Select a Detective
This page is all about the detective books I've read and a short opinion on them. I've decided to only list down the books I actually physically own so there might be works I've already read that are not included (such as the books of Holmes and Poirot) though I'll include them once I get a copy of their books. I've divided them based on the detective of that book so please select a detective to see their stories.
The art used for the detectives were made by Gosho Aoyama, the author of Detective Conan, it comes from his Detective Picture Book , which is a big inspiration for this site and also a great source of recommendation for detective stories. I recommend checking it out!
Kosuke Kindaichi
Created by: Seishi Yokomizo
Kosuke Kindaichi is this friendly Japanese man who has a messy hair and a weird quirk of stuttering and scratching his hair (with dandruffs falling out >_<) when he gets excited. This makes the other characters often underestimate him
and question whether he is truly a detective. But of course, they get surprised once Kosuke displays his wits and skills of deduction.
His mysteries usually involve complicated family histories. A lot of them involve the usual problems with problematic last wills, secret kids,
secret affairs, etc. but it is also mixed with curses and legends giving the murders some horror elements and making them feel almost supernatural.
Personally, Kosuke might be my favourite detective since his books are the ones I've read the most (since the Pushkin Vertigo translated editions are
pretty accessible in the bookstore I frequently go to) so I've grown quite attached to the character and he is actually a pretty likeable character. His kind and humble demeanor is a good contrast to the dark and grim
mysteries he embarks to solve
Books
Note: This list is not in the chronological order, this is in the order of when I read them. Although there could be a mention of earlier books in some stories, they do not spoil them and each story works as a standalone.
Seishi Yokomizo has apparently made 77 Kosuke Kindaichi books but so far there have been, as of writing this, 7 works that were officially translated to english and published by Pushkin Vertigo.
Death on Gokumon Island
Kosuke Kindaichi goes to a secluded island
called "Gokumon" or "Hell's Gate". Kosuke's visit triggers a series
of murders which causes the already suspicious inhabitants of the island to turn on him.
This is so far my favourite Kosuke Kindaichi story, it's very atmospheric since it's set in
this remote, creepy location and Kosuke is truly on his own. Every character from the island almost feels off, like
the three sisters oddly laughing at their crazy father. And the deaths have a creative imagery in them which is a bit of a spoiler
so i'll let you find that out for yourself. The reveal isn't mindblowing or anything but it works as it's impactful and it makes the whole thing feel more
ironic and tragic.
The Inugami Curse
The head of the wealthy Inugami clan dies and leaves
a will that puts the family in disarray. Kosuke Kindaichi is roped in to the trouble as he received an ominous letter
requesting him to investigate the family.
This one is also pretty good. There's just this haunting sense of dread i felt for the family throughout the book since
well the trauma and issues within this family is just... alot.
They had some dynamic that was interesting to read... though they were all pretty much horrible people.
And as always with Yokomizo Seishi, the deaths have an interesting theme which i won't spoil again, the last murder
in particular was pretty creative.
I think the only flaw for this one was the explanation of the murders. It makes sense and I can see it but
it's not quite satisfying for me.
The Village of Eight Graves
We folow Tatsuya, a man moving to the titular Village of Eight Graves to claim his inheritance. But even before he arrives
to the village, a series of poisonings affecting people close to him starts to occur causing the village to suspect him.
Thankfully, Kosuke Kindachi is also there to solve the mystery.
We follow Tatsuya's POV for this book which is different from the previous two books I read where there is a
narrator outside of the story (though for The Honjin Murders, which is Kindaichi's debut and a book i sadly do
not have a physical copy of, there is also a POV character so this isn't necessarily new). It starts of a bit slow,
turns into an adventure book halfway through, and Kindaichi barely appears. But nonetheless, I still had fun reading
it and it's a decent mystery. Yokomizo Seishi is really good at setting up the history/background for the mystery,
just not really much into the whole secret treasure adventure angle the book has.
The Devil's Flute Murders
Currently reading..
Philip Marlowe
Created by: Raymond Chandler
Lurking in the shadows of the streets of LA is Philip Marlowe, who is, in my opinion, the quintessential hardboiled detective. The cool, badass, and gritty private investigator who despite their rough edges, displays a heart of gold amidst a corrupt city. While the classic detective solves the mystery by deriving what happened through observation of clues, giving the audience the opportunity to solve it with them, hardboiled detective stories most often don't do that. They focus more on the "leg work". More on the detective "shaking trees" as they interact with different characters from goons, to corrupt cops, to femme fatales until the right puzzle pieces finally fall into place. Though it doesn't necessarily mean that Marlowe is not a smart fellow. He displays his wits by talking himself out of dangerous situations (and boy are his snappy dialogues pretty fun to read). He basically uses his street smarts to progress in his case. Though there are also times where things go horribly wrong for him, which is another thing that differentiates a hardboiled detective: they get beat up a lot, and by the end of the book they are usually almost badly bruised and half-dead... well until the next case arrives.
