Rating:
3 Stars

In a nutshell:
In two separate, unrelated mysteries, the victim isn’t entirely clear.

Best for:
Fans of this genre – Yokomizo is a famous author of Japanese mysteries.

Quote that made me think:
N/A

Why I chose it:
It was a gift from my partner for my birthday.

Review:
Both of these stories focus on the idea that we might not be entirely sure of who the victim is. In the first, a woman’s body is found in the back garden of a cafe, and the owners have sold the cafe and left town. Is the woman in the ground who we all think, or might it be someone else? And either way, who is responsible for her death?

In the second, the death involves someone who is almost a twin – so is the dead person really he said he was before he was killed, or is he the other brother who looks just like him.

Both books have different storytelling modes – the first is a fairly standard narrative, while the second is told solely through letters from a relative of the murdered individual. Both are vivid in their storytelling; I could picture the scenes quite easily.

That said, there was something about the style of the writing that didn’t quite connect for me. Maybe it was the short story nature that didn’t allow enough time to develop the characters. Or perhaps it was that it felt like there was a lot of exposition and not a lot of the story unfolding on its own.

I am happy I read the book, but I probably won’t be seeking out more from this author.

Would I recommend it to its target audience:
I think so, yeah.