Death on Gokumon Island: Seishi Yokomizo (Detective Kindaichi Mysteries)

A name to add to your reliable buy list. Fascinating insight into Japanese culture, and so far I've enjoyed every one that I've read.

If fans of Agatha Christie haven't yet discovered Seishi Yokomizo, they have a treat waiting for them. A Japanese crime writer with a similar style and time period to Christie's, his novels are being gradually translated into English. 'Death of Gokumon Island' is set shortly after the end of World War II, when Japanese soldiers were returning from distant battlefields - or their families were being given the devastating news that they would not be.Our hero detective, Kosuke Kindaichi, arrives at the titular island to inform the family of a deceased comrade of their loss. Kindaichi is also motivated by the man's mysterious last words, which seemed to suggest the lives of his three sisters were in danger. Soon the body count starts to mount up as people are murdered in bizarre and seemingly impossible ways. Kindaichi's efforts to investigate are hampered by the insular nature of the islanders, who don't take kindly to outsiders asking questions. Can he identify the murderer before his friend's fears are realised?As with the other novels, it is easily readable and flows well, and is not a particularly long book. The translation must be good, particularly as one element of the mystery depended on a certain bit of wordplay that must have been very difficult to make work in English - yet reads as though it was always written that way. Kosuke is a good principal character, and the setting and era make an interesting backdrop. The crimes are not particularly plausible, but that's par for the course in a novel of this type. The mystery is satisfyingly complicated and the resolution acceptable.Fans of detective fiction should definitely give these novels a try - they are good stories in their own right, and the setting adds extra interest.

“At the very end, gasping for breath, he had repeated the same words over and over. “I don’t want to die. I… I… don’t want to die. I have to get home. My three sisters will be murdered. But… but… I’m done for. Kindaichi-san, please… please go to Gokumon Island in my place.” - ‘Death on Gokumon Island’ by Seishi Yokomizo.This is the fourth novel published by Pushkin Vertigo in this series featuring Detective Kosuke Kindaichi. It was originally published in Japan in 1947/48 and this first English edition was translated from the Japanese by Louise Heal Kawai.While released in English as the fourth in the series, ‘Death on Gokumon Island’ was actually the second book, taking place nine years after the events of Book One, ‘The Honjin Murders’.A few plot details: Detective Kosuke Kindaichi arrives on Gokumon Island bringing the tragic news that the son of one of the island's most important families has died on a troop transport ship bringing him back home after the Second World War. Yet he is there than more than a messenger. The dying man’s last words warned that with his death that the lives of his three half-sisters were now in danger. Kindaichi is determined to get to the bottom of this mysterious statement and to protect the three women if he can.It’s not long until a series of gruesome murders begins. As the scruffy detective is an outsider, the insular islanders are suspicious of him, thus making his investigation even more difficult.As Seishi Yokomizo is acknowledged as the King of Golden Age crime fiction in Japan, it’s no surprise that this proved an intricately plotted murder mystery. Kosuke Kindaichi’s scruffiness and hesitancy is deceptive as it conceals a razor sharp mind. He reminds me a little of Columbo.Overall, ‘Death on Gokumon Island’ was a delight and certain to please lovers of classic detective fiction. Given that Seishi Yokomizo wrote seventy-three more cases for Detective Kosuke Kindaichi, I do hope that the publishers will consider continuing with their English translations.A note on the cover art which continues the theme of the other books and features a sinister image against a pale circular motif. The design team have created a stylised set of covers that are bold and eye catching.

Set in 1946, this is the second in the series featuring detective Kosuke Kindaichi. The action takes place on an island inhabited by fishing communities and features several murders.Despite the blurb, this novel bears very little relation to 'And Then There Were None' in style, plotting, setting or methodology. The solution to the main murder has more affinities with the impossible crime school and JD Carr, and is mildly preposterous.As with the three others I have read in the series, most of my interest was from the insights to be gained into Japanese society- here in the immediate aftermath of WW2, rather than from the rather tedious detection.The translation reads well and the publishers are to be lauded for making the books available in English. However my enjoyment of the series has not increased the more I read. Certainly I liked this more than 'The Village of Eight Graves', but I am still far from being a fan.Thank you to NetGalley and Pushkin Vertigo for the digital review copy.3.5 stars.

If you appreciate the classic haiku and Japanese Kabuke, you will love this horror mystery. The rain falls--death haunts the island.

This is my third book by Yokomizo. Very interesting murder mystery, and great way to learn more about Japan post-WW2.

Ever since I have started reading Seishi Yokomizo, I have fallen in love with his writing, the character Kosuke Kindaichi and the twisted plots.All the books are sure to blow your mind and each story is unique.If you are a lover of suspence and thriller, don't miss out on the books written by Seishi. You are sure to fall in love with them.

I just discovered this author and bought all four books available and they were fantastic! An eccentric detective, gruesome crimes and diabolical criminals make mesmerizing stories! If there were more translated to English, I would get them all. Engrossing and highly recommended!!!

This novel takes place just after World War II, when the Japanese army is being demobilized and the soldiers sent home. The setting is a tiny, strange fishing land populated by the descendants of pirates and criminals exiled here in the Edo period.The protagonist is Kosuke Kindaichi, an eccentric private eye that we’ve met in earlier mysteries by Seishi Yokomizo. He's a scruffy figure, carelessly dressed. He stutters under stress and when perplexed scratches at his unruly mop of hair.There are four murders in this book, three of them bizarrely staged. And there’s a plethora of intriguing characters — a chatty barber, a powerful priest, a caged lunatic, a runaway pirate, a drunken herbal doctor, beautiful women, rough and ready fishermen etc. Kindaichi is at his wits end trying to solve the murders. A series of haiku poems are his best clues...I found the motive for these murders a bit hard to credit. But Japanese mysteries tend to be odd. In any case, the creepy little island is a great setting. And Kindaichi is very likable.