This is, apparently, the classic Japanese murder mystery. It is a locked-room mystery, with a remarkable solution, and it has all the hallmarks of early detective fiction. There's a big old country house, a high-ranking family, an evil looking stranger, snow that reveals no footprints, an eccentric genius detective. There are even four scraps of paper left unburnt in the fire which provide vital clues. And the deflection is done so well that the whole thing goes off like a magic trick. One of the main events was reasonably predictable, but not the way it happens. And the solution is astonishing. I prefer the sort detective stories like Margery Allingham or
The Honjin Murders, Seishi Yokomizo
The Honjin Murders, Seishi Yokomizo
The Honjin Murders, Seishi Yokomizo
This is, apparently, the classic Japanese murder mystery. It is a locked-room mystery, with a remarkable solution, and it has all the hallmarks of early detective fiction. There's a big old country house, a high-ranking family, an evil looking stranger, snow that reveals no footprints, an eccentric genius detective. There are even four scraps of paper left unburnt in the fire which provide vital clues. And the deflection is done so well that the whole thing goes off like a magic trick. One of the main events was reasonably predictable, but not the way it happens. And the solution is astonishing. I prefer the sort detective stories like Margery Allingham or