Blog Tour stop for this Unique and Addictive murder mystery
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"A superb mystery in the true sense of the word.” Asahi Shimbun "
Synopsis
On a stormy summer day in the 1970s the Aosawas, owners of a prominent local hospital, host a large birthday party in their villa on the Sea of Japan.
The occasion turns into tragedy when 17 people die from cyanide in their drinks.
The only surviving links to what might have happened are a cryptic verse that could be the killer's, and the physician’s bewitching blind daughter, Hisako, the only family member spared death.
The youth who emerges as the prime suspect commits suicide that October, effectively sealing his guilt while consigning his motives to mystery.
Inspector Teru is convinced that Hisako had a role in the crime, as are many in the town, including the author of a bestselling book about the murders written a decade after the incident.
The truth is revealed through a skillful juggling of testimony by different voices: family members, witnesses and neighbors, police investigators and of course the mesmerizing Hisako herself.
“This spine-chilling masterpiece will make you aware of the dark places in your own heart.” Hokkaido Shimbun
My Review
Firstly ignoring the old saying you should never judge a book by its cover, I did, I was drawn in my the cover and hooked by the blurb.
On a Hot and stormy summer’s day in 1970'S The prominent Aosawa families home is full and a buzz with the birthday celebrations of three generations of the family.
Many friends and family fill the house, staff, locals and suppliers for the event are coming and going all day. The atmosphere is light, joyful and full of the fun to be had as the party continues, no one see's the tragedy that is about to happen.
As day turns to night Seventeen people, some of the family some guest are found dead all from ingesting drinks that had been spiked with cyanide. With only two survivors, one the family housekeeper and the other the daughter, now only surviving member of the family called Hisako who is blind.
Inspector Teru, heads police investigation, all that remains as evidence is a poem found at the scene but with the death of a suspect and left with no answers the case grows cold yet remains in Inspector Teru as a lingering feeling that Hisako herself was somehow involved in the deaths that night.
Then ten years after the now infamous murders, a childhood friend of Hisako wrote a book about the crime, it fast becomes a best seller opening up questions and motives about the case, yet offers no answers as its conclusion.
Now Ten years on fro it publication we are taken on a journey exposing the case as a whole,
examining the testimonies of Makiko who wrote the book and Hisako herself, other family members will the answers to the tragic event finally be found?
Did Hisako really get away with murder?, can the lies be uncovered from the truth? and who can you trust?
This is a complex but yet completely riveting story, set over three decades, you feel the mystery of these murders drawn along with the pace of the story it almost feel like you are taking part in a true crime event not a work of fiction.
With each chapter told by a different witness, in clear distinctive styles you almost hear the tone of the different characters, this story leaves you grasping at ideas and fumbling over information as you try to piece together yourself what happened that fateful day, as a no spoilers blog it difficult for me to say more, but the whole read was completely addictive.
I would highly recommend this book, to anyone who likes crime reads, particularity true crime but is looking for something that really is unique.
I thoroughly enjoyed this book, this is the author’s first to be translated into English and after the brilliance of this read I am keeping everything crossed that her others are translated soon!
Author Bio
The Author and the Translator
Riku Onda, born in 1964, is the professional name of Nanae Kumagai.
She has been writing fiction since 1991 and has won the Yoshikawa Eiji Prize for New Writers, the Japan Booksellers' Award, the Mystery Writers of Japan Award for Best Novel for The Aosawa Murders, the Yamamoto Shūgorō Prize, and the Naoki Prize.
Her work has been adapted for film and television. This is her first crime novel and the first time she is translated into English.
Alison Watts is an Australian-born Japanese to English translator and long time resident of Japan.
She has translated Aya Goda’s TAO: On the Road and On the Run in Outlaw China (Portobello, 2007) and Durian Sukegawa’s Sweet Bean Paste (Oneworld Publications, 2017), and her translations of The Aosawa Murders and Spark (Pushkin Press, 2020) by Naoki Matayaoshi are forthcoming.
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Thank you to the Publisher and Author for sending me an Advanced Reader Copy (ARC) of this novel and for the opportunity to review these works.
All reviews are my own unbiased opinion.