The first of Keiichirō Hirano’s books to be published in English (although another translation is forthcoming this year) and it’s a good one! A meditative mystery which is more an exploration of identity than a straight-up mystery novel. Indeed, there’s no murder, just an accidental death which kicks off a case for divorce attorney Akira Kido. The wife of the deceased realised her husband had been living a lie, his past fabricated from that of another man. Kido takes on the task of uncovering the truth.

.

Although not a lengthy book (under 300 pages) it feels very rich and complex, even dense but not overly so. The characters are fleshed out, Hirano takes his time with their development. More than identity and how well we can ever know someone, A Man also tackles issues of Japanese nationalism, the plight of Zainichi Koreans in Japan, xenophobia, marriage, and I suppose nature versus nurture in a sense.

.

I spent all weekend with this book, immersed in the gentle mystery. It did deliver some surprising twists, but I’d use that term lightly since it’s not a breakneck thriller - just very clever and well thought out. The translation from the Japanese by Eli K.P. William is well done to my view, since the writing is quite dense and even purple at times, but I never felt like I was losing my way in the prose.