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SeishiYokomizo began writing mystery fiction after WWII. He wrote in the classic/Golden Age style of detective fiction and he became known as the Japanese John Dickson Carr, an author he greatly admired.
He introduced his private detective Kosuke Kindaichi in locked room mystery, The Honjin Murders. Reviewed here. Yokomizo love for classic mystery fiction is demonstrated here with a discussion about locked room mysteries and a chapter titled A Conversation About Detective Novels. Could this be considered meta, a fictional detective discussing detective novels? Kindaichi, we learn, is a detective of the Holmes and Poirot variety, using logic, deduction, and his little grey cells.
The Inugami Curse is the 6th of Yokomizo's detective novels and in it he takes on another staple of classic mystery fiction with a group of people gathered together in a manor house for the reading of the will of wealthy industrialist Sahei Inugami. It is set in post-war Japan. This becomes important because two of the possible heirs were both drafted and went to war in the Burma theatre.
His three daughters, born to different mothers, despise each other and are fiercely protective of the rights of their children. Who will take over the business interests. Readers of these mysteries know that things won't turn out well for someone(s).
Kindaichi is brought in by a lawyer from the law firm representing the Inugami estate. The lawyer has seen the will and recognizes that disaster is sure to follow. Unfortunately, his only appearance is as a corpse, poisoned before he can meet with Kindaichi. The local police are initially skeptical about Kindaichi but upon checking him out his reputation cements his place in the investigation. As in The Honjin Murders, Kindaichi gathers facts as uncovered by the police and observed by him and uncovers the truth. This book is fiendishly complicated and, like The Honjin Murders, is both a whodunit and a howdunit. We get a wonderful set of circumstances making up this mystery: impossible murders, a family curse that appears to be coming true, an unknown figure flitting around the scene and confusing everyone.
Yokomizo uses an omniscient narrator who relates the events. This narrator throws out tantalizing tidbits to let the reader know that if this question had been asked or if this event had occurred, Kindaichi might have solved the case sooner. I enjoyed this technique in the storytelling. I don't think it's quite enough to solve the case but it does help the reader focus on what is going on in Kindaichi's mind.
The author does very well at rendering the physical settings in the story including the weather which has an important role. The description made me wish I could visit locations.
This is a translation by Yumiko Yamazaki who did, I believe, an excellent job. Really, the translator deserves nearly equal credit with the author because they are essentially rewriting the story.
Unfortunately for the reader, only two of Yokomizo's Kindaichi novels have been translated and he featured his detective in 77 novels. The Hojin Murders and The Inugami Curse are excellent first choices to bring to English readers but I hope more are published soon. Go buy these book so publishers think it worthwhile to pursue.
Keywords: Japanese detective stories, classic detective fiction, private detectives, translations
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