Mystery Book Club Current Nominations

Nomination notes: "Fantasy is probably my favorite genre, so being able to get a fantasy/mystery mix sounds right up my alley. There’s a manga version of this book, which is currently being published in English by Kodansha (https://learnnatively.com/book/5f907091f2/), so you can also check that out if interested."

Nomination notes: "This author is quite famous and I’ve been meaning to read their work for awhile now. I’m also a sucker for ‘tangled-web’ type stories so this is right up my alley."

Nomination notes: One of this author’s other books, 紅蓮館の殺人 | L30??, popped up on my radar, and while looking through their other works I found this, their debut work. The thought of a detective on trial for fabricating evidence and such sounds pretty interesting!

Nomination notes: "I saw this instagram post (https://www.instagram.com/p/CiANjFlL5JK/) about it and it seemed interesting (sorry to anyone who doesn’t use instagram). I then bought a copy, read the first few pages and it seemed interesting enough, reasonably easy (probably not 25 but seems sub-30? Guessing off a few pages only) and it’s a light novel, which I know many people on the forums enjoy."

Nomination notes: "This book is supposed to be really good (it won the Ayukawa prize). The author, Houjou Kie, hasn’t written many books (yet), but her hallmark is writing hybrid mysteries. This is her debut work, combining time travel with a murder mystery, which seems like a cool and exciting premise."

Nomination notes: "This is a Mephisto prize winner, so that’s always a plus. This is the debut work of Kitayama Takekuni, who’s famous for intricate physical tricks, so I’m interested in reading something by him. His biggest claim to fame is probably his involvement in the Danganronpa series, where he provided the mystery outlines for New Danganronpa v3 and is writing the Kirigiri spin-off novels."

Nomination notes: "江戸川乱歩’s writing style is a joy to read. So far he is my favourite Japanese author and the main reason I’m into mystery novels right now. I’d love to read one of his works with the club"

Nomination notes: "This looks really interesting (gargoyle, anyone?), and though I haven’t read any of her books, I know the author, 宮部 みゆき is really popular. Unfortunately, this isn’t a standalone novel or available digitally as far as I can tell. On the plus side, even though it’s advertised as some kind of sequel to 英雄の書, it’s my understanding that it’s more of a “also takes place in this world” kind of thing, so reading that one shouldn’t be necessary for this one."

Nomination notes: "I like Matsumoto Seichou, and have read a fair number of his books. (As a result this isn’t one of the top three really famous books of his, but I didn’t want to nominate a book I wasn’t going to read with the club!) In the 1960s he was Japan’s best selling author, and won a pile of awards. He’s often credited with bringing a social realism focus to Japanese mystery stories in the post war period and taking it away from mere puzzle solving/alibi breaking/etc; the books of his I have liked best have depicted some aspect of Japanese society as well as being murder mysteries. This book seemed to do OK in Amazon reviews, so hopefully it’s a good one. At 478 pages this is long-ish but it is a single volume work. First published as a magazine serial in 1963 under the title 石路, first published as a novel in 1983. His contemporary fiction novels seem to wind up at about Natively level 35 or thereabouts."

Nomination notes: "I’ve seen this book around a lot and it has good reviews, so I thought I’d nominate it. It is also a short story collection, which is something different (and if one story is great or to everyone’s tastes, there are more stories.) :blush: "

Nomination notes: "Content warnings if known: Summary suggests both murder and domestic violence.

Why are you nominating this book: I find 推し culture fascinating and the trope of ‘hide the body’ is one of my favorites."

Content warnings if known: I did see some reviews nothing this book was a bit bloody. I’ve read several of his books and so if it is the same as those I’d consider his writing graphic but not gorey.

Why are you nominating this book: I’ve read several books by this author and while they haven’t been 5s across the board, I generally like them and find his writing very smooth. He writes suspense well and does excellent medical mysteries. This one in particular seems popular and while I own it I haven’t read it yet.

Content warnings if known: None known.

Why are you nominating this book: So far I’ve enjoyed every book by 内田康夫 that I’ve read. This one is the first in the 浅見光彦シリーズ. And if you liked this book, there are many, many more.