padkeemao 's review for:

3.25
tense slow-paced
Plot or Character Driven: Character
Strong character development: Yes
Loveable characters: No
Diverse cast of characters: No
Flaws of characters a main focus: Yes

I was expecting a murder mystery or crime thriller book but it turned out to be mostly descriptions of food. I did enjoy reading about the food, it had me salivating, but the murder plot seemed to take too much of a back seat. However, the author does includes commentary on topics like the burden of being a working woman in a capitalist world and trying to manage the societal expectations of building a career and family. I enjoyed reading these.

Halfway through the book, I just wanted to know how Kaji killed those men, I did not care for the slow burn.
It also seemed very unlike Reiko to go out by herself and risk her life trying to solve the case herself.
I found myself skipping over a lot of things towards the end because the book just did not get to the point. 

If you enjoyed watching/reading Death Note, this might interest you. It has that slow-burn, back-and-forth dialogue between the perpetrator and journalist trying to play mind games with each other.