I received an ARC of this book with thanks to Pushkin Press via NetGalley.

The Honjin Murders written by Yokomizo in 1946 is a classic closed door murder mystery full of Japanese culture and references to the golden age of detective fiction.

I was slightly disappointed by this one. This book highlighted to me that I just may not be a closed door murder mystery fan. As we're guided through the steps which helped solved the mystery by the Doctor and Kindaichi, I found myself quite deflated and I was left wanting more. I had to remind myself that this was written over seventy years ago, also set in 1937 and speaks to the culture and beliefs of that time. (The misogynistic element of the book really threw me!) The redeeming feature of the book was definitely Kosuke Kindaichi. A really intriguing and savvy character, so much so that I'd happily read more books in this series purely for his method and weird logic. It was written well, descriptive yet succinct and very easy to read. A wonderful translation by Kawai.