Scan barcode
A review by beccajbooks
The Inugami Curse by Seishi Yokomizo
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
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