A dark and striking thriller with an indelible cast and setting.
Murders on a pornographic film set expose a bevy of criminal activities in this third installment of a Tokyo-based detective series.
Detective Hiroshi Shimizu’s forensic accounting skills and fluency in English make him an asset in the Tokyo police’s homicide department. The newest case consists of three dead bodies at Jack and Jill Studios, which specializes in porn. Who exactly was the target isn’t clear: the unidentified actor; the director, Ryota Noguchi; or Takeo Suzuki, a former Ministry of Finance official. But the business is definitely involved in illegalities, as the dead actor is not only underage, but likely one of many trafficked girls. Readers are aware that Sukanya, a Thai teenager who’s in Japan for a promised American passport, fled from the scene and may have witnessed the murders. She also stole a laptop and an iPad, believing they would help her get out of an unfamiliar Tokyo. Unfortunately, Kenta Nakamura from Jack and Jill is determined to retrieve those potentially incriminating devices by whatever means necessary. Hiroshi, meanwhile, uses his aptitude with numbers to link cryptocurrency to the porn industry and the decidedly more dangerous human trafficking ring—likely involving the same people responsible for the homicides. Series protagonist Hiroshi shares the spotlight with myriad characters, both recurring and new. The narrative perspective regularly shifts to Kenta, who’s working with someone even more menacing, and Sukanya, who thankfully finds a helpful soul in Chiho, a local woman. While Hiroshi and other detectives search for the killer, the story’s most shocking aspect is the sheer volume of crimes, including blackmail, kidnapping, and worse. But Pronko attributes this overwhelming seediness to individuals, not Tokyo itself. The Japanese city is instead rather lively and appealing, like a vivid character standing “amid the grid of apartment blocks, gyudon shops, manga cafes, and family restaurants.”
A dark and striking thriller with an indelible cast and setting. (author bio)Pub Date: N/A
ISBN: N/A
Page Count: 341
Publisher: Raked Gravel Press
Review Posted Online: May 8, 2020
Kirkus Reviews Issue: June 15, 2020
Review Program: Kirkus Indie
A fresh and clever whodunit with an engaging twist.
A 16-year-old savant uses his Groundhog Day gift to solve his grandfather’s murder.
Nishizawa’s compulsively readable puzzle opens with the discovery of the victim, patriarch Reijiro Fuchigami, sprawled on a futon in the attic of his elegant mansion, where his family has gathered for a consequential announcement about his estate. The weapon seems to be a copper vase lying nearby. Given this setup, the novel might have proceeded as a traditional whodunit but for two delightful features. The first is the ebullient narration of Fuchigami’s youngest grandson, Hisataro, thrust into the role of an investigator with more dedication than finesse. The second is Nishizawa’s clever premise: The 16-year-old Hisataro has lived ever since birth with a condition that occasionally has him falling into a time loop that he calls "the Trap," replaying the same 24 hours of his life exactly nine times before moving on. And, of course, the murder takes place on the first day of one of these loops. Can he solve the murder before the cycle is played out? His initial strategies—never leaving his grandfather’s side, focusing on specific suspects, hiding in order to observe them all—fall frustratingly short. Hisataro’s comical anxiety rises with every failed attempt to identify the culprit. It’s only when he steps back and examines all the evidence that he discovers the solution. First published in 1995, this is the first of Nishizawa’s novels to be translated into English. As for Hisataro, he ultimately concludes that his condition is not a burden but a gift: “Time’s spiral never ends.”
A fresh and clever whodunit with an engaging twist.Pub Date: July 29, 2025
ISBN: 9781805335436
Page Count: 288
Publisher: Pushkin Vertigo
Review Posted Online: July 4, 2025
Kirkus Reviews Issue: Aug. 1, 2025
A top-class cozy infused with dry wit and charming characters who draw you in and leave you wanting more, please.
Four residents of Coopers Chase, a British retirement village, compete with the police to solve a murder in this debut novel.
The Thursday Murder Club started out with a group of septuagenarians working on old murder cases culled from the files of club founder Elizabeth Best’s friend Penny Gray, a former police officer who's now comatose in the village's nursing home. Elizabeth used to have an unspecified job, possibly as a spy, that has left her with a large network of helpful sources. Joyce Meadowcroft is a former nurse who chronicles their deeds. Psychiatrist Ibrahim Arif and well-known political firebrand Ron Ritchie complete the group. They charm Police Constable Donna De Freitas, who, visiting to give a talk on safety at Coopers Chase, finds the residents sharp as tacks. Built with drug money on the grounds of a convent, Coopers Chase is a high-end development conceived by loathsome Ian Ventham and maintained by dangerous crook Tony Curran, who’s about to be fired and replaced with wary but willing Bogdan Jankowski. Ventham has big plans for the future—as soon as he’s removed the nuns' bodies from the cemetery. When Curran is murdered, DCI Chris Hudson gets the case, but Elizabeth uses her influence to get the ambitious De Freitas included, giving the Thursday Club a police source. What follows is a fascinating primer in detection as British TV personality Osman allows the members to use their diverse skills to solve a series of interconnected crimes.
A top-class cozy infused with dry wit and charming characters who draw you in and leave you wanting more, please.Pub Date: Sept. 22, 2020
ISBN: 978-1-98-488096-3
Page Count: 368
Publisher: Pamela Dorman/Viking
Review Posted Online: June 30, 2020
Kirkus Reviews Issue: July 15, 2020
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