feel like there should be more hints at what’s going on, but it could be a totally different experience for someone reading from the original language/culture.

I’ll also say that this is a pretty impressive work of translation because a lot of the mystery relies on wordplay and poetry. So props for that.