- Paperback: 309 pages
- Publisher: Stone Bridge Press (Sep 1 2007)
- Language: English
- ISBN-10: 1933330317
- ISBN-13: 978-1933330310
- Product Dimensions: 19.1 x 13.6 x 2.2 cm
- Shipping Weight: 259 g
- Average Customer Review: 4.0 out of 5 stars See all reviews (4 customer reviews)
- Amazon Bestsellers Rank: #654,358 in Books (See Top 100 in Books)
|
||||||||||||||||||||
|
||||||||||||||||||||
|
||||||||||||||||||||
| |||||||||||||||
Product Details |
Product Description
Product Description
In 1940s Japan, the wealthy head of the Inugami Clan dies, setting off a chain of bizarre, gruesome murders. Detective Kindaichi must unravel the clan’s terrible secrets of forbidden liaisons, monstrous cruelty, and disguised identities to find the murderer.
Seishi Yokomizo is Japan’s most popular mystery writer. His novels have been made into numerous movies and television dramas in Japan.
About the Author
Yokomizo is Japan's most popular mystery writer. His books have sold more than 55 million copies, and his novels have been made into countless movies and TV dramas in Japan.
Tag this product(What's this?)Think of a tag as a keyword or label you consider is strongly related to this product.
Tags will help all customers organize and find favorite items. |
Customer Reviews
|
Share your thoughts with other customers:
|
||||||||||||||||||||||
|
Most helpful customer reviews
3.0 out of 5 stars
A paint by numbers mystery,
This review is from: Inugami Clan (Paperback)
On the look out for Japanese murder mysteries I came across this book by the Land of the Rising Sun's bestelling mystery writer. Despite the positive critiques by my fellow reviewers, I considered The Inugami Clan decidely average.In this book the American public gets a first encounter with the legendary P.I. Kandaichi, who stutters, scratches his full head of hair frequently and -so the story goes- has an uncanny ability to always find his man or woman. The plot involves a serial elimination of heirs to a late silk magnate in the 1940s. The story carries the epitath gothic and is not only laced with sadistic murders, but would further make the good old Marquis DeSade happy with elements like homosexuality, adultery and (attempted) incest. However, Yokomizo provides little more than a Mystery 101. He follows an approach where each chapter follows a cycle of storyline anticipation, clues collection and "expert" analysis. Last but not least, the translation is extremely clunky. In the event further translations of Yokomizo's work are planned, recruitment of a translator with high school level English languages skills would be highly recommended.
4.0 out of 5 stars
Keeping Murder in the Family,
By Mo Brien "Banshee" (Kettering, OH United States) - See all my reviews
This review is from: Inugami Clan (Paperback)
This is a good juicy murder mystery full of family secrets and grudges. It blends post-WWII noir with a pinch of Poeish grotesquerie and a good old-fashioned "house party" mystery. You also get to meet the famous series detective Kosuke Kindaichi, whose rumpled demeanor and unseemly headscratching cover a brilliant and kind mind. (His cases were the subject of many films, and his grandson is star of <I>The Kindaichi Case Files</i> manga, anime, and live action series.)Btw, to the reviewer who thought this showed how Japan had changed for the worse thanks to Westernization? I think you'll find that's not the point at all, if you consider the timelines and motivations. Many of the vices that caused the trouble were part of pre-Meiji culture, sadly. But it's not a pro-Western novel, either. Anything this noirish is bound to be full of inconveniently gray areas.
4.0 out of 5 stars
A Japanese family disintegrates, violently,
By A Customer
This review is from: Inugami Clan (Paperback)
Set in the 1940's, this is the first in a series of mysteries featuring private detective Kosuke Kindaichi. The elderly patriarch of a wealthy Japanese family of the title, dies, inexplicably leaving a will that virtually ensures a bloody battle for his fortune. Kindaichi is summoned by the family's attorney to snow-covered northern Japan, where the gore-soaked feud plays out. Slowly, the family's sordid secret history is revealed as the members are ritualistically murdered, one by one. Kindaichi is a likable character, an eccentric whose odd mannerisms (like a nervous tic of head-scratching) hide his superior intelligence. The translation is a bit stiff at times, and some plot elements seem forced, but otherwise this is an enjoyable mystery. The atmospheric setting (the Inugami family's labyrinthine lakeside villa, in the winter) brings the reader to a region of Japan not well known in the West.
Share your thoughts with other customers: Create your own review
Want to see more reviews on this item?
|
Most recent customer reviews |
Listmania!
Look for similar items by category
Look for similar items by subject
Feedback
Would you like to update product info or give feedback on images?
