Synopsis: 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.
After reading the Honjin Murders back in March, I was excited to receive a review copy of another Kosuke Kindaichi mystery. However, this does not directly follow the first in fact it is number six in the series, but the second only to have been translated into English (nothing is lost in the translation!).
Events are set roughly around 1947 - after the second world war - and involve a prominent Nasu family. Following the death of the patriarch, the reading of his will (with its very special conditions) plunges the family into a "series of bloody murders". Kindaichi is on the spot and is involved in the investigation from the very beginning.
To say the family is disfunctional would be an understatement - petty jealousies, long concealed secrets, simmering hatreds, questionable motives, a gruesome deaths - all provide a deliciously deceptive narrative, with more red herrings than a Dr Seuss book. Don't worry if you lose track, Kindaichi provides a brief summary of his discoveries about two thirds of the way through.
As I mentioned in my review of the Honjin Murders, I do hope that more of Yokomizo's Kindaichi series are translated and released.
Side note: another reviewer mentioned the movie version. I tracked it down (the 1976 version at least) on youtube - loved it!.
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