Books
Note: This list is not in the chronological order, this is in the order of when I read them.
Raymond Chandler, not counting the short stories and a novel that wasn't finished before his death (though it was completed by another author), has made 7 Philip Marlowe books.
The Lady in the Lake
Philip Marlowe is hired to find a rich guy's wife who apparently ran away with another guy.
Marlowe ends up in a remote mountain lake where the case turns out to be more complicated than it appears to be.
The twist involving a certain character's identity actually got me in this one, though it may
require a bit of suspension of disbelief. There are also some Twin Peaks vibes due
to the setting. Overall a fun read.
Farewell, My Lovely
While working on a case involving a missing husband, Philip Marlowe meets a felon named "Moose Malloy" who's looking for a redhead, Velma, who he used to be with and lost contact after he was arrested. Shortly after they meet, he kills the current bar owner, in the bar Velma used to work at, and escapes. Marlowe decides to investigate and search for Velma, which turns out, as always, to be a more complicated task than it seems, as more people appear to be involved in her disappearance.
This one starts off a bit uncomfortably. It really showed its age, as words that are inappropriate now were used quite a bit, since the club Velma used to work at is now owned by a black man and is now a spot black people frequently visit. But once i got through that plot point, i fell in love again with the way Raymond Chandler describes the scenery and Marlowe's inner thoughts, making him somewhat a poetic dreamer despite his rough and hardboiled attitude. Plus, this book has Anne Riordan, a sort of Nancy Drew-type character, daughter of a police officer, who got curious about Marlowe's case. Her rapport with Marlowe is fun, her naive and earnest vibe contrasting his tired and cynical outlook. The femme fatale of this book, Mrs. Grayle, was also entertaining to read. Her flirting/banter with Marlowe where you're not sure if they're at each other's throat or are just really into each other was a highlight.
Overall, a solid book despite the uncomfortable hiccups at the start, which were unfortunate products of its time.
The High Window
The Long Goodbye
Auguste Dupin
Created by: Edgar Allan Poe
Before the Holmes, Poirots, and Blancs, there was Auguste Dupin, the precursor to the modern gentleman detective archetype
that everyone loves. I was shocked too when I read that one of the most influential horror writers, Edgar Allan Poe
(who famously defeated Stephen King in a rap battle) essentially started the genre i'm obsessed with. Dupin is a frenchman
from an aristocratic family (though he is mostly broke due to some undisclosed circumstances) who has a penchant for solving puzzles and
mysteries. He's very observant and analytical, even being able to deduce what someone is thinking just by analyzing their expressions.
He and the unnamed narrator of his stories live together in an abandoned mansion that was said to be haunted, spending
their time reading and writing books as it is their common passion. They have a Holmes-Watson dynamic even before Holmes and Watson,
with the narrator serving as the audience's surrogate as Dupin explains his line of reasoning.
Books
Note: This time the list is in chronological order, and the order of when I read them. :)
Edgar Allan Poe has only written 3 short stories starring Auguste Dupin.
The Murders in the Rue Morgue
Introduces the character of Dupin and then presents a mystery of two women who
are mysteriously killed in their own room. This is apparently the first locked room mystery in fiction.
Read this one a couple years ago so this is due for a re-read.
But it's a decent mystery and you can see how it influenced the genre of detective stories since the core elements and tropes
are already there amidst Poe's wordy prose.
The Mystery of Marie Roget
Based on a real-life crime, Dupin solves the mystery of a woman's dead body found in a river.
This one was personally, a tough read...
It's based on a real-life crime but the story itself was more of Dupin criticizing the sensationalism of the media...
or at least that's where I got to before dropping it. I tried multiple times to continue
but have found myself falling asleep while reading it. The wordiness and the very technical writing of Poe worked against
the story here.
Maybe someday i'll be able to get through it...
The Purloined Letter
Dupin is consulted to help find a letter cleverly stolen from the princess by a minister.
A short and simple story.
