Review: Butter by Asako Yuzuki

Synopsis: The cult Japanese bestseller about a female gourmet cook and serial killer and the journalist intent on cracking her case, inspired by a true story.

There are two things that I can simply not tolerate: feminists and margarine.

Gourmet cook Manako Kajii sits in Tokyo Detention Center convicted of the serial murders of lonely businessmen, who she is said to have seduced with her delicious home cooking. The case has captured the nation’s imagination but Kajii refuses to speak with the press, entertaining no visitors. That is, until journalist Rika Machida writes a letter asking for her recipe for beef stew and Kajii can’t resist writing back.

Rika, the only woman in her news office, works late each night, rarely cooking more than ramen. As the visits unfold between her and the steely Kajii, they are closer to a masterclass in food than journalistic research. Rika hopes this gastronomic exchange will help her soften Kajii but it seems that she might be the one changing. With each meal she eats, something is awakening in her body, might she and Kaji have more in common than she once thought?

Inspired by the real case of the convicted con woman and serial killer, "The Konkatsu Killer," Asako Yuzuki’s Butter is a vivid, unsettling exploration of misogyny, obsession, romance and the transgressive pleasures of food in Japan.

~ ~ ~

Anyone new to Japanese fiction / mysteries should be aware that these books tend to contain lengthy descriptions ... about everything. Having read a number of Japanese mysteries this was something I was well aware of - and yet, I was thoroughly disengaged with both characters (Rika Machida and Manako Kujii) and the narrative to the point that I would consider myself utterly bored. After 100 or so pages of a story that was three parts too long in the telling and one part mystery, I literally gave up - and this being despite the fact that this story was "inspired" upon real events (a theme I tend to find engaging).

If you are interested in cooking and butter then by all means, read on.  If you are interested in the "real events" that inspired this particular work, then head over to good old wikipedia and read about Kinae Kijima.