『蒸発』won the Mystery Writers of Japan Award in 1973 and belongs to Shizuko Natsuki’s most famous novels.
Book review: 『アリスの国の殺人』by Masaki Tsuji
A murder mystery that both takes place in reality and in a dream inspired by Alice in Wonderland. Even though I enjoyed some aspects of this book, the dream parts were a bit too absurd and fantastical to me, with references and humour that were hard to understand as a language learner.
Book review: 『白ゆき姫殺人事件』by Kanae Minato
白ゆき姫殺人事件 belongs to my favourite books by Kanae Minato. An engrossing mystery with a unique structure that shows how different persons can have completely different perceptions of past events.
Book review: 『乱れからくり』by Tsumao Awasaka
Several elements prevented me from really enjoying this mystery novel centred around mechanical devices and toys manufacturing.
Book review: 『華麗なる醜聞』by Yo Sano
I had a hard time going through this book, and although it is quite short (under 300 pages), it took me a whole month to read. The story follows two threads: on the one hand a couple of journalists are trying to learn more about the concept of ”high hostess” that they heard in the..
Book review: 『細い赤い糸』by Takashi Asuka
Winner of the MWJ Award of 1962. I found this book frustrating to read at first, because it was hard to see where the story was leading us. I started enjoying it more about halfway through and the end was quite good.
Book review: 『人喰い』by Saho Sasazawa
A simple mystery novel that won the Mystery Writers of Japan Award. Even though the end might be a bit foreseeable, the mystery is a pleasant read all along.
Book review: 『四万人の目撃し』by Yorichika Arima
This detective novel won the Mystery Writers of Japan Award, but I found it underwhelming and not satisfactory.
Book review: 『顔』by Seicho Matsumoto
This is a collection of five short stories by Seicho Matsumoto. They were easy to read and entertaining, I highly recommend this book for mystery lovers.
Book review: 『狐の鶏』by Jokichi Hikage
This is a collection of 5 short stories. The first one won the Mystery Writer of Japan Award
Book review: 『不連続殺人事件』by Ango Sakaguchi
This is the only detective novel written by Ango Sakaguchi: a complex whodunnit where the reader has all the elements in hand to find the solution.
Book Review: 『本陣殺人事件』by Seishi Yokomizo
First winner of the Mystery Writers of Japan Award (1948), this novel is a classic locked-room mystery and the first case of young detective Kosuke Kindaichi.