The story ended a bit bluntly though and I ended up reading some of the interpretations about it
especially regarding the identity of the culprit and his relation to Dupin which was emphasized in
the closing lines of the story. Reading the interpretations seemed more fun than the story itself actually...
but I don't think it's a detriment to the book. Most of Edgar Allan Poe's work actually feels like this for me
where it doesn't seem much on a surface level until you read the interpretations of the themes behind the story
and see how well thought out it is.
Kiyoshi Mitarai
Created by: Soji Shimada
Being an astrologer and amateur detective, Kiyoshi Mitarai, is one of the eccentric detective types.
Although, for Mitarai, his eccentricity is mostly due to his manic depression as he sometimes goes into existential rants and complains
about the pointlessness of it all (which makes him pretty relatable) in the middle of solving a case. But besides his
loneliness, he's also somewhat haughty and prideful of his intelligence. He even insulted Holmes describing him as a "cocaine addict
who always confused the real with the unreal". Thankfully for him, despite his overbearing personality, he has found his Watson in
Kazumi Ishioka who is a big fan of mysteries and is able to put up with Mitarai's neurotic energy.
Books
Note: This list is not in chronological order, it is the order of when I read them.
I do not have a concrete number since there's not much information on the Kiyoshi Mitarai books but based on a site i found, Soji Shimada has written 18 stories and 9 short-stories featuring Mitarai. But AFAIK only 2 has been officially translated to english :(.
The Tokyo Zodiac Murders
An artist is killed in a locked room. Upon investigating the room, a diary detailing a horrifying plan
to kill his daughters in order to fulfill some ritual involving astrology and alchemy was found. On the following months, two more
incidents occur fulfilling the plan of the artist from beyond the grave.
You have to get through a really unsettling and disgusting monologue at the start that sets up the crime but
this one is really REALLY good. The interesting thing about this novel is that the crime has already occurred
and Kiyoshi and Kazumi are solving a crime 43 years after it happened. The two also just had good chemistry and
fun dialogue. This was also the first time I tried to solve the mystery as I was reading it. Usually I just go with
the flow and see where the story takes me. But for this one, the author lets you know when he has given all the clues
so I can't help but also test myself whether I can actually solve it... I didn't...I got the suspect right but some
other details I think requires some leaps of logic from what was given to get it. None the less,
glowing recommendation for this one!
James Bond
Created by: Ian Fleming
"My name is Bond, James Bond"
The spy genre is sort of a sibling to the detective genre, I mean the thrill of unravelling a mystery is still there just in a different
context. One with more guns and explosions. And the most iconic spy that everybody knows is good 'ol 007 from MI6. I guess it would
be important to note that there is a slight difference between the movie and the novel incarnations of James Bond. He is a lot more
charming and fun in the movies (especially in the Connery, Moore, and Brosnan eras), delivering quips, and using wacky gadgets made by Q.
While in the novels he is often dull and dry (which is why Dalton and Craig eras are said to be more accurate) unless he is
flirting with women... that's when he and the movie Bond are alike. Another important thing is his stories have some aspects
that didn't age well as it is a product of its time (there are some pretty racist depictions here and ofc the writing of women).
But all in all I think they're fun pulp-y thrillers as long as you remember that they're a time capsule from the 50s-60s.
Books
Note: This list is not in chronological order, it is the order of when I read them.
Ian Fleming has written 12 stories and 9 short-stories featuring Bond.
Disclaimer: These books may contain stereotypical portrayal of certain races and women that have poorly aged.
Live and Let Die
Old pirate gold coins started turning up in the US, smuggled by a guy called "Mr. Big", a gangster who is also
a head of a voodoo cult and a member of SMERSH. Bond is sent to investigate and stop his operations.
Yeah uhh... this one can be a bit uncomfortable to read since "Mr. Big" is a black guy and he operates in Harlem so
there's a lot of inappropriate words and stereotypical depictions of black americans at the start of the book. But once
you get through, there are some fun action scenes like Bond facing against one of Mr. Big's muscle the Robber, and the
whole climax of the book was pretty cool.
Thunderball
Bond is sent to a clinic to rest from his excessive drinking and smoking. He encounters a man there that turns out to be
involved in a scheme by the nefarious organization SPECTRE.
This one is less uncomfortable. This contains the introduction of SPECTRE and perhaps Bond's greatest enemy Blofeld (though he
is not the main bad guy in this one) and it was interesting to read how technical and robotic their methods were and how
they were able to slip through the public's notice as an evil organization. There's not much good action though until
the climax which was pretty fun and the female lead, Domino, was actually a decent character as she plays an
important and admirable role in the story.
